Tagagamit:Emir214/Sandugo
The Sandugo was a blood compact performed in native-Bohol style between the traveling Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna of Bohol on March 16, 1565 in the Philippines to seal their friendship as part of the native custom. The pact was entered into by López de Legazpi for the purpose of insuring friendly relations between the Spaniards and the natives. This is considered as the first international treaty of friendship between two people of different races, a Filipino and a Spaniard. "Sandugo" is a Visayan term meaning "one blood" (san means one, and dugo means blood).[1]
A hallmark of the Philippine province of Bohol, the Sandugo is depicted in both the provincial flag and seal as symbol of the Boholanos' love for peace.[2] It also features in both the Tagbilaran City flag and seal; the lower portion depicts the blood compact between Datu Sikatuna and Captain General Miguel López de Legazpi at Bool District, Tagbilaran City. The top of the seal indicates the ship and the place where López de Legazpi anchored and where the treaty of friendship was conducted on March 16, 1565. Furthermore, the seal signifies that the City of Tagbilaran is the City of Peace and Friendship.[3]
Context[baguhin | baguhin ang wikitext]
Within the time when Ferdinand Magellan became the first person from Europe to reach Asia by sailing west and where he would meet an untimely death in the islands that would become known as the Philippines in 1521 and 1564, Spain sent four more expeditions to colonize the East Indies in their race with Portugal to seize control over the lucrative spice trade. Unfortunately, all of these expeditions failed. It wasn't until Miguel López de Legazpi, sailing from Mexico with four ships and nearly four hundred men reached the Philippines in the early part of 1565 that a Spanish settlement was finally established.[4]
It wasn't any easier for López de Legazpi than for the five previous expeditions to establish a colony. Like Magellan forty years earlier, López de Legazpi was met by hostile native warriors opposing a foreign invasion. His attempt to land on the island of Cebu resulted in the death of one of his soldiers prompting him to weigh anchor and seek friendlier isles, with the fate of Magellan at the back of his mind.[4]
Sailing south toward Mindanao, López de Legazpi's fleet met contrary winds forcing them to sail northward to the island of Bohol. There, he captured a trading vessel from Borneo whose Mohammedan Malay pilot informed him that the natives there traded with Moluccas, Borneo, Java, Malacca, India, and China. This fateful shift in the winds would lead to an alliance with native kings that finally gave the Spaniards their opportunity for colonization.[4]
In Bohol, Legazpi first noticed the hostility of the people. The Mohammedan Malay pilot explained that such hostility was due to the marauding expeditions conducted by the Portuguese from the Moluccas, and, since the Spaniards looked like Portuguese, the Bohol inhabitants naturally mistook them to be the "white vandals". As late as 1563, Portuguese raiders prowled the Visayan waters, plundered Bohol, and killed or enslaved about 1,000 inhabitants.[4]
Legazpi, with the help of the Malay pilot, explained to the two kings of Bohol, Katuna (Si Katuna) and Gala (Si Gala) that the Spaniards were not Portuguese and that they had come on a mission of peace, not to destroy, kill or plunder. Upon learning this, the Bohol kings and their people became friendlier and more welcoming to the Spaniards.[4]
(Kailangan pa ng pagsasalin.)
- ↑ History of Bohol www.bohol.gov.ph Retrieved 16 November, 2006
- ↑ Provincial Flag and Seal www.bohol.gov.ph Retrieved 16 November, 2006.
- ↑ Tagbilaran City Seal www.tagbilaran.gov.ph Retrieved 16 November, 2006.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Readings From Bohol's History www.aenet.org, Source: Philippine Political and Cultural History. Volume I. Gregorio F. Zaide Retrieved 15 November 2006.