Our twentieth entry in this blog is our trip to Bohol’s Blood Compact Monument.  This is my third time in Bohol and my second time to join a Countryside Tour.  This monument is always part of the tour because of its history.

(texts below are from http://www.bohol-philippines.com/blood-compact-site.html)
Bohol Blood Compact Site is located in Barangay Bool, Tagbilaran City, Bohol. This particular site was made in honor of a very important event in the Philippine history done between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi of Spain and Rajah Sikatuna of Bohol.
This Sikatuna-Legaspi blood compact is considered as the First Treaty of Friendship between two different races, religions, cultures and civilizations. It was a treaty of friendship based on respect and equality. This event is commonly known as “Sandugo”.
The Bohol Blood Compacts culpture was made by the National Artist, Napoleon Abueva, a Boholano himself. It is placed on an open and raised dais portraying five life-sized images of men gathered around a table with Legazpi and Sikatuna making a toast. Standing on the dais, visitors are treated to a good view of the Bohol Sea and the contour of that particular side of the island of Bohol.
As is the native custom of that time, the two sealed their friendship through a blood compact wherein both draw two or three drops of blood from their arms, mixed the blood with the wine and equally drank from the cup. Other historians say that the blood-wine mixture was divided equally between the two and then drank up to the last drop. The compact was sealed on March 16, 1565.

The place is just a short tricycle or cab ride from the city of Tagbilaran since Barangay Bool is still a part of the city. Buses or vans are available from the Dao Terminal. Rides to and from the place does not pose a problem since the site is located along the Carlos P. Garcia circumferential road where many transportations are available. Hotel guests and those on tour can request to drop by the Blood Compact site. Some hotels though have included it in their itineraries.

There are lots of souvenir shops nearby, and there is even a hotel (Ocean Suites Boutique Hotel) right beside the monument.  I remember the last time I visited this monument, you can have a good view of Bohol’s blue seas but now, I was kind of sad that tourism department allowed a hotel to be place beside the monument. It made the monument looked small and somehow insignificant (but that’s just my opinion).  But still, Blood Compact Monument is still one of my fave tourist spots in Bohol. 🙂