Though there are other pressing concerns that we wish to write for this issue, but we have to give way to this e-mail from Rudan Alberto Matig-a through his e-mail add danmatiga@hotmail.com which has been in our inbox for several days now.
We find his ideas amusing. Read on.

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In a discussion brief titled; "A Different View" the argument says that, the blood compact was not a formal treaty of friendship. It is admitted and it could also be interpreted, so it says, as the first formal treachery or swindling committed by the Spaniards against the Boholanos.

My view is the treachery or swindling committed by the Spaniards against the Boholanos is not much of a surprise. Swindling, treachery or trickery Legaspi as a soldier should do all what he can for the glory of his king and Spain . I am interpreting this as his sense of duty and patriotism to his country.

If there were anomalies involved maybe it was on the part committed by Datu Sikatuna? I believe it was Datu Sikatuna who sold us for 30 pieces of silver to the Spaniards. The years from 1563 to 1565 when the name of Datu Sikatuna is active in Philippine history I tag him as the conspirator in putting down the Vijayans. Datu Sikatuna was not a Vijayan but a vassal of a Hindu king from the Majapahit Empire. The Spaniards called us "indios" because the Majapahit and Vijayans are of the same stock of people, coming from the south of India and Sri Lanka . While they may be same people they don't have the same cultural and religious background. Sikatuna is Hindu while Humabon of Cebu, Datu Dalisdisan and Pagbuaya are Buddhist. Tribal wars among the people living in Bohol at that time were caused primarily by religion.

The Dauis and Mansasa massacre:

By classifying the cultural and religious background of the people living in the Visayan Islands we can now see an outline why there was a massacre of villagers in Dauis and Mansasa. I have this idea that Datu Sikatuna and the two chiefs of Dauis and Mansasa, Pagbuaya and Dalisdisan cannot meet eyeball to eyeball because of religious differences. Datu Sikatuna's eagerness to go to war against them is held back by the weakness of his forces against the combined forces of Dalisdisan and Pagbuaya, so he sought the help of the Ternateans or the Purtuguese. The death of Dalisdisan in that tribal war caused Pagbuaya to flee to Dapitan.

I cannot buy the notion held by historians that a combined force of Portuguese and Ternateans plundered Dauis and Mansasa because, if there should be a village to be plundered along the coast of Bohol facing Mindanao, it should be Baclayon or Albur which are very much visible to the naked eye from the ocean. If you conduct an ocular inspection of Dauis and Mansasa you will find these two as secluded places hidden away from people navigating the open sea, except perhaps if there is a Boholano insider telling pirates and marauders from foreign lands that there are Vijayans living there.

[Dauis and Mansasa]

Hinawanan:

The water at the mouth of the river in Hinawanan, Loay is not an ideal place to celebrate a blood compact but it is a beautiful place to hide a boat away from the prying eyes of the villagers. Today's Hinawanan can vouch of its thicker population but during the 16th century I doubt if a soul can be found there. The river in Hinawanan is a tributary to the Loboc River . That area is swampy grown with thick foliage before and until now it is prone to an overflow from the Loboc River . According to Jes Tirol a captain in Legaspi's crew was told to survey the coastline for a deeper harbor where they can weigh down anchor. The story says that he reached the coastline of Bool but he recommended Hinawanan as the right place as it has a deep water harbor. Is it also a coincidence that the place chosen by the captain is also the place where Datu Sikatuna resided, since Jes Tirol asserted that Datu Sikatuna lived near a river? Be that as it may but in my opinion aside from its marshy character of the place the water in the river is not potable. I think the river described where Sikatuna lived near is the one at Baclayon which supplied a lot of potable water for the villagers that flowed from the upland.

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