Blood Compact

More than forty years after Magellan's death, Spain in 1564 sent out four expeditions to establish colonies in the Far East, and to pick up a share of the lucrative spice trade under control of the Portuguese. These expeditions failed, but in the next year, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was more successful. Sailing westwards from Mexico with four ships and almost four hundred men, he reached the Philippines in the beginning of 1565, and established a Spanish settlement.

This wasn't an easy achievement. Just like Magellan before him, Legazpi met with hostile native warriors, who didn't like the idea of foreigners invading their islands. His attempt to land on the island of Cebu was thwarted. So he decided to look for a friendlier place. He lifted his anchor and headed south in the direction of Mindanao. A change of wind, however, forced his fleet back to north in the direction of Bohol. With the help of a Mohammedan Malay pilot from a captured trading ship from Borneo, he learned that the Filipinos were involved in trade with the Moluccas, Borneo, Java, Malacca, and even far away places such as India and China.

But even here at Bohol, the natives appeared to be hostile, especially since two years earlier, the Portuguese had plundered Bohol and killed or enslaved about 1,000 of its inhabitants. To the Boholanos, the Spaniards looked and dressed like the Portuguese and were similarly armed. Thus, the hostility.

Luckily his Modamedan pilot helped him establish ties with the natives and explained to two of Bohol's chieftains, (si) Katuna and (si) Gala, that Legaspi was not Portuguese and that he meant no harm. To make the relationship lasting and formal, Legaspi entered into a blood compact on board his ship San Pedro because he was still afraid of being betrayed if he went on land.

The blood compact was done in the original native custom: Each of the leaders made a cut in his arm, drew a few drops of blood from the wound, mixed it with wine and drank the goblet containing the blood of the other party.

For several years, it was believed that the event took place in Bo-ol, a village of Tagbilaran. But later research and thorough discussions with the National Historical Institute placed the event on board the San Pedro off the coast of Loay in Hinawanan Bay on March 25, 1565.

Reference:
NHI Board Resolution No. 04, Series of 2005, Approved July 1, 2005