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Bohol kicks off month-long Sandugo Festival


The province of Bohol on July 1 kicked off its Sandugo Festival, a month-long cultural festivity that commemorates the historic blood compact between Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and local chieftain Datu Sikatuna in the 16th century.
 
In a statement, Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto said this year's festival includes a grander street dance competition with more participants than the previous years, and a line-up of activities that aim to attract both local and international tourists.
 
“Bohol is an eco-cultural destination and many people come here to visit our natural sites and beautiful churches. But we also want to highlight the fact that Bohol played an important role in Philippine history as the first province to ever engage in foreign diplomatic relations,” Chatto said.
 

Photos courtesy of Bohol Tourism Office, Bohol Province Effective Development Communication Unit (EDCom), Office of Gov. Edgar Chatto and Office of Tagbilaran City Mayor Geesnel Yap II

The highlights of this year's festival would be the Miss Bohol Beauty Pageant to be held on July 19, a Street Dance Competition to be held on July 27 to be participated by 13 contingents, and the International Cuisine Nights to be held from July 20-26 to be participated in by foreign chefs.
 
Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnel Yap II said the theme of this year's Sandugo Festival is “friendship among equals and international diplomacy.”
 
“Witnessing the Sandugo Festivities, especially the Street Dancing, brings one back to more than 400 years ago as the dancers depict the blood compact rites...This serves as a reminder to the younger generation on the significant event that happened on March 16, 1565,” Yap said.
 
Yap pointed out that with the simple blood compact that transpired in Bohol, bilateral relations between the Philippines and Spain have now gone a long way, with “the two countries now enjoying strong political, cultural, and economic relations that transcended from the years of colonial past.”
 
He cited as an example the enactment in 2003 of Republic Act 9187 that sets June 30 of each year as Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day. Yap said this law inspired better relations with Spain, leading to a bilateral dialogue in 2005 that tackled ways to improve bilateral relations in the political, economic, cultural and academic fields.
 
“The two nations have since then stepped up cooperation in Cultural Industries, Heritage and Tourism that include preservation of Heritage sites in Bohol particularly the blood compact monument in Tagbilaran City,” Chatto said.
 
“The Spain-Philippines Meeting has also moved towards exploring closer trade and economic ties particularly in infrastructure and renewable energies, where Spain is eyeing huge investments in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the country,” he added.
 
In March of this year, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo signed with Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan a $68-M framework agreement on good governance and disaster risk reduction.
 
“We need activities like this to attract both local and international tourists who enjoy festivities that depict historical events,” Provincial Tourism Council Chairman Lucas Nunag said. —Elizabeth Marcelo/KG, GMA News
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