PACTO DE SANGRE/CLASH OF SPIRITS

Franz: Good morning everyone! We are going to report about Pacto de Sangre and Clash of
Spirits. We will try to achieve these two objectives.
● Interrogate the “Pacto de Sangre” narratives of the Spanish Conquest of Del Pilar and
Bonifacio in the light of their respective political agendas.
● Explain how the natives of the Philippines mediated the conquest of the Philippines

Pacto de Sangre

People who lived in the Philippines held lavish feasts to build and cement alliances
among rulers or chiefs and their followers - Forging of an alliance in the context of
preventing bloodshed or ending a feud or warfare involved a ceremony in which drops
of blood from the persons entering into this relationship were mixed in an alcoholic
drink, which they then drank. Laura Lee Junker, a historian, prefers to call this ritual the
Blood Oath. Despite the blood oath, loyalty was not fully guaranteed and betrayal of a
blood brother could happen.

Take note, that parties in the blood oath cannot be too far apart in terms of status
position. Oath taking is “basically dyadic. When a large group swears together it is not
the entire group which is thought to be solidary, but only each of the various dyads
within it.

Balungkas: To understand the relevance of Pacto de Sangre to our history, we will look into the
Blood compact between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna in Bohol in 1565.

The Blood Oath of Legazpi and Sikatuna

Legazpi visited Bohol in mid-March 1565 because he was in need of provisions and
their flagships needed major repairs. He then sent the “Moro” , a cooperative captive to
look for Sikatuna promising that they meant no harm. However, Sikatuna was doubtful
due to the “trickery and injury that the Portuguese and Moluccans had inflicted on them”
two years before Legazpi came. In order for the islanders to be reassured, Legazpi sent
Santiago to make a blood compact with him. After some level of trust was established,
Sikatuna then met with Legazpi and the two of them made a blood compact to seal their
true friendship even without discussing any terms except the arrangements for the
encounter. Being white and bearded, Legazpi and his men were easily thought of as
Portuguese. Legazpi stressed that Spaniards were different from Portuguese. To further
prove his sincerity, Legazpi gave Sikatuna “four yards of linen tablecloth, a mirror, a
chamber pot, knives, and scissors” and Sikatuna’s men were given necklaces.
 The blood oath of Legazpi and Sikatuna was observed as a token of friendship and
allegiance between a conquistador and a chief. However, Filipinos and Spaniards have
opposing views on the Blood Compact. To the Filipinos, the blood compact was an
agreement between equals, a pledge of eternal fraternity and alliance, whereas the
Spaniards saw it as a ceremony between victor and vanquished foe.

Martinez
Luna: Ambivalence in El Pacto de Sangre

Juna Luna depicted this event in his famous painting entitled El Pacto de Sangre in
1883. The ilustrados interpreted Juan Luna’s painting as Spain being superior to the
Philippines because the focus is on Legazpi and Sikatuna is faceless. Spaniards also fill
up ⅘ of the canvas and the lighting emphasizes Legazpi’s dramatic, imposing aura.

Ocariza:
Del Pilar: Assimilation and the Pacto de Sangre

Ilustrados like Del Pilar framed their reading of the blood oath in Bohol in 1565 as the
key event that commenced the process of Spanish colonization of the country they had
come to know as Filipinas. Instead of viewing the blood oath as a localized event within
a set of dyadic ties, he perceived blood oaths as a country-to-country or
people-to-people agreement, even when a political entity called the Philippines had not
existed. Furthermore, Sikatuna was perceived as the Philippines' representative,
whereas Legazpi was regarded as Spain's.

This led Del Pilar to conceive the blood oath of Sikatuna and Legazpi as a permanent
political treaty: a Blood Compact. The tacit assumption was that both parties entered
into the contract in good faith, that it was valid, but continuing respect for it was
contingent upon Spain’s fulfillment of its part. There seemed no doubt that the
Philippines abided by its part of the agreement. The mingling of the blood of two
individuals was seen as signifying concomitantly (concomidandly) the fusing of the
aspirations of two countries. Del Pilar insisted the Blood Compact was a legal contract,
a treaty that justified Spain’s colonization of the Philippines.

Oniasa:
Bonifacio: The Fall in the Plot of Nationalist History

Following a common primordialist strategy, the ilustrados constructed the Philippines as

having existed since time immemorial such that the Philippines and Spain could be
conceived as entering into a political treaty in the Pacto de Sangre in 1565. The
ilustrados, however, missed a crucial element in the nationalist construction of the past.
Three stages were plotted and these are the Golden Age, Fall which was compared to
the Garden of Eden, and Dark Age. Although he failed to enunciate the Fall, Rizal did
his part in envisioning the pre-Hispanic past in his annotations of Morga and his essay
 “On the Indolence of the Filipinos” where in he conceptualized a Glorious in which
prosperity and justice reigned among “ancient Filipinos” who equaled, if not were
superior to, the Spaniards.

Del Pilar’s portrayal of the Pacto de Sangre was a step toward conceiving the Fall, but it
did not qualify as a “real” Fall because Sikatuna was not portrayed as committing an
error of judgment (as Adam and Eve did) in contracting the pact.

However, Bonifacio has a different view. He built on the illustrados’ Golden Age and
explained the Fall. According to his manifesto “ Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog '',
he begins with a scene of a Golden Age, marked by prosperity, ease, and harmony
before the coming of the Spaniards. It signified “the condition of wholeness of the
pre-Spanish past”. If you can remember, Legazpi promised enlightenment and trust to
Sikatuna which made the latter agree to perform the ritual. The blood compact between
Sikatuna and Legazpi is comparable to that of Adam and Eve’s, eating the forbidden
fruit. The realization of Spanish treachery and of Sikatuna falling for the “sweetness of
their tempting words” at the outset came belatedly as the light of nationalism began to
cast aside the Dark Age.

Martinez:
Based on Apolinario Mabini’s remark in Ordenanzas de la Revolucion, our ancestors
have recognized the Kings of Castille as protectors and allies through the Blood
Compact that led to a perfect solidarity. However, when the Filipinos submitted to the
Spanish’ dominion, the latters government violated the agreement. The manifesto
concluded that the Tagalog must realize the sources of their misfortune and unite, and
realize that reason dictates the justness of separating from Spain.

To show the sincerity of the Katipunan siblinghood, as opposed to the blood compact of
Legazpi and Sikatuna, Katipunan’s membership ritual involved the neophyte signing his
name with his own blood. In this different form of ritual, Abrera interpreted this as revival
of sandugo but in a new form. The partaking of blood was bypassed because the
primary relationship that was being established in the rite was with Inang Bayan and
everyone shared the same blood and all, therefore, were siblings apparently with no
birth order.

Duran: In this part, we will learn how Filipinos were identified as inferior to the Spaniards and
how the friars are being compared to the Engkantos.

Cockfights and Engkantos: Gambling on Submission and Resistance

Catholic Priest - distributed themselves throughout the archipelago, which was

administratively subdivided and allocated to different religious orders.
 Spanish Priest - eventually overwhelmed and overpowered the natives, thus, extending
the area that the Spanish control despite the minimal military support.

Natives have no direct contract with the Spaniards other than the friars and these
Spanish priests are focused on dominating the Indios and this mission of them is what
they refer to as conquista espiritual. The friar was seen through the indigenous
cosmological lenses, and justifiably for the Indio and the friar were one of their belief in
a spiritual realm inhabited by a preternatural being.

Denoting preternatural titles of a distinctively Spanish origin, commonly used words in

the contemporary Filipino spirit world included the engkantos.

The ENGKANTOS have a fair complexion, golden haired, blue eyed, they have
clean-cut features and perfectly chiseled faces.

You can already imagine how beautiful engkantos are. However these creatures are
romantically attracted to a brown-skinned person. They are unpredictable and they play
jokes on other people like making them get lost in the forest or in an unfamiliar place.
They also can transform into something that would attract their mortal friends. These
engkantos were seen singly or as families but hardly as communities.

The friars are compared to these engkantos as their imposing presence laid down rules
that only them can break, their orders that must be obeyed lest the indio receive a
severe beating, and just like engkantos, they have their fair share of sexual gratification
that could not be spurned. But the engkanto belief had significance other than as a
trope, for the natives believe that they represented the “real” entity in the spirit-world.

Engkanto's figure constituted a telling critique of the colonizers who “duped,” “led
astray,” and “made fun of the natives”.

The friars began to live in newly founded settlements and perform catholic rites;
thereafter, the indios received confirmation concerning the activities of the alien spirits.
The main link to that newly present yet unseen realm was the priest, curiously a male,
dressed in a drab, dark cassock.

Martinez:
Friar Power and the Submission of the Indio

As the friars went about their mission work, they projected the image of shamans
whose magical ensemble included the Catholic sacraments, which served as powerful
intercessory devices with the spiritual realm.

As men with healing powers, hence with special acumen to negotiate with the
spirit-world whence diseases were believed to originate, the friars would be perceived
 by the natives as possessing forceful dungan. The friars did fit the role of the strong
dungan, as they cast themselves in the role of crusaders, some being so consumed
with self-confidence that they deemed their very presence medicinal. They cured a
wandering disease prompted by the engkanto by means of Catholic magical objects
particularly the agnus dei which is put around a person’s neck and it will make them feel
at peace
.
Thus with the aid of catholic magical words, relics, and gestures, the friars
demonstrated superior cosmic strength by their ability to vanquish local spiritual
strongholds and break age-old Taboos. With the success of the friar power, the anito
and diwata began to lose their abilities to cause as well as heal illnesses and in general
to affect the course of human existence.

Duran
Cultural Entrapment and the Colonial Cockpit

Not all natives were defeated by Spain’s spiritual conquest since some local entities did
fight back in the cosmic struggle. Even within Spanish-controlled areas, the indigenous
religion continued to be practiced clandestinely. The shamans & the datus colluded to
defend the indigenous system that provided legitimacy to their social positions, which
the friars have taken over.

With the rising tide of conversions, some natives expressed their resistance less
passively. Other natives resisted Spanish rule by simply withdrawing to the wild interior
beyond the reach of the conquerors. The Indios were caught in the middle as they had
to appease two spheres of power: the indigenous and the Hispanic. They were
confronted with the competing claims to loyalty and identity pressed by two similar but
opposed realms.

Villaver:
Gambling outlook on life:

This clash of power and the indio's conflicting response gave rise to the native's
gambling outlook in life. This became an expression of Indio's contradictory relationship
to colonial power; it became a manifestation of this cultural entrapment. Cockfighting
(bulang or sabong) (in Spanish – juego de gallos) was among the main games of
chance. As a rule, only birds of equal prowess are matched and the opposing bets were
equalized before the fight

(red = superior) (white = inferior)

The color red should connote superiority was rooted in the ancient preconquest belief in
that color’s potency, which signified life and courage, in contrast to white, which
 symbolizes death and defeat. In the precolonial age, islanders who killed most of their
enemies wore a red kerchief wrapped around the head.
Under Spanish colonial rule, the game became popular because of its indirect
opposition to the colonial order.
Indios who were trapped between submission and resistance would have read into the
cockfight’s red-white binary codes a political significance and Red stood for indigenous
prowess

Gamblings Message:

● cockfighting allowed for the inversion of hierarchy in the colonial society

● The gambling's message was counter hegemonic. The hierarchy and dominance
were present, as the result of the fight confirmed the native concept of power
In the 19th century, the earlier color signification became interchangeable, at least in
the Tagalog cockpit. Jose Rizal referred to the white cock as Ilamado or superior, and
the red as dejado, the underdog.In the 1770s, the colonial state began regulating the
game but the meaning generated the indios in the ritual game was beyond the colonial
control

Balungkas:
MALES AS SHAMANS, IMITATION AS RESISTANCE

Native shamans worked hard to adapt their resistance to the new societal realities. The
apparent dominance of Friar Power culminated in the emergence of native male
shamanism in imitation of the Spanish friarship as spiritual mediumship became a
disputed battleground. Males began to predominate among local shamans, and
females' overt social function was suppressed. These male shamans also altered their
practices to put them on a level with the friar and started to imitate the words used by
the Spanish shamans who recited Latin verses to ward off evil spirits.

Urasyon - recited during healing rituals and copied onto paper in a tiny booklet known in
the Visayas as libritu. These are the words, or the latin-sounding words that compose
the native shaman’s incantations. The booklet or the libritu was carried on one’s person
and served as an amulet or talisman. This is then referred to as an Anting-Anting.

As the only effective counterpoise to the friars, native shamans relied on their newfound
war chest of magical power to animate the revolts and uprising against Spanish colonial
rule. Native male shamans and local chiefs fought to reassert their former source of
meaning, power, and identity. Mustering mystical prowess from both power realms, they
sought an end to the tyranny of having to contend with two opposing spirit-world and
cultures.
Ocariza:
Atrophied Charisma and the Making of Native Elites

In the early 1800s the friars were credited with having assumed “the major part in the
pacification of all instances and disquiet” during the more than two centuries of
Spanish rule in Filipinas. The friars are credited with founding and governing the whole
civil and ecclesiastical government. Regardless of civilian supremacy attempts, no
government order would be carried out without his permission. As a result, the colonial
state was founded as a personal authority of the friar, subservient by native elites who
became the private landowning kasick class.

A datu’s bravery, which was endowed from the spirit world, is not just theoretically but
was proven by unquestionable feats of valor, confirmed the datu’s worthiness and the
goodwill of the spirits. In cases where the legitimacy of an established datu was
challenged by another claimant to cosmos prowess, the dispute was settled through
warfare or the formation of another relatively isolated settlement. Followers, especially
warriors, can shift allegiance to whomever they find more attractive.

In setting up Spanish sway, the pioneer state changed the pre conquest elites into a
decent foundation portrayed by innate progression denied of their pre conquest
notoriety and sorcery.
- The changed elites savored their honorific titles of Don and Doña and appreciated
exclusion from recognition and corvee work.
- They rose to social unmistakable quality as town justices known as gobernadorcillos
and as fiscales and cantors in the congregation.

Villaver: To conclude, the late 19th century views on the Pacto de Sangre of Sikatuna and
Legazpi all averred that the Spaniards came to the Philippines to offer friendship only for them
to betray it. The event in Bohol in 1565 was presented in a manner that explicitly advanced a
political agenda- from Del Pilar assimilation to Bonifacio’s revolution- in the process constructing
the plot of nationalist history that would seek final realization in the revolution. The Pacto de
Sangre could not be construed as a deceit because of Del Pilar's specific political purpose,
because assimilation required the validity of an alleged agreement to assimilate and civilize the
islanders. Bonifacio's political objective, on the other hand, was to separate from Spain through
revolution, and he presented the Pacto de Sangre as illegitimate, invalidating Spanish
colonization and justifying revolution.

Furthermore, the way for a person to become a datu is not by testing their skills but through
hereditary succession. With spiritual mediumship becoming a contested terrain, the perceived
superiority of Friar Power resulted in the development of native male shamanism in imitation of
the Spanish friarship. We were conquered through Friar’s sweet temptation and how natives fell
for their deceitness.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!