Blood Compact Commemorative Shrine & Friendship Park

Overview

The Blood Compact Commemorative Shrine & Friendship Park is a heritage monument in Barangay Bool, Tagbilaran City, listed in the BPTO’s tourist-attraction inventory under Historic Monuments. It commemorates the 1565 Sandugo blood compact between Datu Sikatuna and Miguel López de Legazpi — the same event marked by the better-known Abueva bronze sculpture nearby.

Friendship Park itself is a separately built city development beside and downhill from the shrine, not merely the sculpture’s forecourt plaza — a distinction third-party sourcing later confirmed (see What to Expect). The shrine/plaza complex is open 24 hours with no entrance fee.

The better-known bronze tableau referenced above, at the adjoining Blood Compact Shrine, is the work of Napoleon Abueva, the Boholano sculptor later named a National Artist of the Philippines. Local tradition holds the 1565 ritual down to a specific detail passed through generations of retelling: Sikatuna and Legazpi each drawing blood, mixing it into a shared cup of wine, and drinking from it together as a gesture of sworn brotherhood rather than a written treaty. Historians treat the blood-mixing detail as tradition, not documented fact, but it’s the version re-enacted each July at the Sandugo Festival, and the story most visitors to this complex arrive already knowing.

Location

Barangay Bool, Tagbilaran City, Bohol. The Bool district is approximately 3 km from Tagbilaran City center along J.P. Inting Avenue.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran City proper, take a tricycle or multicab heading toward Bool (approximately 10 minutes). The Bool area is a standard stop on Bohol countryside tours departing from Tagbilaran or Panglao.

Practical Info

• Tourism type: History and Culture — Historic Monuments
• Open 24 hours; no entrance fee (per sourcing on the adjacent/associated Blood Compact Shrine site)
• Friendship Park is a distinct, separately developed area beside/downhill from the Blood Compact Shrine, with its own facilities: the Atty. Zoilo D. Dejaresco Jr. Amphitheater, an ancient/deep well, a parking area, walking grounds, statues of Boholano leaders (including former president Carlos P. Garcia), and the Friendship Building (an art gallery, livelihood showroom, and city cultural-affairs office inaugurated December 22, 2023)
• Souvenir shops and stalls operate in the Bool area near this site

What to Expect

Friendship Park is a distinct, officially named site (Tagbilaran City Friendship Park), not shorthand for the shrine’s forecourt plaza — a separately built, roughly PHP 58-million city development beside and downhill from the Blood Compact Shrine, linked to it by a footpath. Expect landscaped grounds with walking paths, an amphitheater used for city events (it hosted the 2024 Saulog festival opening), a deep well of some age, statues of Boholano leaders, and sea views toward Panglao and Pamilacan. One first-hand account from the 2020s notes light visitor traffic and inconsistent maintenance, with some statuary showing damage — condition may vary by visit date. The shrine’s own forecourt plaza (benches, trees, flowers, a fountain, a flagpole) is smaller and distinct from the larger park grounds beyond it.

Notes

The BPTO inventory lists this entry separately from the Blood Compact Shrine (Sandugo) entry. As of this pass, third-party sourcing (below) confirms Friendship Park is in fact a distinct, purpose-built city park adjoining the shrine grounds — not merely BPTO shorthand for the shrine’s forecourt plaza — resolving the ambiguity flagged in the prior research round. The precise administrative boundary between the “shrine” and “park” as BPTO defines them for inventory purposes is still not independently confirmed, but the physical/functional distinction is now well sourced.

Plaza description and hours/fee per Blood Compact Shrine: Location, Opening Hours, and Travel Info, accessed 2026-07-17.

Friendship Park facilities, distinctness from the shrine, and condition notes per: Tagbilaran City kicks off Saulog 2024 at Friendship Park (Bohol Tribune); Tagbilaran City Friendship building inaugurated (The Bohol Times); and An Unforgettable Visit and Walk at the Historical Sites in Tagbilaran City, Bohol: The Blood Compact Shrine and Friendship Park (first-hand blog account) — all accessed 2026-07-28. A fourth source, Bohol Friendship Park nears completion (Philippine News Agency), corroborates the amphitheater/well/parking facilities in search-result summary but could not be directly fetched (403 error) and was not relied on alone for any fact above.