Local Heritage Takes Center Stage on Bohol’s Streets
BOHOL - Bohol’s Sandugo Festival continues to provide towns across the province with a creative platform for showcasing their distinct history, traditions, and cultural identity. During the Sandugo sa Bohol street dancing competition on July 26, 2026, participating contingents transformed local practices and community stories into colorful performances along CPG Avenue. One example was the Asinderos de Alburquerque, whose presentation depicted the traditional production of asin tibuok, a distinctive form of salt made by steeping coconut husks in seawater, burning the husks, filtering brine through the resulting ash, and boiling it in clay pots until the salt hardens. By turning this traditional process into choreography, the performance allowed audiences to see an important part of Alburquerque’s heritage in a lively and accessible way.
Towns Showcase Their Own Stories and Traditions
The competition emphasizes the individual identities of Bohol’s communities rather than presenting a single generalized interpretation of the province’s past. Pundok Katigbawan of Catigbian, which won the 2026 grand championship, highlighted the town’s agricultural heritage and cave systems. Its name draws from katigbi, a seed-bearing grass; tigbaw, referring to tall grass and caves; and kabaw, or carabao. The performances also incorporated elements representing different periods of Bohol’s history, including the pre-colonial bahag and saya, as well as Spanish-era traje, boda, cassocks, armor, and blades. Traditional and improvised musical instruments, including goat-skin drums such as the gimbaw, basaw, kalatong, and tingko, were combined with brass gongs and kulintang as performers danced to the kuradang, a Visayan dance carrying influences from both pre-Hispanic and Spanish colonial periods.
Celebrating Sandugo Through Culture and Community Pride
Nine contingents participated in the 2026 competition: Asinderos de Alburquerque, Banay’ng Mangbubukag of Antequera, Pundok Katigbawan of Catigbian, Banay sa Kulturang Dimiaonon, Banay Loaynon, Lumad Maribojocanon, Tribo Matahum nga Talibon, Pundok sa Nagkahiusang Ubayabon, and Tribung Hamiling Sang-at of Valencia. The festival commemorates the Sandugo, the historic 1565 blood compact between Spanish commander Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Boholano chieftain Datu Sikatuna, symbolizing an agreement to coexist peacefully. Although only nine of Bohol’s 48 local government units joined the 2026 competition, the participating towns demonstrated how festivals can preserve community stories and traditions through performance. Catigbian received PHP1.4 million, while Loay placed second runner-up with PHP700,000 and Dimiao placed third runner-up with PHP600,000, with the provincial government turning over a total of PHP3.2 million in prize money on August 8. The prizes also come with development project incentives for participating towns. Meanwhile, Tagbilaran City did not join the competition as its contingent focused on defending its Sinulog-Based Category title in Cebu City in 2027. Through the Sandugo Festival, Bohol continues to demonstrate how local heritage can be transformed into performances that educate audiences, strengthen community pride, and keep cultural traditions visible for future generations.
