Proem

It is significant to observe that after the Tamblot Resistance in Bohol, there seems to be no more conflict between the Jesuits and the Boholanos for a period of about 150 years.  The Jesuits were able to ride on the local beliefs of the Boholanos and tweaked it a little to fit Christianity.

Sál-ong

The ancient Boholano believed in a “sal-ong” or a personal god. The Jesuits were able to convert the sál-ong into a devotion to a particular patron saint and the belief in an “ápò” or “Ay Sono” into a belief in Jesus Christ.  The local rites and ceremonies were just redirected as to the object of belief.

School system

In June of 1597, the Jesuits recorded that the first convert to Christianity in Loboc, Bohol was the wife of the local school teacher.  Their child was said to have been cured by Fr. Juan de Torres and the couple was converted to Christianity.

So if there was a local school teacher, then there must have been a local school.  Fr. Pedro Chirino wrote that the Boholanos were literate and knew how to read and write in the native script.  Local knowledge like local medicines, boat building, and stellar navigation can only be learned through a local school system.

The native school in Loboc, Bohol was transformed by the Jesuits into the Colegio de Loboc, which existed from 1602 to 1768.  The Colegio de Loboc or Loboc College offered the following courses. First it offered a “Seminary” and the graduates were made as deacons and catechist.  A significant graduate of Colegio de Loboc was San Pedro Calungsod.

The school also offered “Music” up to “Minstrel level” or professional level in music.  It also offered “Normal” or “Teacher’s College” to produce school teachers.  It also offered “Agriculture” to produce agriculturists for food production.  The 5th course of study was “Military science”.  The graduates became professional soldiers and commander of native troops to fight invasions from pirates.

The Jesuits employed the “cacique” method in propagating Christianity.  It was simply done by converting the chief and the followers will also be converted.  One sure way of converting the parents is to education the children in school.  Therefore the Colegio de Loboc produced “quality” and “influential” graduates.

Even if only three (3) students will graduate every year, the number of graduates in the Spanish educational system will accumulate through the years.  We must also bear in mind that the local schools in Bohol, teaching the local knowledge, also existed together with the graduates of Colegio de Loboc.

Compatible concern

During the time when the Jesuits were in charge in Bohol, the concerns of the Spaniards and the Boholanos were compatible.  Both groups did not like the piratical attacks of the Moros from Mindanao.

The native organized religion in Bohol that was similar to Christianity suffered from the defect of not knowing how to select their religious leaders.  Eventually they converted to the well organized Christianity of the Spaniards.

As years went by the level of knowledge in Bohol developed through education, deacons, good musicians, school teachers, agriculturists, and good soldiers were developed.  These educated men who were selected by the Jesuits from the local aristocracy soon developed their own idiosyncrasies which diverged from the thinking of the latter Jesuits in Bohol.

So from the time of Francisco Dagohoy or the latter part of the Jesuit period in Bohol, significant battles occurred in Bohol.  There is an unconfirmed story that Francisco Sendrijas alias Dagohoy studied military science in the Colegio de Loboc before he became a Cabeza de Barangay in Inabanga, Bohol.