All Along the Watchtowers of Bohol

The view takes one’s breath away.

But once these were real stone sentinels that stood to wave off the dreaded sea raiders of the time, preventing communities from being plundered and villages dispersed by vicious attacks that take countless breaths away, quite literally.

Courageous as we Bol-anons may be, with a Tamblot and Dagohoy strain in each of us, one Spanish colonial record even describing the people from Bohol as “very valiant, and very different in valor from the other villages” – seafaring marauders at one point were the lords of the seas, feared with good reason.

The stone watchtowers were, therefore, invaluable defense structures – even for us valiant, isog Bol-anons – forming part of a complex community defense system that most likely involved clever use of local topography and signal instruments like the budyongs, etc.

In Bohol, these watchtowers played a significant role in the history of the province as part of colonial military defense system against pirates during the Spanish Period. Located in the Municipalities of Panglao, Baclayon, Dauis, Maribojoc, Loay and Balilihan, these watchtowers are architectural and engineering structures with notable historical and cultural significance, enduring and surviving the wars fought in Bohol during the Philippine-American War and the Second World War.

All made of cut coral stones, these watchtowers are a unique example of Spanish military architecture and serve as testament to the ingenuity of its builders.

Thus, cites the Nation Museum Declaration of the Bohol Watchtowers, collectively, as National Cultural Treasure. A National cultural Treasure is a unique object found locally, possessing outstanding historical, cultural, artistic/or scientific value significant and important to the country and the nation.

Of the six (6) inscribed watchtowers, only three, Maribojoc, Dauis and Panglao are generally intact with high integrity. The Bohol Watchtowers in Balilihan, Loay and Pamilacan, although not reasonably intact, the National Museum declaration still included the three for their cultural, artistic and historical significance. These towers are after all connected to the Bohol defense system, in particular, and the whole nearby islands.

It must be noted that the Dauis watchtower and the Punta Cruz Fortification in Maribojoc are included in the Spanish Colonial Fortifications of the Philippines collectively added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on May 16, 2006. Inclusion in the UNESCO Tentative List is requisite to a possible nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage list. Other structures comprising the collection of Spanish fortifications in the country are the Fuerza de Capul (Northern Samar), Fuerza de San Andres (Romblon) and the Fuerza de Sta. Isabel (Palawan).

Island-hopping to Puntod and Balicasag from the Panglao Poblacion via a medium-sized motorized outrigger boat, as you watch the Panglao mainland slowly pull back out of site, the Panglao watchtower curiously stands out, but calm and stern, like a tame, dressed down Buckingham Palace Guard.

“All along the watchtower, Princes kept the view, While all the women came and went — Barefoot servants too. Outside in the cold distance, A wildcat did growl. Two riders were approaching, and The wind began to howl.” – Bob Dylan Bob

Dylan’s oft-covered “All Along the Watchtower” contemplates the inevitability and intensity of the coming confrontation, and its consequences. Bohol’s watchtowers, some barely, have withstood through these inevitable adversities. They now stand at ease, still, but has since retired from active sentry duty. They now stand still, testament to the creativity, the hard work of the Boholano people who helped build them.