CHAPTER 3: "ONE PAST BUT MANY HISTORIES":

CONTROVERSIES AND CONFLICTING VIEWS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

CHAPTER 3: "ONE PAST BUT MANY HISTORIES":

CONTROVERSIES AND CONFLICTING VIEWS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

 Site of the First Mass

 Cry of Balintawak or Pugad Lawin
 Retraction of Rizal
SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

 On April 1, 1521 (originally March 31) the first mass in the Philippines was happened in “Mazaua.”
 R.A. No. 2733 declared Barangay Magallanes in Limasawa, Southern Leyte as the site of the first mass
• Dr. Sonia M. Zaide presented evidences that the site of the first mass was not in Limasawa but in Masao, Butuan,
Agusan del Norte.
 The site of the first mass was first mentioned by Maximillian Transylvanus on his “De Moluccis..." in 1523
because he interviewed the survivors of Magellan expedition.
 The survivors mentioned that they landed in “Messana” where the first mas was officiated.
LIMASAWA AS SITE OF THE FIRST MASS:

 Carlo Amoretti (1800) of Ambrosiana Library said that Mazaua where Magellan landed before and the
Limasawa mentioned by Fr. Francisco Combes are the same.
 Limasawa was supported by Fr. Pablo Pastells, Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Jaime de Veyra and
James Robertson.
 Fr. Francisco Colin wrote a book about the spread of Christianity in the Philippines but could not exactly
determine the site, but he based in “Limasawa” claim because of the writings of Antonio Herrera who
based his writings to Andres San Martin that the site was in “Mazaua"
 Limasawa became part of Magellan's expedition because of the writings of Fr. Colin (Dimasaua) and Fr.
Francisco Combes (Limasawa on his “Historia de Mindnao... in 1667)
  William Henry Scott, NHI- the eyewitness was the accounts of ( (mariner who reache and 1543)

William Henry Scott, Vicente de Jesus and NHI- the eyewitness account for the issue was the accounts of Gines de
Mafra (mariner who reached Mazaua twice; ...

For Scott, de Jesus and the NHI, the eyewitness account of Gines de Mafra, the Spanish mariner should be
considered in determining the location of Mazaua.

*From Homonhon, Magellan and his men travelled westward, southwest to the tip of Seilani (Panaon) to avoid
Northeast monsoon

[Link]
MASAO AS SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

 Gian Battista Ramusio (1536) wrote a chronicle about the voyage of Magellan where he insisted Butuan as
the site of the first mass

SONIA ZAIDE POINTED-OUT THE FF.:

1. As the place called “Mazaua,” Limasawa has four syllables and begins with another letter, while Masao has
conclusive syllable.
2. The expedition traveled 20-25 leagues from Homonhon. If they had been to Limasawa, the distance only
14.6 leagues.
3. The distance to Cebu from Mazaua based on Pigafetta was 35 leagues (140 miles). The distance from
Limasawa to Cebu is only 80 miles.
4. Rajah of Mazaua came to their ship in a “Balanghai," now, Butuan is a site for at least nine excavated
Balanghai relics, Limasawa has no significant relic of Balanghai.
5. Mazaua has abundance of gold, now Agusan Valley had abundance of gold while Limasawa doesn't have.
Pigafetta was 35 leagues(140miles). The distance from Limasawa Cebuis only 80 miles. Fourth, it was mentioned
that the king came to their ship in a balanghai. Butuan is now the site of at least nine excavated balanghai relics; by
contrast, Limasawa has no significant archaeological relics or balanghai tradition. Fifth, the Western explorers got
excited at the abundance of gold in Mazaua for that was the main currency at that time. Both archaeological relics
and the gold mines today attested to the abundance of gold in the Agusan Valley.
The site of the first mass in the Philippines was first mentioned by Maximilian Transylvanus in his De Moluccis...in
1523. He interviewed the survivors of the Magellan expedition and noted

 Mafra mentioned that Magellan's group reached Mindanao. Mazaua is 45 n.m, south of Surigao, a perfect
harbor during Northeast monsoon.
 As drawn by Pigafetta, Mazaua has two hilly areas; Pinamangculan and Dalindingan where many rice,
coconut and fruits.
Saint James The Great Church, Bolinao, Pangasinan the first site?

 A marker claims that it 1324, Fray Odorico Pordenone from Friuli, Italy officiated the first Catholic mass in
the country
Where's the site of the first mass in the Philippines;

Limasawa, Southern Leyte?

Masao Shore, Butuan, Agusan del Norte?

Bolinao, Pangasinan?

Hipolito, Y. (2021). Readings in Philippine History Chapter 3: “One Past but Many Histories”: Controversies and
Conflicting views in Philippine History. Retrieved from [Link]
philippine-history-chapter-3-one-past-but-many-histories-controversies-and-conflicting-views-in-philippine-history

CHAPTER 3: “ONE PAST BUT MANY HISTORIES”:

CONTROVERSIES AND CONFLICTING VIEWS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

RED: IMPORTANT DETAILS

VIOLET: PERSON’S INVOLVE

Overview:
Philippine History is full of controversial issues. In fact some of them are still
unresolved up to the present time. Dealing with controversies takes extra care
because historians who have raised their arguments on them have their respective
points. Moreover, dealing with them would take great effort in reviewing historiographic
approaches employed in the gathering, analyzing and interpreting sources. The
existence of discourses concerning these controversies makes history alive and very
much interesting to study.
The site of the First Mass had been the subject of heated debates for the past
few decades. There were two leading contenders on this controversy–Limasawa and
Butuan. Although the then National Historical Institute through the Gancayco
Commission officially recognized Limasawa as the site of the First Mass and although
its finding was affirmed by a committee headed by Dr. Benito J. Legarda in 2008 and
recently by the Mojares Panel in 2018, the controversy still continued up to the
present time due to the pieces of evidence presented by the pro-Butuan camp.
Overview:
Philippine History is full of controversial issues. In fact some of them are still
unresolved up to the present time. Dealing with controversies takes extra care
because historians who have raised their arguments on them have their respective
points. Moreover, dealing with them would take great effort in reviewing historiographic
approaches employed in the gathering, analyzing and interpreting sources. The
existence of discourses concerning these controversies makes history alive and very
much interesting to study.
The site of the First Mass had been the subject of heated debates for the past
few decades. There were two leading contenders on this controversy–Limasawa and
Butuan. Although the then National Historical Institute through the Gancayco
Commission officially recognized Limasawa as the site of the First Mass and although
its finding was affirmed by a committee headed by Dr. Benito J. Legarda in 2008 and
recently by the Mojares Panel in 2018, the controversy still continued up to the
present time due to the pieces of evidence presented by the pro-Butuan camp.
OVERVIEW: Philippine History is full of controversial issues. In fact some of them are still unresolved up to the
present time. Dealing with controversies takes extra care because historians who have raised their arguments on
them have their respective points. Moreover, dealing with them would take great effort in reviewing historiographic
approaches employed in the gathering, analyzing and interpreting sources. The existence of discourses concerning
these controversies makes history alive and very much interesting to study. The site of the First Mass had been the
subject of heated debates for the past few decades. There were two leading contenders on this controversy–
Limasawa and Butuan. Although the then National Historical Institute through the Gancayco Commission
officially recognized Limasawa as the site of the First Mass and although its finding was affirmed by a committee
headed by Dr. Benito J. Legarda in 2008 and recently by the Mojares Panel in 2018, the controversy still
continued up to the present time due to the pieces of evidence presented by the pro-Butuan camp.
Michael, J. (2022). Chapter 3: “One Past but Many Histories”. Retrieved from
[Link]
histories/22053299

SITE OF THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES

OVERVIEW OF THE DISCUSSION

 The First Voyage Around the World by Antonio Pigafetta

 Butuan or Limasawa? The site of the First Mass in the Philippines

THE FIRST VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD BY ANTONIO PIGAFETTA

 March 16, 1521 (Saturday)

 March 17, 1521 (Sunday)
 March 18, 1521 (Monday)
 March 22, 1521 (Friday)
 March 25, 1521 - Passion Week (Monday)
 March 28, 1521 (Thursday)
 March 29, 1521 - Good Friday (Friday)
 March 30, 1521 (Saturday)
 March 31, 1521 - Easter Sunday (Sunday)

BUTUAN OR LIMASAWA?

 Butuan Tradition
 Shift in Opinion
 The Evidence for Limasawa
 Why then the Butuan Tradition?

SHIFT IN OPINION

 Emma Blair
 James Alexander Robertson
 Father Pablo Pastells

THE EVIDENCE OF LIMASAWA

The evidence from Albo’s logbook

The evidence of Pigafetta

 a. Pigafetta’s testimony regarding the route
b. The evidence of Pigafetta’s maps
c. The two native kings
d. The seven days at ‘Mazaua’
e. The Argument for Omission

Summary of the Evidence of Albo and Pigafetta

Confirmatory Evidence from Legazpi's Expedition

WHY THEN THE BUTUAN TRADITION?

 Importance of Butuan
 The Butuan Monument

ANTONIO PIGAFETTA

WHO IS HE? WHO IS ANTONIO PIGAFETTA?

 Also known by the name of Antonio Lombardo or Francisco Antonio Pigafetta

 He was a Venetian scholar and explorer
 Around 1491 when he was born at Vicenza, Republic of Venice or was known now as Italy and died at
the aged of 39-40 around 1531.

WHAT HE HAS DONE?

 He served on board the galleys of the Knights of Rhodes, and accompanied the papal nuncio, Monsignor
Chieregati, to Spain.
 He joined the expedition to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the flag of King
Charles I of Spain and, after Magellan's death in the Philippines, the subsequent voyage around the world.
 During the expedition, he served as Magellan's assistant and kept an accurate journal which later assisted
him in translating the Cebuano language.
 He was among the 18 survivors who returned to Spain in 1522.

IMPORTANT PERIODS

 March 16, 1521 (Saturday) - They encountered an island named Zamal which is three hundred leagues
distant from Latroni (Guam now)
 March 17, 1521 (Sunday) - The captain general landed on an unsettled island which is the right of Zamal
for security, rest, and water. He put up two tents on the shore and kill a swine for them.
 March 18, 1521 (Monday) - A boat (Balangay) with nine men approach them so the captain general
ordered that no one should move or say a word without his permission. Their chief (Datu) meets the captain
general and signaled that they are happy that Pigaffeta’s group arrived.
 March 22, 1521 (Friday) - The mentioned people who had promised to return, come about midday with
the presents that they had promised.
 March 25, 1521 - Passion Week (Monday) - They took the course between west and southwest and
passed four small islands Cenalo (Sigalo), Huinanghar (Hinnunangan), Ibusson (Hibbuson), and Abarien
(Cabalian).
BUTUAN TRADITION

 Butuan has long been believed as the site of the first mass.
 The monument is a testimonial to the Butuan tradition that remained vigorous until the end of the 19th
century.

17th CENTURY

The Butuan Tradition was already in possession in the middle of 17th century.

It was accepted without question by two Jesuit historians who got misled by their facts.

Two Jesuit Historians:

a. Father Francisco Colin S.J.

b. Father Francisco Combes S.J.

Colin and Combes gave different accounts of the route taken by Magellan. But they asserted that Magellan landed
in Butuan and there planted the cross in a solemn ceremony.

18th CENTURY

One passage in Colin seems have to be misunderstood which may misled some later writers, occurs in early section
of his book in which he described the island of Mindanao.

Colin does not say that Magellan first sighted the Cape of San Augustin and then sailed northwards along the
Pacific coast of Mindanao, rounded Siargao point and then westward to Butuan.

One of the major historians who made this error was the Augustinian fray Juan de la Concepcion whose 14-
volume History of the Philippines was published in Manila after his death.

Fray Juan misread his sources and mixed up several things.

In the late 18th and 19th century, there are writers who repeat Fray Juan’s error that the “Archipelago of San
Lazaro” was another name of Marianas Island.

19th CENTURY

 In the 19th century, the Butuan tradition was taken for granted and it is mentioned by writer after writer, each
copying from the previous one, and being in turn copied by those who came after.
 One of the important writers who accepted the Butuan Tradition was an Augustinian, Fray Joaquin Martinez
de Zuniga.
 The accumulated errors of three centuries are found in the work of Dominican friar, Valentin Morales y
Marin, whose two-volume treatise on the friars was published in Santo Tomas in Manila in 1901.
 Fray Valentin was merely following the account in the two works of the historian, Jose Montero y Vidal,
whose “El Archipiealgo Filipino” appeared in Madrid in 1886, followed by a year later by his three volume
“Historia General de Filipinas”.
 The Butuan tradition was accepted in the end of 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century.

SHIFT IN OPINION

 Blame was at first laid on the Americans Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson.
  They indeed contributed enormously to the shift in opinion but the man initially responsible for the shift
seems to have been a Spanish Jesuit scholar, Father Pablo Pastells S.J.

FATHER PABLO PASTELLS S.J.

 He was born in 1846 in Figueras, in the province of Gerona, Spain. He was ordained a priest in 1871,
and five years later came to the Philippines in 1875, after a brief stay in manila, he was assigned as a
missionary to Mindanao.
 He served on the Pacific Coast and took part in an expedition in 1884 that explored the Agusan River to its
sources.
 In 1887, he was transferred to the northern coast of Mindanao, with headquarters at Jasaan in Misamis
Oriental.

THE EVIDENCE FOR LIMASAWA

1. The Evidence of Alba’s Log-Book

2. The Evidence of Pigafetta

a. Pigafetta’s testimony regarding the route

b. The Evidence of Pigafetta’s map
 c. The Two Native Kings
d. The Seven Days in “Mazaua”
e. An Argument for Omission

3. Summary of the Evidence of Albo and Pigafetta

4. Confirmatory evidence from Legazpi’s expedition.

The Evidence of Alba’s Log-Book

 Francisco Albo joined the Magellan expedition as a pilot ("contra• maestre" )in Magellan's flagship
"Trinidad".
 Albo began keeping his own diary - merely only a log-book - on the voyage out, while they were sailing
southward in the Atlantic along the coast of South America, off Brazil.
 Albo does not mention the first mass in his logbook.

THE EVIDENCE OF PIGAFETTA

 The most complete account of Magellan expedition is that by Antonio Pigafetta. It was entitled “Primo
Viaggio Intomo Al Mondo” (First Voyage Around the World).
 Pigafetta was also a member of the expedition, and an eyewitness to the principal events including the
First Mass in what is known as the Philippine Archipelago but Magellan called it Island of Saint
Lazarus.

Pigafetta’s testimony regarding the route

Saturday, March 16, 1521 – They sighted a highland named “Zamal”

Sunday, March 17 – after sighting the Zamal, they landed on the other island named “Humunu” (Homonhon). Magellan also named the entire
archipelago “Island of Saint Lazarus”

Monday, March 18 - They saw boat coming towards and an exchange gift was affected. Magellan asked for food supplies.

Friday, March 22 – The natives returned with two boats and brought the supplies.

Monday, March 25 - The expedition weighed anchored and left the Island of Homonhon and sails to Leyte.

Thursday, March 28 – In the morning of the Holy Thursday, they anchored in an island called Mazaua and stayed there for seven days.

Thursday, April 4 – They left Mazaua and bound to Cebu. They were guided by the king of Mazaua.

Sunday, April 7 – They entered the harbor of “Zubu” (Cebu)

Evidence of Pigafetta’s Map

 First map (Blair and Robertson, Vol 33) – shows the Irge island of Samar, and the smaller islands of
Suluan, Abarien, Hiunangan and Humunu.
 Second map (BR 33) – a double map. One map shows the island of Mindanao and the other map shows the
southern tip of Basilan, and the Sulu Archipelago.
 Third map (BR 33) - shows the island of Mazaua in relation to islands of Leyte and to those of Bohol,
Gatighan and three islands of Camotes Group.

From a comparison of these maps, the following inferences seem justified:

1. Mazaua is a small island that lies southwestern tip of Ceilon (Leyte) and east of Bohol.
2. Mazaua in Pigafetta’s map lies equivalent to the actual position of Limasawa.
3. No way can Mazaua be identified with Butuan.
The Two Kings

 There is evidence in the presence of the two native kings at Mazaua during Magellan’s visit.
 One is the king of Mazaua that guided Magellan in their expedition to Cebu.
 The other one was a relative, one of the brothers of the king of Mazaua as Pigafetta says, namely the king
of Butuan.

Seven Days at Mazaua

 Thursday, March 28 - they anchored near an island where they seen a light the night before. An exchange
gift happened between the natives and Magellan.
 Friday, March 29 – Magellan sent his slave interpreter to ask to king to provide them some food supplies.
The king gave them supplies and bring the two members of Magellan ashore. One of them is Pigafetta
 Saturday, March 30 - Pigafetta and his companion spent their previous night drinking and feasting with
the native king and its son
 Sunday, March 31 - Magellan sent priest ashore with some men to prepare for the mass. They also plant
the cross on the summit of the highest hill.
 Monday, April 1 – Magellan sent men to help them harvest but no work was done.
 Tuesday, April 2 – They work on the harvest the next two days.
 Thursday, April 4 – They leave Mazaua and bound to Zubu (Cebu)

An Argument from Omission

Butuan is a river settlement on Agusan River. The beach called Masao is in the delta of the said river.

After Magellan’s death, survivors of his expedition went to Mindanao and seems went to Butuan.

SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE OF ALBO AND PIGAFETTA

 Magellan’s expedition entered the Philippines in Samar and dropped anchored at Homonhon and stayed for
a week. They sail to Leyte and anchored in Mazaua and there they stayed for a week, celebrated Mass and
planted the cross on the hill.
 The island of Mazaua lies on the North. Its position corresponds to the latitude of Limasawa.

CONFIRMATORY EVIDENCE FROM LEGAZPI'S EXPEDITION

 Legazpi expedition sailed in 1565, 44 years after Magellan’s death.

 They inquired about Mazaua from Camotuan, natives of the Cabalian.
 Legazpi ships rounded the island of Panae and anchored on Mazaua.

WHY THEN THE BUTUAN TRADITION?

  First, the Butuan tradition is based on the secondhand information.
 Second, Butuan tradition is suggested by Pastells.
 Third, Butuan tradition must be remembered that it is erroneous as to the site of the First Mass, is not
entirely without validity.

Importance of Butuan

 Philippine historians and students should be awakened about the importance of Butuan.
 Pigafetta himself is a witness of that importance. He tells us the splendors of the kingdom of Butuan.
 Butuan was an important trading port for inter-island commerce. Butuan is the first place in Mindanao
where Christian mission was established.

The Butuan Monument

 The Butuan Monument was erected in 1872 at Magallanes, near Butuan.

 In 1953, a petition was sent to National Historical Committee to rehabilitate and re-erect the Butuan
Monument.
 On December 11, 1953, they passed a resolution agreeing to comply with the petition for rehabilitation.
 Despite of the resolution, the Historical Committee did nothing to rehabilitate.

THANK YOU!!

Calinisan, R. (2020). Site of First Mass in the Philippines. Retrieved from [Link]
first-mass-in-the-philippines/

SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

WHERE WAS IT HELD? BUTUAN OR LIMAWASA

There is a controversy regarding the site of the first Mass ever celebrated on Philippine soil. Pigafetta tells us that it
was held on Easter Sunday, the 31st of March 1521, on an island called “Mazaua". Two native chieftains were in
attendance: the rajah of Mazaua and the rajah of Butuan. After the Mass the crowd went up a little hill and planted a
wooden cross upon its summit. The subject of controversy is the identity of this place which Pigafetta calls
"Mazaua," There are two conflicting claims as to its identity: one school of thought points to the little island south of
Leyte which in the maps is called Limasawa; the other school rejects that claim and points instead to the beach
called Masao at the mouth of the Agusan River in northern Mindanao, near what was then the village (now the city)
of Butuan.

The Butuan Tradition

The Butuan claim rests upon a tradition that was almost unanimous and unbroken for three centuries, namely the
17th, the 18th and the [Link] the strength of that tradition and embodying it, a monument was erected in 1872
near the mouth of the Agusan River at a spot that was then within the municipal boundaries of Butuan, but which
today belongs to the separate municipality of Magallanes, named after Ferdinand Magellan.

The monument was a brick pillar on which was a marble slab that contained an inscription which might be translated
as follows: To the Immortal Magellan: the People of Butuan with their Parish Priest and the Spaniards resident
therein, to commemorate his arrival and the celebration of the First Mass on this site on the 8th of April 1521.
Erected in 1872, under the District Governor Jose Ma. Carvallo.
The monument was erected apparently at the instigation of the parish priest of Butuan, who at the time was a
Spanish friar of the Order of Augustinian Recollects. The date given for the first Mass (8 April 1521) may be an
obvious error, or it may be a clumsy and anachronistic attempt to translate the original date in terms of the Gregorian
calendar. In any case, that monument is a testimonial to the tradition that remained vigorous until the end of the 19th
century, namely, that Magellan and his expedition landed at Butuan and celebrated there the first Mass ever offered
on Philippine soil.

SHIFT

The Butuan tradition was already in possession by the middle of the 17th century: so much so that it was accepted
without question by two Jesuit historians who otherwise were quite careful of their facts.

One of these historians was Father Francisco Colin S.J. whose Labor Evangelica was first published in Madrid in
1663, three years after his death. The work was reissued 240 years later in a magnificent three-volume edition
annotated by Father Pablo Pastells S.J. (Madrid, 1903).

The other Jesuit writer of the mid-17th century was Father Francisco Combés S.J. who, like Colin, had lived and
worked as a missionary in the Philippines, and whose Historia de Mindanao y Jolo was printed in Madrid in 1667,
two years after the author's death and five years after Colin's work was published. Combés History of Mindanao was
also reissued 230 years afterwards in a handsome edition edited by Wenceslao Retana assisted by Father Pastells. In
his account of Magellan's voyage, Combés gives a somewhat different version of the route taken by the Discoverer.

Colin and Combés Compared. - It is to be noted that both Colin and Combés picture Magellan as visiting both
Butuan and Limasawa. In Colin's account, Magellan went first to Butuan, then to Limasawa and from thence to
Cebu. Combés, on the other hand, mentions two visits to Limasawa: in his version, Magellan visits Limasawa first;
from there he goes to Butuan; then he returns to Limasawa and thence to Cebu.

Both Colin and Combés agree that it was from Limasawa and with the help of Limasawa's chieftain that the
Magellan expedition went to Cebu. Both Colin and Combés also agree that Magellan arrived in Cebu on the 7th of
April 1521: that is to say, on the Octave of Easter, or one week after the first Mass which — in this tradition – was
supposed to have been celebrated at Butuan.

THE SHIFT IN OPINION

How then did the shift in opinion – from Butuan to Limasawa – come about? How was the Butuan tradition - so well
entrenched for three centuries — finally dislodged? Some recent defenders of the Butuan tradition have blamed the
shift of opinion on two Americans, namely Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, whose 55-volume
collection of documents on the Philippine Islands was published in Cleveland from 1903 to 1909. But the “blame”
(if blame it is) does not rest alone upon Blair and Robertson. They indeed contributed enormously to the shift in
opinion but the man initially responsible for the shift seems to have been a Spanish Jesuit scholar. Father Pablo
Pastells S.J.

The shift in opinion from Butuan to Limasawa was due to a rediscovery and a more attentive study of two primary
sources on the subject: namely, Pigafetta 's account and Albo's log. What the effect of that study was may be seen in
the change in Pastell's thinking.

LIMASAWA

THE EVIDENCE FOR LIMASAWA

We now come to the evidence in favor of Limasawa. The evidence may be outlined as follows:

1. The evidence of Albo's Log-Book

2. The evidence of Pigafetta

(a) Pigafetta 's testimony regarding the route;

(b) The evidence of Pigafetta's map;

(c) The two native kings;

(d) The seven days at “Mazaua";

(e) An argument from omission.

3. Summary of the evidence of Albo and Pigafetta.

4. Confirmatory evidence from the Legazpi expedition.

The Evidence of Albo's Log-Book

Albo joined the Magellan expedition as a pilot (“contramaestre”) in Magellan's flagship “Trinidad”. He was one of
the eighteen survivors who returned with Sebastian Elcano on the “Victoria" after having circumnavigated the
world. Albo began keeping his own diary -- merely only a log-book — on the voyage out, while they were sailing
southward in the Atlantic along the coast of South America, off Brazil. His account of their entry into Philippine
waters (or, as it was then called, the archipelago of San Lazaro)

The Evidence from Pigafetta

The most complete account of the Magellan expedition is that by Antonio Pigafetta entitled Primo viaggio intomo al
mondo (First Voyage Around the World). Like Albo, he was a member of the expedition and was therefore an
eyewitness of the principal events which he describes, including the first Mass in what is now known as the
Philippine Archipelago, but which Magellan called the Islands of Saint Lazarus. Of Pigafetta's work there are two
excellent English translations, one by Robertson (from the Italian) and another by Skelton (from the French).
In examining the evidence from Pigafetta, we shall consider five points: (a) Pigafetta's testimony as regards the route
taken by the expedition from the Pacific Ocean to Cebu; (b) The evidence of Pigafetta's map; (c) The presence of
two native kings; (d) The events of the seven days at the island of “Mazaua “; (e) An argument from omission.

The Legazpi Expedition

There is confirmatory evidence from the documents of the Legazpi expedition, which sailed into Philippine waters
in 1565, forty-four years after Magellan. One of the places that Legazpi and his pilots were anxious to visit was
precisely Mazaua, and to this end they inquired about “Mazaua” from Camotuan and his companions, natives of the
village of Cabalian at the southeastern end of the island of Leyte. Guided by these natives, the Legazpi ships
rounded the island of “Panae” (Panaon), which was separated from Leyte by a narrow strait, and anchored off
“Mazaua” — but they found the inhabitants to be hostile, apparently as a result of Portuguese depredations that had
occurred in the four-decade interval between the Legazpi and the Magellan expeditions.

The geography of “Mazaua"

The question may be asked: If “Mazaua” is the little island of Limasawa, why did Magellan go there? Why go to an
insignificant little island; why not instead to the larger islands? The answer must be sought in geography. He was
coasting southward down the eastern coast of Leyte (Albo's “Seilani”; Pigafetta's "Ceylon") with Hibuson Island on
his left. This took him down to the southern tip of what looks like a part of Leyte but is really a separate island, the
island of Panaon. When his ships rounded the tip of Panaon, the wind was blowing westward from the Pacific. It
was late March: in March and April in this part of the Philippines, the east wind is strong. It is what the people of
Limasawa call the “Dumagsa”, the east wind. Sailing with the wind, Magellan's vessels would find themselves
going west or southwest, toward the island of Limasawa. Having seen a light on the island one night, they deeded
the following day to anchor off it.

BUTUAN

Why Then the Butuan Tradition?

 Chain Tradition
 Pastells
 Butuan Tradition

Butuan's importance is underlined by the fact that it was the first place in Mindanao where a Christian
mission was established. It was served, first by the Jesuits and later by the Augustinian Recollects.

Thus, the importance of Butuan in the history of the Philippines is in no way dependent upon its claim to
have been the site of the first Mass in the Philippines. To reject that claim is in no way to belittle Butuan's
importance. Butuan in its own right deserves an honorable place in the study of Philippine culture and
history.

Quiz
1) When was the first mass?

2 - 4) Give 3 evidences of Limasawa.

5) How many centuries did the Butuan Tradition Last?

6 - 7) Who were the two Historians that claimed the first mass to be in Butuan?

8 - 9) Who were the two (2) primary sources on the shift of opinion between Limasawa and Butuan?

10) Where do you think the first mass was held?

Delos Santos, D. (2018). Site Of the First Mass-Philippine History. Retrieved from
[Link]