FROM THE STANDS - Domini M.

Torrevillas (The Philippine Star) - July 17, 2018 - 12:00am

The National Historical Institute (NHI) and Congress, through RA 2733 enacted in 1960 declared that the
“First Mass” in the Philippines was held at Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte.

Last month, 200 participants signed a declaration urging the continuation of the debate on the exact site
of the first mass – Limasawa; Mazaua, between Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur; the island of Baug in
Magallanes, Agusan del Norte, or in other places?

Sr. Marie Rosanne Mallillin, SPC, PhD, chancellor, St. Paul University system in Surigao City, wrote friends
and colleagues that the Surigao Declaration on the first Easter mass was the result of the collective
wisdom of the participants in the symposium on the “Flat World Notion versus Open Mind: A
Symposium on the Birth of Christianity in the Philippines.”

The participants, she wrote, are committed to “pursue the historic truth regarding the topic on the birth
of Christianity in the Philippines based on honesty, independent mindedness, critical truth and truth only
wherever the search leads and whatever its finding. … Truth for us is a matter of conscience and
ultimately the truth we pursue with regard to the first Easter mass in the Philippines in God’s truth, and
once we find this historic truth, it is our solemn duty to proclaim it in the public interest of the Filipino
people.”

The symposium was held on June 21, 2018, at St. Paul University Surigao Basic Education campus in
Surigao City

The first Easter mass, Sr. Mallillin reminds us, was held by the Portuguese explorer and navigator
Ferdinand Magellan and crew members of his “Armada deMolucca,” sponsored by King Charles I of
Spain, and officiated by Spanish priest Fr. Pedro de Valderrama on March 31, 1521 in Mazzawa, thereby
giving birth to permanently influential Christianity in the Philippines.

The controversy on the site of the first mass has produced three versions. The “Butuan” proponents
maintain that Antonio Pigafetta, official chronicler of the Magellan voyage, simply named the historic
place as “Mazaua, Mazzaua, Macangor, Mazaba” (depending on the version of the manuscript), has a set
of descriptions that fit the topography of Butuan in 1521 up to the present.

The latest claim is for the island of Baug in the municipality of Magallanes, Agusan del Norte (the
location of the 1872 Magellan Memorial) which then was the Spanish settlement of Butuan) as
distinguished from the native Butuan settlements) during the Spanish period. This argues that the place
that Pigafetta referred to as “the island where we were,” where they finally anchored in the evening of
Thursday of March 28, 1521 Julian, the hunting grounds and meeting place of the two brothers, Raia
Calambu and Raisa Siaiu, is the site of the first Easter Day mass.

The eminent Hawaii-based Filipino anthropologist Dr. Eric Casino concludes that Siaiu and Calambu were
Higaonon/Manobo chieftains rather than Waray rulers.
In view of the approaching celebration of 500 years of the Christianization of the Philippines, Sr. Mallillin
and the Surigaonon Heritage Center (SHC) under Dr. Fernando Almeda Jr., and in cooperation with
retired University of the Philippines history professor Dr. Leslie Bauzon, organized the symposium in an
attempt to establish the historical truth, preceded by a two-day field visit to Limasawa Island, Baug
Island, the island of barangay Masao and other places – Suatan and the Bood Promontory, all of which
are within Butuan City, to look at the sites claimed to be where the first mass was held.

The 200 symposium participants consisting of selected historians, academics, scholars, priests, nuns,
teachers and other avid students of history who joined the field trips urged that the “Limasawa Island vs.
Masao-Suatan-Bood vs. Baug Island” debate should be reopened immediately instead of being closed
permanently.

According to the Surigao Declaration, based on the ocular inspections made and the papers presented at
the symposium there are numerous, undeniable, compelling reasons for believing that it is highly
possible for the first mass to have been celebrated in locations rather than in Limasawa.

Among these are the long historical tradition of over 400 years observed by the people of Butuan,
especially in the present municipality of Magallanes, Agusan del Norte; a commemorate marker erected
in the island of Buag, Magallanes, in 1972 by Gov. Jose Maria Carvallo of the district/province of Surigao
of which Butuan and Agusan were then under its jurisdiction; vast archeological artifacts displayed in
museums and in private collections, consisting of porcelain, ceramics and Chinaware in three areas of
Agusan del Norte; the abundance, up to today, of gold “some as big as chicken’s eggs) and mined in the
coastal towns of Malimono and its barangay Masgad on the western coast of Surigao del Norte, the
presence of Balanghai or Butuan boats in Butuan remnants of which have been found in the vicinity of
Masao-Suatan; the Pigafetta map showing Mazzaua as a big island at the south of the islands of Bohol
and Leyte, with details showing indication of the three settlements of Butuan, Calaghan, and Mazzaua
along the same coastline, and at the same time showing the approximate site of the Easter Day mass.

Finally, the Declaration cites as a compelling reason the admission later by Dr. Gregorio Zaide, noted
Filipino historian, that he made a mistake in choosing Limasawa. His mistake was confirmed by his
daughter Dr. Sonia Zaide.

Dr. Rolando Borrinaga, a staunch Limasawa proponent, also admitted later that he made a mistake saying
the site should be in Barangay Triana instead of Magallanes in Limasawa where the shrine is located and
the cross planted on a promontory there.

In view of the foregoing facts, the signers of the Surigao Declaration on the First Easter Mass firmly
resolve to request the NHI/NHCP to reopen the Limasawa vs. Butuan discourse and revisit the whole
historical narrative on the matter.The Declaration finishes with an uncomely statement: “Only a fool does
not change his/her mind. Only a bigger fool does not change his/her mind when confronted with
compelling and convincing facts.”

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/07/17/1834176/let-limasawa-debate-

roll#lO6sv6UdCVrzTe7a.99
Butuan historians ask CBCP to resolve first mass controversy in city’s favor

By

ERWIN MASCARIÑAS

APRIL 4, 2012 7:51 AM

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BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/03 April) – Decades after the debate on where the first Catholic mass in the
archipelago took place has remained unresolved, local historians yesterday said they have new data and
evidences to prove that the “honor” belongs to the city.

They said they are hoping that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) would finally
declare that the first mass was held in Mazaua, a place in Butuan now called Masao, not in Limasawa
Island in Leyte as stated in history books.

View First Mass in a larger map

Speaking before the mass marking the 491st anniversary of the event on Saturday, March 31, local
historian and president of the Butuan City Heritage Society Greg Hontiveros said they are confident their
new data and evidences can now convince critics and skeptics.

In an interview yesterday, Honteviros said “it took us a long time to finalize our research and gather more
evidence. We felt the confidence, we finally completed the quest in finding the truth about this issue. It
was a huge effort, long process and time that we took to have the position of Butuan.”

He said the CBCP has already requested an inquiry and a resolution to investigate the first mass
controversy since the event is very symbolic and important to the church.

Accounts said that on March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday, Friar Pedro Valderrama celebrated mass together
with Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his men. With the Spaniards were the ruler of Mazaua
Rajah Siaiu and his brother Rajah Colambu, the ruler of Butuan. Afterwards they planted a cross on the
highest hill and stayed in the area for seven days and helped in the rice harvest for two days together
with more than a hundred of the Rajah’s men.

“When they arrived on Good Friday, they were harvesting rice for two days, that means to say, the place
where they went was the Mazaua, not in Limasawa but somewhere in Mindanao. Because they
harvested for two days, what can you harvest in Limasawa when there was nothing [there]?” said Father
Joesilo Amalla, curator of Butuan Diocesan Liturgical Museum.
“More than a hundred of people helped in the harvest, meaning it was a huge agricultural area. I’ve
been to Limasawa a lot of times. They have said that the rice harvested came from the surrounding
island, and they said they have harvested in the island itself. So their claim is wrong,” Amalla added.

He pointed out that one important evidence is the Yale Codex, which according to Magellan scholars, is
more impressive than the Ambrosiana Codex used in the past to justify both claims.

He said the document is now in the hands of Yale University while the other two French manuscripts are
in Paris, in the French National Library.

The priest said they included the other versions of Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler of Magellan’s
voyage, because there are subtle indicators that can be used.

Amalla also presented the manuscript for a soon-to-be-published book titled The Anthology of the First
Mass Controversy in the Philippines which he hopes would shed light on the CBCP inquiry.

On March 31, 1998, the National Historical Institute chose to adopt the finding of the Gancayco Panel
which dismissed the Ginés de Mafra account as fake and forthwith unilaterally reverted the discussion to
pre-de Mafra context which was back to whether the site of the first mass was Limasawa, the isle
without anchorage, or Butuan, which is not an isle.

The NHI reaffirmed its previous pronouncements that Limasawa is Magellan’s port. (Erwin
Mascarinas/MindaNews)

Naganap ang unang misa sa Pilipinas noong araw ng Linggo ng Pagkabuhay, Marso 31, 1521[1] sa isang
pulo ng Mazaua ayon sa mga saksing sina Antonio Pigafetta, Gines de Mafra, Francisco Albo, ang Henoes
na piloto, at Martín de Ayamonte, sa lokasyon na malawakang tinatawag sa ngayon —bagaman may
kamalian—bilang Limasawa, isang maliit na pulong bayan sa dulo ng lalawigan ng Katimugang Leyte, na
sinasabi ring pinagsilangan ng Romanong Katolisismo sa bansa.

Idinaos ang makasaysayang pangyayari nang naitakdang dumaong ang Portuges na nabigador na si
Fernando Magallanes sa kanluraning daungan ng pulo ng Mazaua.
1st Mass controversy:

It's Limasawa

By Jani Arnaiz

Inquirer Visayas logoFOUR hundred seventy-eight years and the celebration begins.

Now, Southern Leyteños and the rest of the Filipino people could heave a sigh of relief over the
controversy surrounding the site of the First Mass which ushered in the Christianization of the
Philippines. The issue is resolved.

mass.jpgThe first ever Christian Mass in the country on March 31, 1521 was celebrated in the island of
Limasawa, south of Leyte and not in Butuan City, so declared the National Historical Institute.

The finding was reached by the Gancayco Commission--composed of retired Supreme Court Justice
Emilio A. Gancayco as chair, lawyer Bartolome C. Fernandez and Dr. Maria Luisa T. Camagay--which was
created in May 1996 by the NHI to ''resolve a very sensitive historical issue facing our country and our
people.''

''It is the . . . view of the panel that, upon a preponderance of evidence culled from the primary sources,
the first ever Christian Mass on Philippine soil on March 31, 1521 was celebrated in the island of
Limasawa south of Leyte,'' concluded the commission in its 24-page decision.

In its conclusion, the commission said ''the panel closes the presentation confident that any and all
lingering doubts regarding such historical detail are now put to rest. Paraphrasing what the Bible
proclaims, the truth about a bygone era in Philippine history shall set us free.''

The Gancayo Commission submitted its findings to Samuel K. Tan, chair and executive director of the NHI
on March 20, 1998. But this finding was only formally turned over to Limasawa officials on March 31,
during the 478th anniversary of the First Mass.
It was a poignant event for the spectators of the celebration when Violeta Barcelon Omega, director of
the Don Jose Ecleo Memorial Foundation College of Science and Technology in Surigao del Norte,
handed over the original NHI decision given to her by Tan to Limasawa Mayor Albert Esclamado.

Tan also formally announces through a press statement that he has adopted the finding reached by the
Gancayo Commission, to put to a close the Limasawa-Butuan controversy.

Findings

The commission concluded that the First Mass was held in Limasawa after it found that:

l The most complete and reliable account of the Magellan expedition into Philippine shores in 1521 is
that of Antonio Pigafetta which is deemed as the only credible primary source of reports on the
celebration of the first Christian Mass on Philippine soil.

l James Robertson's English translation of the original Italian manuscript of Pigaffeta's account is most
reliable for being ''faithful'' to the original text as duly certified by the University of the Philippines'
Department of European Language.

l Pigafetta's Mazaua, the site of the first Christian Mass held on Philippine soil, is an island lying off the
southwestern tip of Leyte while Masao in Butuan is not an island but a barangay of Butuan City located
in a delta of the Agusan River along the coast of Northern Mindanao. The position of Mazaua, as plotted
by Pigafetta, matched that of Limasawa.

l The measurement of distances between Homonhon and Limasawa between Limasawa and Cebu, as
computed by the pro-Limasawa group, matches or approximates the delineations made by Pigafetta of
the distances between Homonhon and Mazaua and between Mazaua and Cebu.

l Magellan's fleet took a route from Homonhon to Mazaua and from Mazaua to Cebu that did not at any
time touch Butuan or any other part of Mindanao. The docking facilities at Limasawa did not pose any
problem for Magellan's fleet which anchored near or at some safe distance from the island of the
eastern shore.
To the Gancayco Commission, ''History is both a useful and fascinating subject. As one travels through
time, one is bound to find it rich in stories. Every kind of testimony is drawn upon from eyewitness
accounts to statistical tables. Personal records, such as diaries, can certainly tell more than the official
documents.

''One of the great delights of time travel is encountering the unfamiliar for that is what brings history to
life. We use history, not to tell us what happened or to explain the past, but make the past alive so that it
can explain us and make a future possible,'' the commission said, quoting from Allan Bloom's The Closing
of the American Mind.

In writing and end to the controversy, the commission said it proceeded with utmost care.

It said that the conclusion was made to enlighten the current generation and remove all confusion about
where the First Mass was held in the Philippines.

Paraphrasing Adlai Stevenson's, ''We can chart our future clearly and wisely when we know the path that
has led to the present,'' the panel said: ''The path is now conclusively established to have begun at the
island of Limasawa where the first ever Christian Mass on Philippine soil was offered on March 31, 1521
by Ferdinand Magellan and his men.''

The controversy

As recounted by Pigafetta in his chronicle of Magellan's expedition to the Philippine islands starting
March 16, 1521, the first Christian Mass celebrated on Philippine soil was made in an island which he
called ''Mazaua.''

The precise identity and location of this venue of the First Mass became the subject of writings of
historians and scholars whose differing interpretations of Pigafetta's account would eventually spawn
lead to a controversy.
For three centuries, it was the prevailing belief that Pigafetta's Mazaua was a place called Masao near
Butuan City in Northern Mindanao. The Butuan belief persisted from the 17th to the 19th century.

Limasawa was identified as the most likely venue in 1894 with the publication of a manuscript of
Pigafetta's account of Magellan's voyage--the Ambrosian codex in Milan--in its Italian text.

This work written by Pigafetta was made available to scholars including American James Alexander
Robertson who translated into English the original text with the help of Emma Blair. The translation was
incorporated in Robertson's ''The Philippine Islands.''

According to Fr. Miguel A. Bernal, SJ, an author, the only versions of Pigafetta's account available to
previous scholars were ''summaries and garbled translations.''

To understand why Pigafetta's original text was not available to past scholars, Fr. Peter Schreurs, M.S.C.,
Ph.D., parish priest of Magallanes town where Butuan's Mazaua is located, said the manuscript given to
Charles V was never published and was considered lost.

Fr. Schreurs in his book ''The Search for Pigafetta's Mazaua,'' said the other copy of the book was given to
the mother of the King of France.

The said book was mentioned in various reports between 1526 and 1534 when an abridged French
version was produced and translated into Italian. This was later used by authors and cartographers.

But the controversy did not stop there. In 1995, the Masao group through Butuan Rep. Charito Plaza,
initiated the filing of a bill, to ''Declare the site of Masao, Butuan City, as the place where the first Easter
Mass in the Philippines was held.'' The bill was not acted upon.

The bill, which aggravated the controversy, was obviously an attempt to repeal Republic Act 2733, a law
enacted in 1960, ''declaring the site in Magallanes, Limasawa island in the province of Leyte, where the
First Mass in the Philippines was held as a national shrine.''
It was in 1971 when residents and visitors saw the grandeur of the First Mass celebration prepared by
former President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, who is from Leyte. The celebration was the
450th anniversary.

Pedencio Olojan, 90, said he could not remember any activities at all related to the First Mass.

But he recalled that when he was 18 years old he was digging for treasure with several other treasure
hunters. He failed to find any treasure but a friend sold him an artifact for P100. That was 81 years ago.
Some of the treasures which his friend dug up are now in a museum in Butuan City.

Deafening silence

With the wealthy Plaza clan backing the Masao claim, Southern Leyte could only answer with a
deafening silence.

Lawyer Joaquin Chung Jr., whose research on the First Mass brought him to Europe, blamed the past
political leaders of Southern Leyte for not taking up the cause of Limasawa while Plaza lambasted the
Limasawa claim in the halls of Congress.

Southern Leyte then belonged to Club 20, the term coined for the country's 20 poorest provinces.

But former Rep. Roger Mercado and Gov. Oscar Tan stood up for Limasawa in 1996 when they prepared
a feast to mark the 475th anniversary of the First Mass. Frantic preparations were made to usher in VIP
visitors and dignitaries who were expected to attend the jubilee celebration.

In the end, it was only Rhett Pelaez, then presidential assistant for the Visayas, who came. Pelaez then
declared: ''It is immaterial whether the site of the First Mass was in Masao or Limasawa, what matters is
we are here celebrating.''

Victory day
But on March 31, Limasawa Island saw the arrival not only of mainland Leyte residents but also of
foreign dignitaries, led by Enrique Michel, Mexican ambassador to the Philippines, to celebrate
Limasawa's ''victory.''

The 478th anniversary was a feast as the province and Limasawa were celebrating not only the decision
of NHI but also the donation made by Rev. Vicente Dayagbil Sr., bishop of the Philippine Independent
Church, of the lot where the First Mass Shrine now sits.

Leyteños also celebrated the restoration of the shrine's chapel, courtesy of the Maasin Knight of
Columbus and the pledges made by the governments of Spain and Portugal to help finance the
construction of a 50-foot monument of the Risen Christ at the highest point of the island to
commemorate the First Mass and the first recorded meeting between Eastern and Western cultures.

For Gov. Rosette Yñiguez-Lerias, the 478th celebration was also the start of the social, educational and
economic exchanges of East and West.