Andre Pristine G.

Lim 8:00 AM – 10: 00 AM

BSN2 block B Mr. Rodel L. Baldado
History 1 – Readings in Philippine History 09/13/2021
History went haywire.

A realization struck while reading multiple sources. I have but an inkling of interest in
history to the point that the meaning of precolonial just came to me in my 19 years of living and
15 years of studying. It’s the past, we should forget it. If you don’t find sense in that statement, I
do believe that even if I won’t care much about history someone else would.

Antonio Pigafetta’s First Voyage around the World is a very substantial piece of history,
covering details of the episodes of Magellan’s fleet making it one of the primary sources of not
just Philippine history, but the history of the world as its name suggests, “First Voyage around
the World” meaning their sails weren’t just visible on the shores of the Philippines but in other
countries as well. However, in this reflection the spotlight is pointed to Antonio Pigafetta’s entry
on the precolonial Philippine era. A series of events happened once Magellan and his crew set
foot on the islands of the archipelago. The presently called Philippines was coined the term
archipelago of St. Lazarus by the foreign fleets. Pigafetta described Homonhon islands as a
“Watering Place of Good Signs” because of the island’s abundance with gold. Which, in my
assumption was a sign that the Philippines is a potential land for colonization. On the 25 th of
March they set sail and landed in Mazaua where Magellan and the leaders/kings of the island
exchanged pleasantries and gifts. In Pigafetta’s entry, the first Catholic Mass of the Philippines
happened in Mazaua led by the chaplain, Father Pedro de Valderrama of Ferdinand Magellan's
expedition in which afterwards, Magellan ordered a cross to be planted as a sign of a place that
he had reached in his voyage as tasked by his emperor now presently called as Magellan’s cross
and become a known landmark in the Philippines. A week later, Magellan planned to continue
their voyage with intentions of going to the other islands of the archipelago. On April 7 th, they
reached the port of Cebu where Magellan preached of Christianity to the Indians where the first
baptism of the Philippines happened and was performed by their chaplain, Father Pedro de
Valderrama to Cebu’s chieftain, Raia Humabon now baptized as Don Carlos followed by the
baptism of all the island’s inhabitants. Magellan also gifted an image of the Infant Jesus or Santo
Niño de Cebú making it the oldest Christian artifact in Philippine history. Magellan and his crew
also went to a sick man in the island and baptized him where Pigafetta recorded that after
baptismal, the man was able to speak creating a miracle. On the 26 th of April same year 1521, a
man from Mactan named Zula asked for Magellan’s aid in fighting a chieftain named Lapulapu
who refused the influence of the foreign fleets that stepped foot on their land. When Magellan’s
forces arrived and outnumbered, Magellan met death’s door creating the text in our history
books, the infamous battle of Mactan that we Filipinos know today.

I can’t really call it pretty spot on as it is the primary source of the incident and therefore,
I have no idea on how much of it true or romanticized. But what a trip, just made it clear that
Magellan did not actually circumnavigate since he didn’t live long enough to travel a whole
circumference of the globe, just an arc of it then he died. Before he left the world, he brought us
1
Andre Pristine G. Lim 8:00 AM – 10: 00 AM
BSN2 block B Mr. Rodel L. Baldado
History 1 – Readings in Philippine History 09/13/2021
a lot of firsts. First mass, first baptism, and first Christian relic. To the recorder Pigafetta, as
stated I don’t how much of it is true since Pigafetta is also one of the voyagers of the ship of
course he sides more on the feelings and thoughts of the fleet, not to the islanders or the Indians
who had no clue that their religious practices would drastically change and had no idea of the
colonization that was yet to happen. Just as Pigafetta’s First Voyage around the World is most
likely written in the point of view of the Spanish people, although with the same primary source
to use as reference, the Philippine’s version of the Battle of Mactan is a bit different. For us
Filipinos that was the starting point, that the Spaniards are always to be presented in a bad light
since they did colonize us for hundreds of years and that Lapulapu is a hero who fought for our
independence and did not submit despite other tribes making friends and following Magellan’s
words and influence. As a result, we’d say remarks like: why did you colonize us when we
minded our own business? Why did you suddenly attack us? And the like. Well, clearly only one
side was considered and got glorified without looking at the totality of the situation. In
Pigafetta’s text Magellan and the rest of the crew were making friends of the other islanders from
other parts of the archipelago, and he wanted to have a civil conversation with Lapulapu in
which was replied to with a poison arrow that ended his life. Magellan travelled towards Mactan
with good intentions as per written by Pigafetta which Lapulapu rebutted with violence. And
what did they get? Dead, unsalvageable people and a new captain to continue the voyage. Unlike
the other chieftains/leaders/kings of the other islands who welcomed Magellan with open arms,
in Mactan they had war. So, I can’t really say who’s in the wrong or right in the situation since
one wanted to protect what’s important to him and the other, although with good intentions came
uninvited. Then a time skip happened suddenly 300 plus years of colonization took place until
we decided to fight for independence again.
I pondered of it a bit more and I can’t seem imagine Philippine history be any different
from what it is today. Imagine a different country had come first before Magellan’s fleet. The
whole history would change from the way dress, our language and dialects, the architecture, the
food, and basically everything there is that was affected. I really wonder what our language and
dialects would be if it weren’t for the colonizers. Much more on how much of our original
Filipino dialects and words are still alive and in use today because 300 years is a lot for change.
Like how a year could deplete a country’s economy, how a day of realization would change your
entire future and how a spur in the moment would be enough to decide that you want to fight for
your country. Philippine history in the minds of us average people would simply be Magellan vs
Lapulapu in Mactan then time skip to Rizal, then the KKK, to the first president, America, and
Japan and more events after that and now present. Where did the 333 years go? How did we go
from wearing bahag to filipinianas and barong tagalog? A mystery that would’ve been one
search away but would still be a mystery to me as always.
History is very complicated, it’s relevant in a sense but I don’t want to have discussions
about it further since you need to compare a lot of sources and you would be overwhelmed of
which one to follow since sources are all biased. I would willingly fail to recognize a piece of
history as unbiased since it is recorded from someone’s perspective. Even in Pigafetta’s work he
lamented with the Spaniards how they were thrown under the bus by their enslaved interpreter
and how pitiful Magellan looked when he bought time for his crew to flee. But in Philippine

2
Andre Pristine G. Lim 8:00 AM – 10: 00 AM
BSN2 block B Mr. Rodel L. Baldado
History 1 – Readings in Philippine History 09/13/2021
history? Spaniards are bad, Spaniards are in the wrong, Lapulapu is to be glorified and is in the
right. But then again there were mentions of gold and gold mines in the text as if they were
hungry for it which answers the question on why on earth, they would colonize our 7,000
islands.

3
Andre Pristine G. Lim 8:00 AM – 10: 00 AM
BSN2 block B Mr. Rodel L. Baldado
History 1 – Readings in Philippine History 09/13/2021

References
Bautista, J. (2006). The Rebellion and the Icon: Holy Revolutions in the Philippines. Asian Journal of
Social Science, 34(2), 291–310. Retrieved 9 12, 2021

Blakemore, E. (2019, September 20). Magellan was first to sail around the world, right? Think again.
Retrieved from National Geographic:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/magellan-first-sail-around-world-think-
again

Pigfetta, A. (2008). The Philippine Islands 1493-1898. (E. Helen, & J. A. Robinson, Eds.) BiblioBazaar, LLC.
Retrieved 9 12, 2021, from https://books.google.com/?id=HKjtO92HokIC

Candelaria and Alporha.(2018). Readings in Philippine History. Quezon City: RSBI