Controversies and Conflicting

Views in Philippine History

CHAPTER 2

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-ND.

INTRODUCTION
It was often said that Philippines do have different views
in connection to its history. In this chapter we may able
to highlight the conflicting and controversial issues in
Philippine history that may shed light as to be aware on
the issues. In addition, this chapter look forward for us
to know, understand and critically analyze the different
controversies in the Philippine history.
LESSON 1: CONFLICTING VIEWS ABOUT THE
PHILIPPINE PHYSICAL FEATURES
Pepito M. Capacito prepared a list of
controversial issues in the Philippine history. He
got the information from the book of Pedro H.
Gagelonia- who happened to be the author's
history professor in FEU in 1963. These
controversies are:
Number of Islands and
Islets in the Philippines
• Molina- 7, 803 islands
• Agoncillo and Alfonso- 7, 000
• Alip- 7, 100
• Zaide- 7, 803
• Ariola- 7, 100
Number of Named Islands and Unnamed Islands

7100 Islands, 4327 of them still unnamed

The total number of seven thousand one
hundred islands has been surveyed to
where about 60 percent of the islands are
still unnamed back in 1939.
Location of the Philippines
• The Philippines is located in Southeast Asia, on the eastern
rim of the Asiatic Mediterranean. It is bounded in the west
by the South China Sea; in the east by the Pacific Ocean; in
the south by the Sulu and Celebes Seas; and in the north by
the Bashi Channel.
Longest River in the World
• The largest longest and widest river in the Philippines
is the Cagayan River or Rio Granade de Cagayan. It is
located in the Northeastern part of Luzon that
traverses the provinces of Nueve Viscaya, Quirino,
Isabela and Cagayan. Small streams that originate
from Balete Pass, Cordillera, Caraballo and Sierra
Mountains meet other streams and rivers and flow to
the Cagayan River.
Mountains
Mt, Apo is the highest mountain in the Philippines but historians
disagreeof differ in their data on the height of Mt. Apo. Mount
Apo, also known locally as Apo Sandawa, is a
large solfataric, dormant stratovolcano on the island
of Mindanao, Philippines. With an elevation of 2,954 meters
(9,692 ft) above sea level, it is the highest-mountain in the
Philippine Archipelago and 24th-highest peak of an island on
Earth. Located between Davao City and Davao del Sur in
the Davao Region, and Cotabato in Soccsksargen, Mount Apo is
the most-prominent mountain in the Philippines.
LESSON 2: FIRST VOYAGE
AROUND THE WORLD
• Antonio Pigafetta is a famous Italian
traveler born in Vicenza around 1940. He
was the first expedition to the Moluccas
begun on August of 1519 and finished in
the year of 1522. The account of
Pigafetta is the single most important
source about the voyage of
circumnavigation. death in the
Philippines the subsequent voyage
around the world.
 THE FIRST VOYAGE
AROUND THE WORLD
• On August 10, 1519, five ships departed from Seville
for what was to become the first circumnavigation of
the earth. Linked by fame to the name of its captain,
Magellan, much of the expedition is known through
the travelogue of one of the few crew members who
returned to Spain, Antonio Pigafetta. A narrative and
cartographic record of the journey (including 23
hand-drawn watercolour charts) from Patagonia to
Indonesia, from the Philippines to the Cape of Good
Hope, Pigafetta's "The First Voyage around the
World" is a classic of discovery and exploration
literature.
March 16, 1521
• Pigafetta reported that they reach the isle of Zamar,
now Samar, but Magellan decided to land in another
uninhabited island for greater security where they
could rest for a few days.
• They went to Humunu Island where they found the
first signs of gold in the island.
March 25, 1521
•They saw two ballangai a long boat full of people in Mazzava.
Raja Siagu sent his men to the ship of Magellan. The
king offered to give Magellan a bar of gold and chest of ginger
but he declined and instead asked for money for the needs of
his ships.

•Magellan was introduced to the king's brother who was

also king of another island.
 RAJA CALAMBU
Raja Calambu was the King of Zuluan,
Pigafetta described him as the most
handsome of all men thaht he saw in
this place. He was adorned with stick
and golden accessories like golden
dagger, which he carried with him in a
wooden polished shealth.
April 7, 1521
• Magellan and his men reached the port of Cebu, the largest
and the richest of the islands with the help of Raja Calambu.
The king of Cebu (Rajah Humabon) demanded that they pay
tribute as it was customary but Magellan refused and said that
he was the captain himself and thus would not pay tribute to
the other king.
• People wished to become a Christian through their free will an
not because they were forced or intimidated.
April 14, 1521
• The people gathred with the kind and other principal men of
the island. Magellan encouraged the king to be a good
Christian by burning all the idols and worship the cross
instead and eventually, the King of Cebu and its people was
baptized as Christians.
• The Mass was conducted by the shore every day and when
Hara Amihan came one day,Magellan gave her an image of
the infant Jesus made by Pigafetta himself.
 April 26, 1521
• Zula from Mactan went to see Magellan and ask him a boat full
of men so that he could fight the chief named Lapulapu.
According to him, Lapulapu refused to obey the king and was
also preventing him from doing so.
• Magellan offered three boats and went to Mactan himself to
fight Lapulapu, They arrived in Mactan daylight with 49 in
numbers while the islanders of Mactan were estimated 1500.
• Magellan died in the battle. The natives percieving that the
bodies of the enemies were protected by armors,
aimed for their legs instead. Magellan was pierced with a
poisoned arrow in his right leg.
April 26, 1521
• Magellan was specefically targeted because they knew he
was the captain general.
• Duarta Barbosa is elcted as the new captain.
• From the original five ships set to sail (San Antonio,
Concepcion, Victoria, Trinidad and Santiago) only
Victoria returned to Spain.
• And from the original 237 men only 18 men survived.
 LESSON 3: SITE OF
THE FIRST MASS
Decades after the debate on where the Catholic
mass in the Philippines took place has remained
unsolved, local Butuan hostorians asked the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) to resolve the first mass controversy in the
city's favour (Macarinas, 2012).
Here is the detailed historical presentation of the
BCHS account of the ceremony:
" On March 13, 1521 Easter Sunday, Friar Pedro
Valderrama celebrated mass togther with Portoguese
explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his men. With the
Spaniards were the rulers of Mazawa, Rajah Siaias and his
brother Rajah Colambu, the ruler of Butuan. Afterwards,
they planted a cross in the highes 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."
 Another evidence to prove that the first
Catholic mass site was held somewhere in
Butuan and not in Limasawa island was the
historical account of of Joelito Monzon
Ramirez, Jr., a local historian and writer.
• (1) There was no island named Limasawa in 1521. The name
Limasawa appeared only in 1667, Historia de Mindanao, by
Combes.
• (2) They went to Mazaua from Suluan by sailing, as recorded,
downwards- west. From Suluan, Limasawa can be reached
by sailing northwest- but that is not their course. They
sailed downwards-west.
• (3) Upon their departure, they sailed northwards for Cebu.
Had they been in Limasawa, that dirction would have landed
them in Ormoc of Leyte.
LESSON 4: THE CRY
OF BALINTAWAK
News about the discovery of Katipunan spread to Manila
and nearby suburbs, and Andres Bonifacio immediately
called for a general meeting. Various wings of the
Katipunan gathered at the house of Juan Ramos in
Pugadlawin on August 23, 1896. Ramos was the son of
Melchora Aquino also known as " Tandang Sora " and
late acknowledged as the Mother of Katipunan.
The Cry of Balintawak
The Cry of Balintawak occurred on August 26,
1896. The Cry, defined as that turning point
when the Filipinos finally refused Spanish
colonial dominion over the Philippine Islands.
With tears in their eyes, the people as one man,
pulled out their cedulas and tore them into
pieces.
Because of competing accounts and
ambiguity of the place where this event took
place, the exact date and place of the Cry is in
contention. From 1908 until 1963, the official
stance was that the cry occurred on August 26
in Balintawak. In 1963 the Philippine
government declared a shift to August 23 in
Pugad Lawin, Quezon City.
The Katipunan in Cavite
Cavite soon became the center of the Revolution, and
the Katipuneros there divided themselves into the
Magdalo and Magdiwang factions. Baldomero
Aguinaldo, brother of Emilio Aguinaldo, headed the
Magdalo group, whivh was stationed in Kawit. General
Mariano Alvarez led the Magdiwan group, which was
stationed in Noveleta.
 General Aguinaldo's numerous victories in the
bttlefield made him the acknowledged
revolutionary laeder in Cavite. He issued a
proclamation on October 31, 1896 wnjoying the
people to take courage and continue fighting for
Philippine Independence.
The Revolution Continues
Bonifacio's death did not deter the Filippino from
fighting for their freedom. The Spanish government, for
its part, doubled its efforts in trying to control Cavite,
which was considered the seat of Revolution. When
Governor General Primo de Rivera replaced Camilo
Polavieja on April 27, 1987, he immediately mached to
Naic, Cavite to persuade the Filipinos to surrender. The
rebels however, stood their ground.
 LESSON 5: THE CAVITY MUTINY
• Jose Rizal dedicated hid novel "El Filibusterismo" to the
three priests, Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgoz, and Jacinto
Zamora, who were executed at Bagumbayan Field in the
morning of February 17, 1872.
• The three priests were summarily tried and sentenced to
death by the garrote for being linked as instigators of the
Cavite Arsenal Revolt of January 20, 1872. The three
priests were very active in the secularization (or
nationalization) of the clergy.
1872 (A Historic Year of Two Events)
1. Cavite Mutiny
• A major factor in the awakening of the nationalism among the
Filipinos .
Mutiny
• A rebellion against authority.
• Comes from an old verb, "mutine" which means "revolt"
Cavite Mutiny
•Uprising of military personel of Fort San Felipe the
Spanish arsenal in Cavite Philippines on January 20, 1872.
•Around 200 soldiers and laborers rose up in the belief
that it would elevate to a nationa uprisin.
The mutiny was unsuccesful, and
government executed many of the participants.