CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY AND ITS SOURCES

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the meaning and relevance of history.
2. Distinguish primary sources from secondary sources.
3. Critique primary sources for their credibility, authenticity, and
provenance.
4. Recognize the different repositories of primary sources.

Meaning and Relevance of History

History was derived from the Greek word historia, which means “knowledge
acquired through inquiry or investigation.”
While history can be defined in several ways, possibly the most widely cited
and accepted definitions of this word are as follows: 1) history is everything that
happened in the past and 2) history is an account of the past. In short, history is both
“the past and the study of the past”.
In her article “Tradisyunal Na Kasaysayan”, Abrera (1992) presented the
traditional definition of history confining only its definition “to past events while
disregarding current events as part of it” (p. 86) and stressed four of its major
characteristics: “(1) history as confined only to past events; (2) historical documents
are important in reconstructing the historical past; (3) the importance of historical
criticism in evaluating the authenticity of these documents and their contents; and (4)
primary recognition of the literate, articulate and the upper class as the source of
historical events” (p. 86). In her concluding remarks, she claimed “history as confined
only to the use and analysis of written documents” (p. 95).
Padilla and Funtecha (2000) viewed this as a weak definition of history
because: (1) it views history as based merely on written records, (2) interviews and
oral traditions, and cultural artifacts are not considered, (3) the notion of “no written
record, no history” has confined history to the literate and articulate and has resulted
in the production of historiographies from upper-class male perspectives. To address
such concerns, a modern definition of history was presented. Based on the modern
definition, “history is the reconstruction of the past based on written records, oral
history, cultural artifacts and folk traditions in order to determine the meaning and
scope of human existence” (pp. 1-2).
In the Philippines, we use the word kasaysayan as our Filipino counterpart for
the word history. However, it is worthy to note that our word for “history” in Tagalog
but does not refer to knowledge, to the search for information or to what happened
in the past as such. Etymologically speaking, the word kasaysayan comes from saysay
which means both “to relate in detail, to explain,” and “value, worth, significance.
As to why the study of history is important, Abrera (1992) held that history: (1)
helps us to understand the nature and extent of current events by tracing their
historical roots; (2) explains the development and evolution of various societies for us
to understand them better; and (3) develops our critical thinking and art of
questioning and reasoning (p. 95).
In addition, Carr (1961) holds that history can be used in explaining the causes
and effects of things and events wherein he emphasized that event could not have
happened differently unless there was a different cause (p. 96).
Historiography
Historiography is the history or the writing of history. History and
historiography should not be confused with each other. The former’s object of study
is the past, the events that happened in the past, and causes of such events. The
latter’s object of study, on the other hand, is history itself (i.e., How was a certain
historical text written? Who wrote it? What was the context of its publication? What
historical method was employed? What were the sources used?).
Historiography is important for someone who studies history because it
teaches the student to be critical in the lessons of history presented to him.
Objectivity in History
Carr (1961) commented on the idea of an ‘objective history’ arguing that “the
facts of history never come to us pure” (p. 22). He argued that historians selectively
choose what ‘facts of history’ get to become ‘historical facts’, “to which facts to give the
floor” or a “process of selection in terms of historical significance” as he described it.
(pp. 11, 105). He supported this claim citing the case of Julius Caesar crossing the
Rubicon River as an example. According to him, “it is the historian who has decided for
his own reasons that Caesar's crossing of that petty stream, the Rubicon, is a fact of
history, whereas the crossing of the Rubicon by millions of other people before or since
interests nobody at all” (p. 11). Citing the case of 5th century B.C. Greece as an
example, he further explained that our knowledge about the past has been
“preselected and predetermined for us, not so much by accident as by people who
were consciously or unconsciously imbued with a particular view and thought the facts
which supported that view worth preserving” (p. 13). In short, there is no such thing as
objective history because history is always subjected to historian’s biases. Even the
famous Filipino historian Teodoro Agoncillo quipped: “What history is not biased? Show
me a historian, a real historian, who is not biased! History is never objective.”
Sources of History
Sources are items or vestiges which give us information of the past. There are
two major classifications of sources. First, is primary source which come in different
forms: official documents and records, letters, chronicles, diaries, artifacts, paintings,
photographs, maps, murals, buildings, furniture, clothing, and archeological relics.
Primary sources may also refer to those who have witnessed the event that took place
or have been part of the incident being studied. The information derived from the
primary sources can be used as evidence to form conclusions.
On the other hand, secondary sources are sources that have not been part of
the event being considered. It also refers to articles written about the primary sources
(e.g., magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, typescripts, and articles written
about/using primary sources). Both primary and secondary sources are useful in the
writing and learning history.
Criticisms of Sources
Historians and students of history need to thoroughly scrutinize these historical
sources to avoid deception and to come up with the historical truth. They should be
able to conduct an external and internal criticism of the sources, especially primary
sources which can age in centuries.
• External Criticism – The practice of verifying the authenticity of
evidence by examining its physical characteristics; consistency with
historical characteristic of the time when it was produced; and the
materials used for evidence. This is important in ensuring that the source
is not fabricated. Examples of the things that will be examined when
conducting external criticism of a source include quality of the paper,
the type of ink and the language and words used in the material, among
others.
• Internal Criticism –The examination of the truthfulness of the evidence.
It looks at the content of the sources and examines the circumstances of
its production. Further, it examines the factuality of the evidence by
looking at the author of the source, its context, the agenda behind its
creation, the knowledge which informed it and its intended purpose.
For example: Japanese reports and declarations should not be taken as
historical facts hastily.
Validating historical sources is important because the use of unverified,
falsified, and untruthful historical sources can lead to equally false conclusions.
Without thorough criticisms of historical evidence, historical deceptions and lies will
be highly probable.
Repositories of Primary Sources

1. National Library of the Philippines (NLP) – OPAC at www.elib.gov.ph

2. American Historical Collection (ACH) at the Ateneo de Manila University
3. Rizal Library OPAC at http://rizalls.lib.admu.edu.ph/#section=home Manila
Observatory Archives (MOA) – at the Ateneo de Manila
4. UP Diliman Main Library OPAC http://ilib.up.edu.ph
5. National Archives of the Philippines (War Crime Trials)
http://nationalarchives.gov.ph/
6. Lopez Museum and Library in Ortigas https://lopez-museum.com.ph/
7. Filipinas Heritage Library at the Ayala Museum
http://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/
8. Ortigas Foundation Library http://ortigasfoundationlibrary.com.ph/
9. Jose P. Laurel Memorial Foundation Inc. http://joseplaurel.com/schedule-a-
visit/
10. Presidential Museum and Library https://web.facebook.com/malacanang/?_rdr
11. Jose B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center in UP Diliman
https://vargasmuseum.wordpress.com/
https://web.facebook.com.vargasmuseum.upd?_rdr
12. Library Link A Union of Filipiniana Catalogue http://www.librarylink.org.ph/
 CHAPTER II

CONTENT AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSES OF SELECTED PRIMARY SOURCES IN

PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Learning Objectives:
1. Analyze the content, context, and perspective of different kinds of
primary sources.
2. Determine the contribution of different kinds of primary sources in
understanding Philippine history.
Lesson 1: First Voyage Around the World by Antonio Pigafetta
About the Author
Antonio Pigafetta (1491-c.1534), born around 1490 in the town of Vicenza,
Venice, Italy, was the eldest son of Giovanni Pigafetta to second wife Angela Zoga. He
studied astronomy, geography, and cartography and during his younger years
worked in the ships owned by the Knights of Rhodes.
His biographers described him as a well-educated young man possessing an
avid curiosity of the world around him. He joined the delegation of Monsignor
Francesco Chieregati when the latter was assigned as Papal Nuncio to Spain in 1519.
It was during this time when Pigafetta became acquainted with the lucrative spice
trade and heard the news of the voyage to be undertaken by Ferdinand Magellan.
After getting approval of the Spanish sovereign, he left Barcelona and went to Seville.
He presented his credentials to Magellan and to the Casa de la Contratacion, the
office in charge of voyages to the New World. He was admitted as one of the
sobresalientes (supernumeraries), or men coming from prominent families who will
join the trip for the love of adventure and for the advancement of military service.
Pigafetta survived the challenges and catastrophes that the expedition encountered
along the way, including being wounded in the Battle of Mactan. He was among the
18 survivors who returned to Spain on September 6, 1522, aboard Victoria with San
Juan Sebastian Elcano.
 From Seville, Pigafetta reported to his Majesty King Carlos V and gave him a
handwritten account of what happened to them during the journey before returning
to his native Italy. Very little is known as to what happened to him during the latter
part of his life except on some accounts that he joined the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem in its battle against the Turks. He died sometime in 1534.
Historical Background of the Document
✓ The desire for Spices
✓ In the West, spices were in demand to improve insipid European foods
and to preserve meat during wintertime. Exposure to food spices grown
in the East changed the Westerners’ taste preferences. Desire for spices
became a major motivation for early Portuguese and Spanish
explorations to the East.
✓ The Fall of Constantinople (1453)
✓ On May 29, 1453, the city of Constantinople which played a vital role in
the trade of Europe with the East, fell into the hands of Sultan
Mohammed II and his Ottoman warriors.
✓ As a result of this conquest, the trade routes to the East were blocked.
Hence the discovery of new routes to Asia became an imperative
necessity.
✓ The Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494
✓ This treaty divided non-Christian lands into two spheres: one for Spain
and one for Portugal.
✓ Demarcation line is set 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands. All
lands already discovered and still to be discovered, east of the line
belonged to Portugal, and those wests of the line, to Spain.
✓ This influenced Magellan to sail westward, and in the end, led him to
rediscover the Philippines.
✓ Magellan left the port of San Lucar de Barrameda, Spain, on September 20,
1519, with five ships namely: Trinidad, Conception, Santiago, San Antonio, and
Victoria together with about 270 men.
 ✓ The expedition was intended to circumnavigate the earth in the service of
Spain. Accompanying him were Fr. Pedro de Valderrama (fleet chaplain),
Antonio Pigafetta (chronicler of the expedition), Duarte Barbosa, and his Malay
slave Enrique of Malacca (acting as interpreter).
Excerpt of the Document
✓ Saturday, 16 March 1521- Magellan’s expedition sighted a high land named
Zamal (Samar) which some 300 leagues westward of the Ladrones (now
Marianas) Islands
✓ Sunday, March 17- The following day after sighting Zamal Island, they landed
on another island which was inhabited, and which lay to the right of the above-
mentioned island “Zamal”. (To the right here would mean on their on their
starboard going south or southwest). There they set up two tents for the sick
members of the crew and had a sow killed for them. The name of this island
was Humunu (Homonhon) which was later called as Acquada da li buoni
Segnialli (Watering-place of good signs) since they discovered two springs and
possible existence of gold in the island.
✓ On that the same day (Sunday, March 17)- Magellan named the entire
archipelago the “Islands of Saint Lazarus” for the reason being that it was the
Sunday in the Lenten season when the Gospel assigned for the Mass and the
liturgical office was eleventh chapter of St. John, which tells of the raising of
Lazarus from the dead.
✓ Monday, 18 March- In the afternoon of their second day on that island, they
saw a boat coming towards them with nine men in it. An exchange of gifts was
effected. Magellan asked for the supplies, and the men went away, promising
to bring rice and other supplies in four days.
✓ Friday, March 22- At noon, the natives returned. This time they were in two
boats, and they brought food supplies. Pigafetta described the people living
near the island as: “Their seignior was an old man who was painted [i.e.,
tattooed]. He wore two gold earrings [schione] in his ears, and the other many
golds armlets on their arm and kerchiefs about [on] their heads. There are
 people living near the island who have holes [earrings] in their ears so large
that they can pass their arms though them. Those people are caphri, that is to
say, heathen.” “They go naked, with a soft cloth woven from the bark of a tree
about their privies, except some of the chiefs who wear cotton cloth
embroidered with silk at the ends by means of a needle. They are dark, fat, and
painted. They anoint themselves with cocoanut and with beneseed oil, as a
protection against the sun and wind. They have very black hair that falls to the
waist, and use daggers, knives, and fishing nets that resemble rizali [a fine
thickly woven net used for fishing]; and their boats are [just] like ours.”
✓ Monday, 25 March- In the afternoon, the expedition weighed anchor and left
the island of Homonhon. In the ecclesiastical calendar, this day (March 25) was
the feast day of the Incarnation, also called as the feast of the Annunciation and
therefore “Our Lady’s Day”. On this day, as they were about to weigh anchor,
an accident happened to Pigafetta: he fell into the water but was rescued. He
attributed his narrow escape from death as a grace obtained from through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on her feast-day.
✓ The route taken by the expedition after leaving Homonhon was “toward the
west southwest, between four islands: namely Cenalo (probably the island of
Leyte), Hiunanglan (maybe part of the mainland Leyte but Pigafetta mistook it
as another island) and Hibuson which is an island east of Leyte’s southern tip.
They continued southward, then turning westward to “Mazaua”.
✓ Thursday, 28 March- In the morning of Holy Thursday, 28 March, they
anchored off an island where the previous night they had seen light or a
bonfire. The island lies twenty-five leagues from the Acquada (Homonhon) and
is called “Mazaua” and they remained seven days on this Island. A small boat
(boloto) came with eight natives, to whom Magellan threw some trinkets as
presents. The natives paddled away, but two hours later, two larger boats
(balanghai) came, in one of which the native king sat under an awning of mats.
At Magellan’s expedition some of the natives went up the Spanish ship, but the
native king remained seated in his boat. An exchange of gifts was effected. In
 the afternoon of that day, the Spanish ships weighed anchor and came closer
to shore, anchoring near the native king’s village.
✓ Friday, 29 March- Magellan sent his slave interpreter (Enrique de Malacca)
ashore in a small boat to ask the king if he could provide the expedition with
food supplies, and to say that they had come as friends and not as enemies. In
reply, the king himself came in a boat with six or eight men, and this time went
up to Magellan’s ship and the two men embraced. Another exchange of gifts
was made. The native king and his companions returned ashore, bringing with
them two members of Magellan’s expedition as guest for the night. One of
them was Pigafetta.
✓ Saturday, 30 March- Pigafetta and his companion had spent the previous
evening feasting and drinking with the native king and his son. The following
morning, Pigafetta and his companion took leave of their hosts and returned to
the ships.
✓ Sunday, March 31- Early in the morning, Magellan sent the priest ashore with
some men to prepare for the Mass. Later, Magellan landed with some 50 men
and the mass was celebrated, after which a cross was venerated. After the
mass, they returned to the ship for the noon-day meal, and they returned
ashore to plant the cross on the summit of the highest hill. In the attendance
were the Ling of Mazaua and king of Butuan.
✓ Monday, 1 April- Magellan sent men ashore to help with the harvest, but no
work was done that day because the two kings were sleeping off their drinking
bout the night before.
✓ Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3-Work on harvest was made.
✓ Thursday, 4 April- Magellan and his men left Mazaua, bound for Cebu.
✓ Sunday, 7 April- They entered the port of Zubu (Cebu).
✓ Sunday, 14 April- Mass baptism of the natives took place including the king of
Cebu Rajah Humabon (was named as Don Carlo) and his wife (was named as
Johanna). A little child Jesus (Sto. Nińo) was also given to her.
✓ Friday, 26 April- Zula, a chief of the island of Matan (Mactan), sent one of his
sons to present two goats to the captain-general, and to say that he would
send him all that he had promised, but that he had not been able to send it to
him because of the other chief Cilapulapu (Lapu-Lapu), who refused to obey
the king of Spagnia.” Because of this, Magellan promised to eliminate the
“king” who would not recognize the superiority of Spanish crown.
✓ Saturday, 27 April- Magellan fervently believed that his men were so superior
to the natives that he allowed 49 of his crew to face off against a force of 1,500
enraged natives. He was so confident that he refused the help of his allies.
Pigafetta writes: “The Christian king [Humabon] would have aided us,” wrote
Pigafetta, “but the captain told him before we landed, not to leave
his balanghai, but to stay to see how we fought.”
✓ According to Pigafetta, they arrived at the shores of Mactan three hours before
sunrise. Magellan sent a message to the natives saying that if they still refused
to recognize the Spanish king and pay them tribute, they would demonstrate
how effective their swords were at wounding people.
✓ In reply, Lapu-Lapu’s men told Magellan that although the Spaniards had
lances, they, too, were armed with bamboo and stakes hardened with fire. The
natives requested Magellan’s party to wait until morning before attacking so
they could gather more warriors, to which Magellan obliged.
✓ When the sun rose, Magellan, including his crew of 49 (11 remained on the
ship) witnessed how the natives were highly organized at warfare: “When we
reached land, those men had formed in three divisions to the number of more
than one thousand five hundred persons. When they saw us, they charged
down upon us with exceeding loud cries, two divisions on our flanks and the
other on our front,” wrote Pigafetta.
✓ “When the natives saw that we were shooting our muskets to no purpose, they
redoubled their shouts. When our muskets were discharged, the natives would
never stand still, but leaped hither and thither, covering themselves with their
shields,” wrote Pigafetta.
✓ “They shot so many arrows at us and hurled so many bamboo spears (some of
them tipped with iron) at the captain-general, besides pointed stakes
hardened with fire, stones, and mud, that we could scarcely defend
ourselves.”
✓ Realizing that they were no match for the natives they so underestimated,
Magellan became desperate, so he ordered some of his crew to distract the
natives by burning their houses.
✓ “When they saw their houses burning, they were roused to greater fury,”
described Pigafetta. “Two of our men were killed near the houses, while we
burned twenty or thirty houses. So many of them charged down upon us that
they shot the captain through the right leg with a poisoned arrow.”
✓ The wounded Magellan ordered his men to retreat more slowly, but the
enraged natives were relentless at the pursuit.
✓ resistance... We continued to retire from the shore always fighting up to our
knees in the water. The natives continued to pursue us and picking up the
same spear four or six times, hurled it at us again and again.”
✓ According to Pigafetta, it was not Lapu-Lapu who slayed Ferdinand Magellan,
but many natives—probably battle-hardened, evidenced by their proficiency
with spears and very large bolos. This was something that Magellan and his
company did not expect.
✓ “Recognizing the captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his
helmet off his head twice, but he always stood firmly like a good knight,
together with some others. Thus, did we fight for more than one hour, refusing
to retire farther.”
✓ “One of them wounded him on the left leg with a large cutlass, which
resembles a scimitar, only being larger. That caused the captain to fall face
downward, when immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo
spears and with their cutlasses, until they killed our mirror, our light, our
comfort, and our true guide.”
 Lesson 2: Customs of the Tagalogs by Juan de Plasencia
About the Author
Fray Juan de Plasencia (Joan de Portocarrero, real name) was a member of the
Franciscan Order who came together with the first batch of missionaries to the
Philippines in 1578. He and a fellow, Franciscan Fray Diego de Oropesa, were
assigned to do mission works in the Southern Tagalog area. Plasencia also helped in
the foundation and organization of numerous towns in Quezon, Laguna, Rizal, and
Bulacan. His continuous interaction with the people he converted to Christianity
enabled him to write a work entitled Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalogs
(Customs of the Tagalogs, 1589) where he vividly described the political, social,
economic, and cultural practices of the Filipinos before they were Christianized.
Plasencia did not limit himself to the task of administering the sacraments and
baptizing new converts, he believed that catechism or explaining the basic tenets of
Catholic faith is another very important function of a missionary. His biggest
challenge at that time was how to make the articles of faith comprehensible to people
who have never heard of Christ or the Catholic Church. He wrote the Doctrina
Christiana en Lengua Española y Tagal which later became the first printed book in
the Philippines in 1593. He used it in as reading material for those religion. Plasencia
died in Liliw, Laguna in 1590.
Historical Background of the Document
✓ Much of what has been written about the Philippines, particularly its history,
has been produced either by outsiders, or for outsiders—using their categories,
their languages, their terms and often informed by their own agenda,
specifically economic and/or political.
✓ The myth of the barangay had its genesis in a single source: Las costumbres de
los indios Tagalos de Filipinas, submitted in 1589 by the Franciscan Juan de
Plasencia.
✓ Commissioned by Spanish civil authorities, the report was based on Plasencia’s
apparent attempts to collect and analyze information regarding the Tagalogs.
 ✓ The influence of Plasencia’s report cannot be overstated. This report became
the basis for Spanish laws and policies in the Philippines, allowing the
Spaniards to not only govern, but also to reconfigure and reconstruct
Philippine society.
✓ And it has continued to serve as the basis for historical reconstructions of
Tagalog society.
✓ As John Phelan noted: “The overwhelming bulk of our knowledge about the
character of preconquest Tagalog society comes from a study of Tagalog
customs composed by a Franciscan friar, Juan de Plasencia.

Excerpt of the Document

✓ Nature of the “barangay”
✓ a family of parents and children, relations, and slaves
✓ did not settle far from one another.
✓ not subject to one another, except in friendship and relationship
✓ Social structure/class
✓ Dato
▪ Chief of the barangay
▪ Captain in their wars
▪ Rules over 30-100 households
✓ Three castes
▪ Nobles
▪ Commoners
▪ Slaves
✓ Maharlica
▪ Nobles and free born
▪ Do not pay tax or tribute to the dato, but must accompany him in
war, at their own expense
▪ Some would pay annually to the dato a hundred of gantas of rice
 ▪ After marriage, they could not move from one barangay to
another without paying a certain fine in gold
✓ Aliping namamahay
▪ Commoners
▪ Can marry
▪ Serve their master, whether he be a dato or not, with half of their
cultivated lands
▪ They accompany their master whenever he went beyond the
island, and rowed for him
▪ They live in their own houses, and are lords of their property and
gold
▪ Their children can inherit their parents’ properties
▪ Their children can enjoy the rank of their fathers, and they cannot
be made slaves (sa guiguilir) nor can either parents or children be
sold
✓ Aliping sa guiguilir
▪ Slaves
▪ They serve their master on his house and on his cultivated lands
▪ May be sold by their master
▪ Can ransom himself and become a namamahay through payment
of at least five taels of gold
✓ Interclass marriage
✓ If a maharlica marries a slave, whether namamahay or sa guiguilir, the
children were divided: the first, third, fifth, and so on, whether male or
females, belongs to the father; the second, fourth, sixth, and so on,
belongs to the mother
✓ If the parent is a free born, all those who belonged to him/her are free; if
he/she is a slave, then the children are also slave
✓ Those who became slaves fell under the category of servitude which was
their parent’s
✓ Sentence and punishment
✓ Investigations made and sentences passed by the dato must take place
in the presence of those of his barangay
✓ An arbiter can be invited from another barangay if any of the litigants
felt aggrieved
✓ There is a death penalty imposed for those who insult the child of a dato
✓ They condemned no one to slavery, unless he merited the death penalty
✓ All other offenses were punished by fines in gold, which, if not paid with
promptness, exposed the culprit to serve, until the payment should be
made
✓ Dowry and inheritance
✓ The legitimate children inherited equally, except in the case where the
father and mother showed a slight partiality by such gifts as two or three
gold taels, or perhaps a jewel
✓ Adopted children inherit the double of what was paid for their adoption
✓ Dowries are given by the men to women’s parents
✓ If the wife has no parents or grandparents, she enjoys her dowry
✓ Unmarried women can own no property, in land or dowry, for the result
of their labors accrues to their parents
✓ In the case of a divorce before birth of children, if the wife left the
husband and marry another man, all her dowry fell to the husband.
✓ If the woman left but did not marry, the dowry was returned.
✓ When the husband left his wife, he lost half of the dowry and the other
half was returned to him.
✓ If he possessed children at the time of his divorce, the whole dowry and
the fine went to the children.
✓ Upon the death of the wife in a year’s time they had no children, the
parents returned one-half of the dowry to the husband.
✓ Upon the death of the husband, one-half of the dowry was returned to
the relatives of the husband.
✓ Place of worship
✓ The simbahan, which means a temple or place of adoration, is being
constructed for the purpose of sheltering the assembled people during
a feast
✓ Idol-worship
✓ Bathala – “all powerful” or “maker of all things”
✓ Dianmasalanta – patron of lovers and of generation
✓ Lacapati & Idianale – patrons of the cultivated lands and of husbandry
✓ They also worshipped the sun, the moon, the stars
✓ They possessed many idols called lic-ha, which were images of different
shapes
✓ They also adore some dead men who were brave in war and endowed
with special faculties
✓ They paid reverence to buaya (crocodile) from fear of being harmed by
them
✓ Auguries and superstitions
✓ Belief in good and bad omens brought by particular animals (e.g.
serpent, rat, birds, etc.)
✓ Practice of divination to see whether weapons were to be useful or lucky
for their possessor
✓ Rituals and sacrifice
✓ Practice of rituals and sacrifices led by a catolonan to heal sick person,
prosperous voyage, good harvest, victorious wars, etc.
✓ “devil-worshipping”
✓ Priests of the devil”
✓ There is a distinction among the “priests of the devil”
▪ Catolonan
• Either a man or a woman
• An honorable position held by people of rank
▪ Mangagauay
• Witches who deceived by pretending to heal the sick
• They induced maladies by their charms which can cause
death
▪ Manyisalat
• Same as mangagauay
• They had the power of applying remedies to lovers that
they would abandon and despise their own wives
▪ Mancocolam
• Emits fire that cannot be extinguished from himself at
night, once or oftener each month
▪ Hocloban
• Another kind of witch of greater efficacy than the
mangagauay
• Without the use of medicine, they can kill or heal whom
they chose
▪ Silagan
• They kill anyone clothed in white by tearing out and eating
the liver of the victim
▪ Magtatanggal
• His purpose was to show himself at night to many persons,
without his head or entrails
▪ Osuang
• Equivalent to “sorcerer”
• They fly, murder men, and eat their flesh
• This was only among the Visayas Islands; among the
Tagalogs these did not exist
 ▪ Mangagayoma
• Another class of witches that make charms for lovers out of
herbs, stones, and wood, which would infuse the heart with
love
▪ Sonat
• Equivalent to “preacher”
• They help people to die, at which time they predict the
salvation or condemnation of the soul
• Held by people of high rank
▪ Pangatahojan
• A soothsayer and predicts the future
▪ Bayoguin
• A “cotquean”, a man whose nature inclined toward that of
a woman
✓ Burial practices
✓ The deceased are buried beside his house; and if he was a chief, he was
placed beneath a little house or porch which they constructed for this
purpose
✓ They lay the deceased on a boat which served as a coffin or bier, and
guarded by a slave
✓ Various animals, both male and female, were placed within the boat
(e.g., two goats)
✓ If the deceased is a warrior, a living slave is tied beneath his body until
the latter dies
✓ For many days, the relatives bewailed the dead, singing dirges, and
praises of his good qualities
✓ The mourning is accompanied by eating and drinking
✓ For the Negrillos (Negritos), they dug a deep, perpendicular hole and
placed the deceased within it, leaving him upright with head or crown
 unburied, on top of which they put half a coconut which was to serve
him as a shield
✓ They then kill another person in retribution for the one who died
✓ Life after death
✓ Maca
▪ paradise or village of rest
▪ Place of the just, the valiant, and those who lived good, or who
possessed moral virtues
✓ Casanaan
▪ Place of punishment, grief, and affliction
▪ Place of the wicked and being dwelt by demons, called sitan
✓ They believe that no one would go to heaven, where there dwelt only
Bathala
✓ They also believe in vibit (ghosts) and tigbalaang (phantoms)
✓ They also believe in patianac, that if any woman died in childbirth, she
and the child suffered punishment
Lesson 3: Kartilya ng Katipunan by Emilio Jacinto
About the Author
Emilio Jacinto was born on December 15, 1875, in the district of Trozo in
Tondo, Manila. He was the son of Mariano Jacinto, a bookkeeper, and Josefa Dizon.
Living a life of poverty, Jacinto still managed to get a good education. He finished his
elementary education in a private school then took up his secondary education at the
Colegio de San Juan de Letran. He later studied law at the University of Sto. Tomas
where he developed a love of reading and improved his skills in Spanish.
Unfortunately, he had to stop his studies when the Philippine Revolution began in
1896.
Jacinto joined the Katipunan in 1894 at the age of 18 and took the symbolic
name Pingkian. It was during this time that he developed his nationalistic ideals.
Through his enthusiasm and ideas, Jacinto became a guiding light to the members of
the society. He wrote the Kartilya as well as the oath of the Katipuneros. He also
edited the Katipunan newspaper, Kalayaan, and was the author of several literary
writings using the penname “Dimas Ilaw”. He served the Katipunan in different
capacities such as secretary fiscal, editor, and later was appointed General by
Bonifacio in 1897. He also served as an adviser to the Supremo.
After the death of Bonifacio in Cavite in 1897, Jacinto continued the fight
against the Spaniards even after the truce following the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. He was
wounded in a battle against the Spaniards in Magdalena, Laguna, and was captured.
Upon investigation, Jacinto was released after he managed to convince the Spanish
soldiers he was a spy in their service when he showed them a military pass issued to a
man, he killed several months ago. Jacinto quickly went into hiding in Manila. There
he sent a letter to Apolinario Mabini in Malolos, Bulacan, stating his plan to continue
his law studies at the newly established Literary University of the Philippines. But this
plan was discontinued when Jacinto had to go back to Laguna to head his fellow
patriots in the war against the new enemy, the Americans. He established his
headquarters in the town of Majayjay where he, unfortunately, contracted malaria. He
died on April 6, 1899.
Historical Background of the Document
✓ Realizing the importance of a primer to indoctrinate the members of the
society in its ideals, Jacinto prepared one which he called Kartilya, a word
adopted from the Spanish cartilla which at the time meant a primer for grade
school students.
✓ The Kartilya is consisted of thirteen "teachings" which the members of the
society were expected to follow.
✓ Before the Kartilya, there was Decalogue of the Katipunan.
✓ Originally titled Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Z. Ll. B. (Duties of the Sons of
the People).
✓ It was never published because Bonifacio believed that Jacinto's Kartilya was
superior to what he had made.
✓ Decalogue of the Katipunan
• Love God with all your heart.
 • Bear always in mind that the love of God is also the love of country, and
this, too, is love of one's fellowmen.
• Engrave in your heart that the true measure of honor and happiness is to
die for the freedom of your country.
• All your good wishes will be crowned with success if you have serenity,
constancy, reason, and faith in all your acts and endeavor.
• Guard the mandates and aims of the K.K.K. as you guard your honor.
• It is the duty of all to deliver, at the risk of their own lives and wealth,
anyone who runs great risks in the performance of his duty.
• Our responsibility to ourselves and the performance of our duties will be
the example set for our fellowmen to follow.
• Insofar as it is within your power, share your means with the poor and
the unfortunate.
• Diligence in the work that gives sustenance to you is the true basis of
love—love for yourself, for your wife and children, for your brothers and
countrymen.
• Punish any scoundrel and traitor and praise all good work. Believe,
likewise, that the aims of the K.K.K. are God-given, for the will of the
people is also the will of God.
Excerpt of the Documents
The Katipunan Code of Conduct
1. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a tree
without a shade, if not a poisonous weed.
2. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue.
3. It is rational to be charitable and love one's fellow creature, and to adjust
one's conduct, acts and words to what is reasonable.
4. Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal: superiority in
knowledge, wealth and beauty are to be understood, but not superiority by
nature.
5. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel, gain to
honor.
6. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.
7. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.
8. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the
field.
9. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.
10. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the children, and
if the guide leads to the precipice, those whom he guides will also go there.
11. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a faithful
companion who will share with thee the penalties of life; her (physical)
weakness will increase thy interest in her and she will remind thee of the
mother who bore thee and reared thee.
12. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers, and
sisters, that do not unto the wife, children, brothers, and sisters of thy
neighbor.
13. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline,
and his color white, not because he is a *priest, a servant of God, nor
because of the high prerogative that he enjoys upon earth, but he is worth
most who is a man of proven and real value, who does good, keeps his
words, is worthy and honest; he who does not oppress nor consent to
being oppressed, he who loves and cherishes his fatherland, though he be
born in the wilderness and know no tongue but his own.
14. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed-for sun of
Liberty shall rise brilliant over this most unhappy portion of the globe and
its rays shall diffuse everlasting joy among the confederated brethren of the
same rays, the lives of those who have gone before, the fatigues and the
well-paid sufferings will remain. If he who desires to enter (the Katipunan)
has informed himself of all this and believes he will be able to perform what
will be his duties, he may fill out the application for admission.
 Lesson 4: The Act of Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino
People
About the Author

✓ Ambrosio Bautista was born in Biñan, Laguna to Gregorio Enriquez and

Bautista Silvestra Altamira.
✓ He attended preparatory school in Biñan and studied law at the University of
Santo Tomas (UST), obtaining a degree in 1865.
✓ He then practiced law in Manila and offered free legal services to poor clients.
✓ While practicing law, Bautista, on his way to Malolos, Bulacan, was captured by
a group of bandits, who subsequently learned that he had saved many of their
friends as a defender of the poor in court cases against rich Filipinos and
Spaniards. The bandits apologized to Bautista and set him free.
✓ He solicited funds to finance a campaign for reforms in the Philippines, later
becoming a member of the La Liga Filipina, Cuerpo de Compromisarios and
La Propaganda.
✓ In 1896, the Spaniards arrested and imprisoned him at Fort Santiago, as he
was suspected of being involved in the Philippine Revolution; Bautista elected
to defend himself and was later released from prison.
✓ In 1898, Bautista became the first adviser to President Emilio Aguinaldo and
subsequently wrote the Declaration of Philippine Independence.
✓ He died on November 4, 1903, at the age of 72.

Historical Background of the Document

✓ After the exile of Emilio Aguinaldo in Hong Kong as he returned to the
Philippines, he established a Dictatorial Government through the
recommendation of American Consul Wildman.
✓ He installed himself as dictator, declared Philippine Independence on June 12,
1898, in Kawit, Cavite.
 ✓ The Filipino revolutionary forces under him witnessed and proclaimed the
sovereignty and independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule
after they were defeated in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, during
Spanish American war.
✓ This historic event was declared as a national holiday and was witnessed by
thousands of people who gathered at Kawit to witness the declaration.
✓ The Act of Declaration of Independence was prepared and written by
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista in Spanish, who also read the said declaration.
Furthermore, the Declaration was signed by ninety-eight persons which
signified that the Filipinos have the right to be free and independent.
✓ The Philippine National Flag hoisted was designed by Emilio Aguinaldo, and
sewn by Marcela Agoncillo, and assisted by Lorenza Agoncillo and Delfina
Herbosa.
✓ The Marcha Filipina Magdalo (now Lupang Hinirang) composed by Julian
Felipe was played by the San Francisco de Malabon Band.
Excerpt of the Documents
Before me, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, War Counselor and Special Delegate
designated to proclaim and solemnize this Declaration of Independence by the
Dictatorial Government of the Philippines, pursuant to, and by virtue of, a Decree
issued by the Egregious Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy.
The undersigned assemblage of military chief and others of the army who
could not attend, as well as the representatives of the various towns,
Taking into account the fact that the people of this country are already tired of
bearing the ominous yoke of Spanish domination,
Because of arbitrary arrests and abuses of the Civil Guards who cause deaths in
connivance with and even under the express orders of their superior officers who at
times would order the shooting of those placed under arrest under the pretext that
they attempted to escape in violation of known Rules and Regulations, which abuses
were left unpunished, and because of unjust deportations of illustrious Filipinos,
especially those decreed by General Blanco at the instigation of the Archbishop and
the friars interested in keeping them in ignorance for egoistic and selfish ends, which
deportations were carried out through processes more execrable than those of the
Inquisition which every civilized nation repudiates as a trial without hearing.
Had resolved to start a revolution in August 1896 in order to regain the
independence and sovereignty of which the people had been deprived by Spain
through Governor Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who, continuing the course followed by
his predecessor Ferdinand Magellan who landed on the shores of Cebu and
occupied said Island by means of a Pact of Friendship with Chief Tupas, although he
was killed in battle that took place in said shores to which battle he was provoked by
Chief Kalipulako of Mactan who suspected his evil designs, landed on the Island of
Bohol by entering also into a Blood compact with is Chief Sikatuna, with the purpose
of later taking by force the island of Cebu, and because his successor Tupas did not
allow him to occupy it, he went to Manila, the capital winning likewise the friendship
of its Chiefs Soliman and Lakandula, later taking possession of the city and the whole
Archipelago in the name of Spain by virtue of an order of King Phillip II, and with
these historical precedents and because in international law the prescription
established by law to legalize the vicious acquisition of private property is not
recognized, the legitimacy of such revolution cannot be put in doubt which was
calmed but not completely stifled by the pacification proposed by Don Pedro A.
Paterno with Don Emilio Aguinaldo as President of the Republic established in Biak-
na-Bato and accepted by Governor-General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera under
terms, both written and oral, among them being a general amnesty for all deported
and convicted persons; that by reason of the non-fulfillment of some of the terms,
after the destruction of the Spanish Squadron by the North American Navy, and
bombardment of the plaza of Cavite, Don Emilio Aguinaldo returned in order to
initiate a new revolution and no sooner had he given the order to rise on the 31 st of
last month when several tows anticipating the revolution, rose in revolt on the 28 th,
such that a Spanish contingent of 178 men, between Imus and Cavite Viejo, under the
command of a major of the Marine Infantry capitulated, the revolutionary movement
spreading like wild fire to other towns of Cavite and the other provinces of Bataan,
Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, and Morong, some of them with seaports and
such was the success of the victory of our arms, truly marvelous and without equal in
the history of colonial revolutions that in the first mentioned province only the
Detachments had been wiped out; in the third, the resistance of the Spanish forces
was localized in the town of San Fernando where the greater part of them are
concentrated, the remainder in Macabebe, Sexmoa, and Guagua; in the fourth, in the
town of Lipa; in the fifth, in the capital and in Calumpit and in the last two remaining
provinces, only in their respective capitals, and the city of Manila will soon be
besieged by our forces as well as the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La
Union, Zambales, and some others in the Visayas where the revolution at the time of
the pacification and others even before, so that the independence of our country and
the revindication of our sovereignty is assured.
And having the witness to the rectitude of our intentions the Supreme Judge
of the Universe, and under the protection of the Powerful and Humanitarian Nation,
the United States of America, we do hereby proclaim and declare solemnly in the
name and by the authority of the people of theses Philippine Islands,
That they are and have the right to be free and independent; that they have
ceased to have any allegiance to the Crown of Spain; that all political ties between
are and should be completely severed and annulled; and that, like other free and
independent States, they enjoy the full power to make War and Peace, conclude
commercial treatise, enter into new alliances, regulate commerce, and do all other
acts and things which an Independent State has the right to do,
And imbued with firm confidence in Divine Providence, we hereby mutually
bind ourselves to support this Declaration with our lives, with our fortunes, and with
our most sacred possession, our Honor.
We recognize, approve, and ratify, with all the orders emanating from the
same, The Dictatorship established by Don Emilio Aguinaldo whom revere as the
Supreme Head of this Nation, which today begins to have a life of its own, in the
conviction that he has been the instrument of God, in spite of his humble origin, to
effectuate the redemption of this unfortunate country as foretold by Dr. Don Jose
Rizal I his magnificent verses which he composed in his prison cell prior to his
execution, liberating it from the Yoke of Spanish domination,
And in the punishment for the impunity with which the Government sanctioned
the commission of abuses by its officials, and for the unjust execution of Rizal and
others who were sacrificed in order to please the insatiable friars in their hydropical
thirst for vengeance against and extermination of all those who oppose their
Machiavellian ends, trampling upon the Penal Code of these Islands, and of those
suspected persons arrested by the Chiefs of Detachments at the instigation of the
friars, without any form nor semblance of trial and without any spiritual aid of our
Sacred Religion; and likewise, and for the same ends, eminent Filipino priests, Doctor
Don Jose Burgos, Don Mariano Gomez, and Don Jacinto Zamora were hanged
whose innocent blood shed due to the intrigues of these so-called Religious
corporations which made the authorities to believe that the military uprising at the
fort of San Felipe in Cavite on the night of January 1, 1872 was instigated by those
Filipino martyrs, thereby impeding the execution of the decree-sentence issued by
the Council of State in the appeal in the administrative case inter[posed by the
secular clergy against the Royal Orders that directed that the parishes under them
within the jurisdiction of this Bishopric be turned over to the Recollects in exchange
for those controlled by the in Mindanao which were to be transferred to the Jesuits,
thus revoking them completely and ordering the return of those parishes, all of which
proceedings are on file with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to which they are sent last
month of last year for the issuance of the proper Royal Decree which, in turn, caused
by the growth of the tree of liberty in this our dear land that grew more and more
through the iniquitous measures of oppression, until the last drop from our chalice of
suffering having been drained, the first spark of revolution broke out in Caloocan,
spread out to Santa Mesa and continued its course to the adjoining regions of the
province where the unequalled heroism of its inhabitants fought a one-sided battle
against the superior forces of General Blanco and General Polavieja for a period of
months, without proper arms nor ammunitions, except bolos, pointed bamboos, and
arrows.
 Moreover, we confer upon our famous Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo all the
powers necessary to enable him to discharge the duties of Government, including
the prerogatives of granting pardon and amnesty,
And, lastly, it was resolved unanimously that this Nation, already free and
independent as of this day, must use the same flag which up to now is being used,
whose design and colors are found described in the attached drawing, the write
triangle signifying the distinctive emblem of the famous Society of the “Katipunan”
which by means of its blood compact inspired the masses to rise in revolution; the
three stars, signifying the three principal Islands of the Archipelago-Luzon, Mindanao,
and Panay where this revolutionary movement started; the sun representing the
gigantic steps made by the sons of the country along the paths of Progress and
Civilization; the eight rays, signifying the eight provinces-Manila, Cavite, Bulacan,
Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna, and Batangas- which declared themselves in
a state of war as soon as the first revolt was initiated; and the colors of Blue, Red, and
White commemorating the flag of the United States of North America, as a
manifestation of our profound gratitude towards this Great Nation for its disinterested
protection which lent us and continues lending us.
Lesson 5: “Speech of President Corazon C. Aquino Before the Joint Session of
the U.S. Congress, September 18, 1986”

About the Author

Maria Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco Aquino was born on January 25, 1933, to a
wealthy and politically prominent family in Tarlac. She graduated from Mount St.
Vincent College in New York City in 1954. A year later, she married a popular young
politician, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. She lived the life of a politician’s wife,
remaining in the background and raising their family of five children while her
husband’s career as a prominent opposition politician grew during the Marcos
administration. Cory stood by her husband when he was arrested and imprisoned for
eight years (1972-1980) by President Marcos after Martial Law was declared in 1972.
Released to get medical treatment, Cory accompanied Ninoy to the United States
where he lived in exile for three years.
Corazon Aquino was thrust into the limelight when Ninoy was assassinated
upon his return to the Philippines in 1983. She became part of the growing
opposition to the Marcos dictatorship which culminated in her presidential candidacy
for a united opposition in the snap elections of 1986. Losing the elections because of
massive cheating, Cory challenged the results of the elections by calling for a boycott
of all industries of Marcos cronies. It was not long before military officials publicly
renounced Marcos and supported Cory as the duly elected president. The four-day
People Power Revolution in February 1986 ended the Marcos dictatorship and
propelled Cory as the first Filipino woman president.
The Cory administration became known for its restoration of Philippine
democracy. A new constitution was written, and a Congress was soon elected. But the
euphoria of the newly restored freedom did not last as the Aquino administration
failed to enforce social and economic reforms. The problems of peace and order
especially with the communist insurgency continued and it was not long before the
government was also dealing with rightist elements in the military that led to several
attempted coups. She was succeeded to the presidency by her former Armed Forced
Chief of Staff and Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos in 1992.
In January 1987, Cory Aquino was named the TIME Magazine’s 1986 Person of
the Year. She returned to the limelight in 2001 supporting the impeachment of
President Joseph Estrada in what later became known as EDSA 2. In 2006, she was
listed in the TIME Magazine’s issue called “60 YEARS OF ASIAN HEROES.” She died
on August 1, 2009.
Historical Background of the Document
✓ The downfall of the dictatorial regime President Marcos began with the
assassination of his political rival, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
on August 21, 1983, when he returned after exile in the United States.
✓ The death of Ninoy causes series of events that destabilized the Marcos
Administration that pushed him to hold a snap election.
 ✓ The Marcos-Tolentino contender was the widow of Ninoy Aquino, who was
Cory Aquino together with Salvador Laurel. However, the snap election was
fraudulent wherein Marcos and Tolentino won in the election as declared by
the Batasang Pambansa.
✓ As a result, anti-Marcos groups continue to protest. But on February 22, 1986,
Marcos Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Vice-Chief of Staff announced
their defection from the Marcos government which led to a four-day people
power revolution where civilians faced tanks and soldiers to protect the
soldiers who defied Marcos regime.
✓ The People Power revolution installed Cory as the 11 th and the 1st woman
president of the Republic of the Philippines. Subsequently, on September 18,
1986, Cory Aquino went on a State visit to the United States where she spoke
before the U.S. Congress to ask for financial aid to the Philippines conferred
with, by President Ronald Reagan. Finally, the nine-day visit was deemed a
success, for she was able to convince some U.S. businessmen to invest and US
Congress to aid financial assistance.
Excerpt of the Documents
Mr. Speaker, Senator Thurmond, distinguished members of Congress. Three
years ago, I left America in grief to bury my husband, Ninoy Aquino. I thought I had
left it also to lay to rest his restless dream of the Philippine freedom. Today, I had
returned as the president of a free people.
In burying Ninoy, a whole nation honored him. By the brave and selfless act of
giving honor, a nation in shame recovered its own. A country that had lost faith in its
future found it in a faithless and brazen act of murder. So, in giving, we receive, in
losing we find, and out of defeat, we snatched our victory.
For the nation, Ninoy became the pleasing sacrifice that answered their
prayers for freedom. For myself and our children, Ninoy was a loving husband and
father. His loss, three times in our lives, was always deep and painful one.
Fourteen years ago, this month was the first time we lost him. A president-
turned-dictator, and traitor to his oath, suspended the Constitution and shut down
the Congress that was much like this one before which I am honored to speak. He
detained my husband along with thousands of others- senators, publishers and
anyone who had spoken up for the democracy as its end drew near. But for Ninoy, a
long and cruel ordeal was reserved. The dictator already knew that Ninoy was not a
body merely to be imprisoned but a spirit he must break. For even as the dictatorship
demolished one by one the institutions of democracy- the press, the Congress, the
independence of the judiciary, the protection of the Bill of Rights- Ninoy kept their
spirit alive in himself.
The government sought to break him by indignities and terror. They locked
him up in a tiny, nearly airless cell in a military camp in the north. They stripped him
naked and held the threat of sudden midnight execution over his head. Ninoy held
up manfully- all of it. I barely did as well. For 43 days, the authorities would not tell me
what had happened to him. This was the first time my children and I felt we had lost
him.
When that didn’t work, they put him on trial for subversion, murder, and a host
of other crimes before a military commission. Ninoy challenged its authority and went
on a fast. If he survived it, then, he felt, God intended him for another fate. We had
lost him again. For nothing would hold him back from his determination to see his
fast through to the end. He stopped only when it dawned on him that would keep his
body alive after the fast had destroyed his brain. And so, with barely any life in his
body, he called off the fast on the fortieth day. God meant him for other things, he
felt. He did not know that an earthly death would still be his fate, that only the timing
was wrong.

At any time during his long ordeal, Ninoy could have made a separate peace
with the dictatorship, as so many of his countrymen had done. But the spirit of
democracy that inheres in our race and animates this chamber could not allowed to
die. He held out, in the loneliness of his cell and the frustration of exile, the
democratic alternative to the insatiable greed and mindless cruelty of the right and
the purging holocaust of the left.
 And then, we lost him, irrevocably and painfully than in the past. The news
came to us in Boston. It had to be after those three happiest years of our lives
together. But his death was my country’s resurrection in the courage and faith by
which alone they could be free again. The dictator had called him a nobody. Two
million people threw aside their passivity and escorted him to his grave. And so,
began the revolution that has brought me to democracy’s most famous home, the
Congress of the United States.
That task had fallen on my shoulders to continue offering the democratic
alternative to our people. Archibald Macleish had said that democracy must be
defended by arms when it is attacked by arms and by truth when it is attacked by lies.
He failed to say how it shall be won.
I held fast to Ninoy’s conviction that it must be by the ways of democracy. I held
out for participation in the 1984 election the dictatorship called, even if I knew it
would rig. I was warned by the lawyers of the opposition that I ran the grave risk of
legitimizing the foregone results of the elections that were clearly going to be
fraudulent. But I was not fighting for the lawyers but for the people whose
intelligence I had implicit faith. By the exercise of democracy, even in a dictatorship,
they would be prepared for democracy when it came. And then, also, it was the only
way I knew by which we could measure our power even in the terms dictated by the
dictatorship.
The people vindicated me in an election shamefully marked by government
thuggery and fraud. The opposition swept the elections, garnering a clear majority of
the votes, even if they ended up, thanks to a corrupt Commission on Elections, with
barely a third of the seats in parliament. Now, I knew our power.
Last year, in an excess of arrogance, the dictatorship called for its doom in a
snap election. The people obliged. With over a million signatures, they drafted me to
challenge the dictatorship. And I obliged them. The rest of the history that
dramatically unfolded on your television screen and across the front pages of your
newspapers.
 You saw a nation, armed with courage and integrity, stand fast by democracy
against threats and corruption. You saw women poll watchers break out in tears and
goons crashed the polling places to steal the ballots but, just the same, they tied
themselves to the ballot boxes. You saw a people so committed to the ways of
democracy that they were prepared to give their lives for its pale imitation. At the end
of the day, before another wave of fraud could distort the results, I announced the
people’s victory.
The distinguished co-chairman of the United States observer team in his report
to your President described that victory: “I was witness to an extraordinary
manifestation of democracy on the part of the Filipino people. The ultimate result was
the election of Mrs. Corazon C. Aquino as President and Mr. Salvador P. Laurel as
Vice-President of the Philippines.”
Many of you here today placed a part in changing the policy of your country
towards us. We Filipinos, thank each of you for what you did: for balancing America’s
strategic interest against human concerns, illuminates the American vision of the
world.
When a subservient parliament announced my opponent’s victory, the people
turned out I the streets and proclaimed me President. And true to their word, when a
handful military leaders declared themselves against the dictatorship, the people
rallied to their protection. Surely, the people take care of their own. It is on that faith
and the obligation it entails, that I assumed the presidency.
As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it. That is my contract with my
people and my commitment to God. He had willed that the blood drawn with the lash
shall not, in my country, be paid by blood drawn by the sword but by the tearful joy of
reconciliation.
We have swept away absolute power by a limited revolution that respected the
life and freedom of every Filipino. Now, we are restoring full constitutional
government. Again, as we restored democracy by the ways of democracy, so are we
completing the constitutional structures of our new democracy under a constitution
that already gives full of respect to the Bill of Rights. A jealously independent
Constitutional Commission is completing its draft which will be submitted later this
year to a popular referendum. When it is approved, there will be congressional
elections. So within about a year from peaceful but national upheaval that overturned
the dictatorship, we shall have returned to full constitutional government. Given the
polarization and breakdown inherited, this is so small achievement.
My predecessor set aside democracy to save it from a communist insurgency
that numbered less than 500. Unhampered by respect of human rights, he went ai it
hammers and tongs. By the time he fled, that insurgency had grown to more than 16,
000. I think there is a lesson here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with the
means by which it grows.
I don’t think anybody, in or outside our country, concerned for a democratic
and open Philippines, doubts what must be done. Trough political initiatives and
local reintegration programs, we must seek to bring the insurgents down form the
hills and, by economic progress and justice, show them that for which the best
intentioned among the fight.
As President, I will not betray the cause of peace by which I came to power. Yet
equally, and again no friend Filipino democracy will change this, I will not stand and
allow, and insurgent leadership spurn our offer of peace and kill our young soldiers,
threaten our new freedom.
Yet, I must explore the path of peace to the utmost for at its end, whatever
disappointment I meet there, is the moral basis for laying down the olive branch of
peace and taking up the sword of war. Still, should it come to that, I will not waver
from the course laid down by your great liberator: “With malice towards none, with
charity for all, with firmness in the rights as God gives us to see the rights, let us finish
the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have
borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphans, to do all which may achieve
and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Like Lincoln, I understand that force may be necessary before mercy. Like
Lincoln, I don’t relish it. Yet, I will do whatever it takes to defend the integrity and
freedom of my country.
 Finally, may I turn to that other slavery: our $26 billion foreign debt. I have said
that we shall honor it. Yet must the means by which we shall be able to do so be kept
from us? Many conditions imposed on the previous government that stole this debt
continue to be imposed on us who never benefited from it. And no assistance or
liberality commensurate with the calamity that was visited on us has been extended.
Yet ours must have been the cheapest revolution ever. With little help from others, we
Filipinos fulfilled the first and most difficult conditions of the debt negotiation the full
restoration of democracy and responsible government. Elsewhere, and in other times
of more stringent world economic conditions, Marshall Plans and their like were felt
to be necessary companions of returning democracy.
When I met with President Reagan yesterday, we began an important dialogue
about cooperation and strengthening of the friendship between our two countries.
That meeting was both a confirmation and a new beginning and should lead to
positive results in all areas of common concern.
Today, we face the aspirations of a people who had known so much poverty
and massive unemployment for the past 14 years and yet offered their lives for the
abstraction of democracy. Wherever I went in the campaign, slum area or
impoverished village, they came to me with one cry: democracy! Not food, although
they clearly needed it but democracy. Not work, although they surely wanted it, but
democracy. Not money, for they gave what little they had to my campaign. They
didn’t expect me to work a miracle that would instantly put food into their mouths,
clothes on their back, education in their children, and work that will put dignity in
their lives. But I feel the pressing obligation to respond quickly as the leader of a
people so deserving of all these things.
We face a communist insurgency that feeds on economic deterioration, even
as we carry a great share of the free world defenses in the Pacific. These are only two
of the many burdens my people carry even as they try to build a worthy and enduring
house for their new democracy that may serve as well as a redoubt for freedom in
Asia. Yet, no sooner is one stone laid than two are taken away. Half our export
earnings, $2 billion out of $4 billion, which was all we could earn in the restrictive
markets of the world, went to pay just the interest on a debt whose benefit the
Filipino people never received.
Still, we fought honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay. And yet, should we
have to wring the payments from the sweat of our men’s faces and sink all the wealth
piled up by the bondsman’s two hundred fifty years of unrequited toil?
Yet to all Americans, as the leader of a proud and free people, I address this
question: has there been greater test of national commitment to the ideals you hold
dear than that my people have gone through? You have spent many lives and much
treasure to bring freedom to many lands that were reluctant to receive it. And ere you
have a people who won it by themselves and need only the help to preserve it.
Three years ago, I said thank you, America, for the haven from oppression, and
the home you gave Ninoy, myself and our children, and for the three happiest years
of our lives together. Today, I say, join us, America, as we build a new home for
democracy, another haven for the oppressed, so it may stand as a shining testament
of our nation’s commitment to freedom.
Lesson 6: Raiders of the Sulu Sea

Content of the Documentary

“Raiders of the Sulu Sea” is a historiography a documentary film focusing on
Zamboanga City depicting how the Spaniards defended the city with the Fort Pilar as
Spain’s last stronghold and bastion of defense and economic expansion in the South
of the Philippines. It depicts the Southeast Asian flourishing free trading in the area
and the adverse effects and repercussions when Europeans such as the English,
Dutch, and Spanish who wanted to control the economy as well as to colonize and
Christianized. You can watch this documentary film through this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEtJ1mZdX10
The Spanish established their colony on the southern tip of Mindanao in
Zamboanga. Fort Pilar was constructed with ten (10) meter-high wall fortification all
around. This was the base of the Spaniards to facilitate their trade. Zamboanga is very
close to Basilan, the Tawi-tawi and Sulu group of islands and the Maguindanao area
where there were three different tribes of seafaring Filipino. The three tribes were
known as Balangingi-Samal, Ilanuns and Sultanate of Sulu, all which were employing
Tausugs who were excellent warriors.
The three tribes are not really pirates during the times they were plying their
trade of capturing people and selling them as slaves. Slave trading was a business
then and they were not raiding ships in high seas. What they did was go and land in
different shores posing as fishermen (Ibid).
Without any warning, draw their 1-meter-long swords and take as many slaves
as they can. Once captured, the slaves’ palms are punctured and tied to each other.
The slaves are loaded in their 25-27 meter by 6-meter boats that has 30-34 oarsmen
and sails. It was said that their boats are the fastest that Spanish Galleons could not
even chase.
The history documentary was focusing on how the trines were able to organize
a flotilla of a hundred ships or more with more than 3,000 men. This happened when
the three tribes connived to raid Fort Pilar. The Spanish were stricken with fear when
they see the number of boats and the army they were to face. How were the hundred
or more boats gathered? Well, the three tribes have some sort of a pact on how to go
about their business and employing Tausugs as their warriors.
One tribe could set out to sea with a few boats then drop-by each of the
several bases of the tribes along the shores. They would call all the available seafarers
to join the expedition. As they go along, their numbers grow.
The slavery trade of the three tribes ended only when the Spaniards ordered
three steamboats from England. The steamboats were faster, easier to navigate and
have various armaments to take on the tribes. Spaniards were now able to chase and
follow the boats to their bases and conduct raids. It was aid that the conflict between
the tribes and the Spaniards did not stem from business or trade but was more on
belief, religious beliefs.
Three Muslim Tribes
1. Samal Balangingi- is a distinct ethno-linguistic group dispersed throughout
the greater Sulu Archipelago and southern and western coastal regions of
Zamboanga, Peninsula in Mindanao.
2. Illanun- are Moro ethnic group native to Mindanao, Philippines, and the west
coast of Sabah. Also called “Iranun” which means Maranao people or “people
of the lake.
3. Tausug- is a combination of tau (person) and suug (). They are the dominant
tribe in Sulu archipelago because of their political and religious institutions.
Maritime Vessels
1. Lanong- large outrigger warships used by the Iranun and the Banguingui people
specialized for naval battles. It is prominently used for piracy and slave raids from the
mid-18th century to the early 19th century in most of Southeast Asia.

2. Garay- traditional native warships of the Banguingui people in the Philippines.

Used for piracy by the Banguingui and Iranun people against unarmed trading ships
and raids on coastal settlements in the regions surrounding the Sulu Sea.

3. Salisipan- auxiliary vessels usually part of fleets with larger motherships like
pangajava, garay, or lanong warships. Among Malays, this type of boat is used as a
boat of war or passenger boat.
Tools of War
1. Moro Kris- weapon of warfare and ceremony. This are not only carried by slave
raiders into battles but also by nobles and high-ranking officials of the Southern
Sultanate. Double edged with either smooth or wavy blades.
2. Kampilan- longest sword, used by the Ilanuns. Heavy single edged sword often
adorned with hair to make it look even intimidating.
3. Barong- deadly weapon sword used by the Tausugs warriors with single-edged
leaf blade made of thick tempered steel.
4. Kalis - Used by nobles and high-ranking Sultanates; 2.2 in length
 CHAPTER III

“ONE PAST BUT MANY HISTORIES”: CONTROVERSIES AND CONFLICTING VIEWS

IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Learning Objectives:
1. Analyze the different controversies and conflicting issues in Philippine
history.
Lesson 1 – Site of the First Mass: Is it in Limasawa or is it in Masao?

The controversial and unresolved issue on the introduction of Christianity to the

Philippines, such as the site of the First Holy Mass was celebrated still an issue that
needs to be resolved either in Butuan City or in Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte that
both claim to be the venue of this historical religious rite. There are groups that pushing
for the official recognition of Masao in Butuan City as the true site. However, the
National Historical Institute (NHI) has already reached a conclusion after a two-year
study. In 1996, it reaffirmed the popular belief propelled by R.A. 2733 that the first holy
mass was celebrated in Limasawa Island on March 31, 1521. The NHI further cited the
memoir of Pigafetta who chronicled the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, as the only
primary source that yields the best evidence of the celebration of the first Christian
Mass in the Philippine soil. Yet, this controversy, however, remains debatable despite of
the pronouncement of NHI. Hence, finally, this long-standing issue must be resolved
and corrected. Is it really in Masao or in Limasawa?

March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday, Magellan ordered a mass to be celebrated

which was officiated by Father Pedro Valderrama, the Andalusian chaplain of the fleet
the only priest then. Conducted near the shores of the island, the first Holy Mass
marked the birth of the First Roman Catholicism in the Philippines. Colambu and Siaiu
were the first natives of the archipelago, which was not yet named “Philippines” until the
expedition of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in 1543, to attend the mass among other native
inhabitants. Two places lay claim to being the site of the first holy mass in the
Philippines: Masao, Butuan and Limasawa in Southern Leyte.
Primary Sources about the First Mass

There are only two primary sources that historians use in identifying the site of
the first mass in the Philippines. One is the log kept by Francisco Albo, a pilot of one
of Magellan’s ship, Trinidad. He was one of the 18 survivors who returned together
with Sebastian Elcano on the ship Victoria after they circumnavigated the world. The
other, and the more comprehensive, Pigafetta, like Albo, was a member of the
Magellan expedition and an eyewitness of the events, particularly, of the first mass.

Primary Source: Albo's Log

Source: Diario o derotero del viage de Magallanes desde el cabo se S. Agustin en el
Brazil hasta el regreso a Espana de la nao Victoria, escrito por Frandsco Albo,"
Document no. xxii in Colleción de viages descubrinmientos que hicieron por mar los
Españoles desde fines del siglo XV, Ed. Martin Fernandez de Navarrete (reprinted
Buenos Aires 1945, 0 Vols) IV, 191-225. As cited in Miguel A. Bernad "Butuan or
Limasawa: The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines: A Reexamination of Evidence
1981, Kinaadman: A Journal of Southern Philippines, Vol. 111, 1-35.

1. On the 16th of March (1521) as they sailed in a westerly course from Ladrones,
they saw land towards the northwest; but owing to many shallow places they did not
approachit. They found later that its name was Yunagan.
2. They went instead that same day southwards to another small island named
Suluan, and there they anchored. There they saw some canoes, but these fled at the
Spaniards' approach. This island was at 9 and two-thirds degrees North latitude.
3. Departing from those two islands, they sailed westward to an uninhabited island of
Gada" where they took in a supply of wood and water. The sea around that island was
free from shallows. (Albo does not give the latitude of this island, but from Pigafetta’s
testimony, this seems to be the "Acquada or Homonhon, at 10 degrees North
latitude.)
4. From that island they sailed westwards towards a large island names Seilani that
was inhabited and was known to have gold. (Seilani- or, as Pigafetta calls it, "Ceylon-
was theisland of Leyte.)
5.Sailing southwards along the coast of that large island of Seilani, they turned
southwest to a small island called "Mazava." That island is also at a latitude of 9 and
two-thirds degrees North.
6. The people of that island of Mazava were very good. There the Spaniards planted
a cross upon a mountain-top, and from there they were shown three islands to the
west and southwest, where they were told there was much gold. "They showed us
how the gold was gathered, which came in small pieces like peas and lentils.
7. From Mazava they sailed northwards again towards Seilani. They followed the
coast of Seilani in a northwesterly direction, ascending up to 10 degrees of latitude
where theysaw three small islands.
8. From there they sailed westwards some ten leagues, and there they saw three
islets, where they dropped anchor for the night. In the morning they sailed southwest
some 12 leagues, down to a latitude of l0 and one-third degree. There they entered a
channel between two islands, one of which was called "Matan" and the other "Subu."
9.They sailed down that channel and then turned westward and anchored at the town
(la villa) of Subu where they stayed many days and obtained provisions and entered
into a peace-pact with the local king.
10. The town of Subu was on an east-west direction with the islands of Suluan and
Mazava. But between Mazava and Subu, there were so many shallows that the boats
could not go westward directly but has to go (as they did) in a round-about way.
It must be noted that in Albo's account, the location of Mazava fits the location of
the island of Limasawa, at the southern tip of Leyte, 9°54N. Also, Albo does not
mention the first Mass, but only the planting of the cross upon a mountain-top from
which could be seen three islands to the west and southwest, which also fits the
southern end of Limasawa.
Primary Source: Pigafetta's Testimony on the Route of Magellan's Expedition
Source: Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, The Philippine Islands, Vols.
33and 34, as cited in Miguel A. Bernad, "Butuan or Limasawa? The Site of the First
Massin the Philippines: A Reexamination of Evidence" 1981, Kinaadman: A Journal
ofSouthern Philippines, Vol. III, 1-35.

1. Saturday, 16 March 1521- Magellan's expedition sighted a "high land" named

"Zamal" which was some 300 leagues westward of Ladrones (now the Marianas)
Islands.
2 Sunday, March 17 "The following day" after sighting Zamal Island, they landed on
"another island which was uninhabited" and which lay "to the right" of the
above- mentioned island of "Zamal." (To the right here would mean on their
starboard going south or southwest.) There they set up two tents for the sick
members of the crew and had a sow killed for them. The name of this island was
Humunu (Homonhon). This islandwas located at 10 degrees North latitude.
3. On that same day (Sunday, March 17), Magellan named the enure archipelago
the "Islands of Saint Lazarus," the reason being that it was Sunday in the Lenten
season when the Gospel assigned for the Mass and the liturgical Office was the
eleventh chapterof St. John, which tells of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
4. Monday, March 18- In the afternoon of their second day on that island, they saw a
boat coming towards them with nine men in it. An exchange of gifts was effected.
Magellan asked for food supplies, and the men went away, promising to bring rice
and other supplies in "four days.
5. There were two springs of water on that island of Homonhon. Also, they saw
there some indications that there was gold in these islands. Consequently,
Magellan renamed the island and called it the "Watering Place of Good Omen"
(Acquada la di bouni segniali).
6. Friday, March 22-At noon, the natives returned. This time they were in two boats,
andthey brought food supplies.
7. Magellan's expedition stayed eight days at Homonhon: from Sunday, March 17,
to theMonday of the following week, March 25.

8. Monday, March 25 In the afternoon, the expedition weighed anchor and left the
island of Homonhon. In the ecclesiastical calendar, this day (March 25) was the feast-
day of the lncarnation, also called the feast of the Annunciation and therefore "Our
Lady's Day. On this day, as they were about to weigh anchor, an accident
happened to Pigafetta: he fell into the water but was rescued. He attributed his
narrow escape from death as grace obtained through the intercession of the
Blessed Virgin Mary on her feast-day.
9. The route taken by the expedition after leaving Homonhon was "toward the west
southwest, between four islands: namely, Cenalo, Hiunanghan, Ibusson and
Alberene." Very probably "Cenalo is a misspelling in the Italian manuscript for what
Pigafetta in his map calls "Ceilon and Albo calls "Seilani: namely the island of Leyte.
Hiunanghan" (a misspelling of Hinunangan) seemed to Pigafetta to be a separate
island but is actually on the mainland of Leyte (i.e., "Ceylon'"). On the other hand,
Hibuson (Pigafetta's Ibusson) is an island east of Leyte's southern tip.
Thus, it is easy to see what Pigafetta meant by sailing toward the west southwest"
past those islands. They left Homonhon sailing westward towards Leyte, then
followed the Leyte coast southward, passing between the island of Hibuson on their
portside and Unangan Bay on their starboard, and then continued southward, then
turning westwardto "Mazaua.
10. Thursday, March 28 In the morning of Holy Thursday, March 6, they anchored
off an island where the previous night they had seen a light or a bonfire. That island
"lies in a latitude of nine and two-thirds towards the Arctic Pole (i.e., North) and in a
longitude of one hundred and sixty-two degrees from the line of demarcation. lt is
twenty-five leaguesfrom the Acquada and is called Mazaua.

11. They remained seven days on Mazaua island.

12. Thursday, April 4-They left Mazaua, bound for Cebu. They were guided thither
by the king of Mazaua who sailed in his own boat. Their route took them past five
"islands" namely: "Ceylon, Bohol, Canighan, Baibai, and Gatighan."
13. At Gatighan, they sailed westward to the three islands of the Camotes Group,
namely,Poro, Pasihan and Ponson. Here the Spanish ships stopped to allow the king
of Mazaua to catch up with them, since the Spanish ships were much faster than the
native balanghai-a thing that excited the admiration of the king of Mazaua.
14. From the Camotes Islands they sailed southwards towards "Zubu.

15. Sunday, April 7 - At noon they entered the harbor of "Zubu (Cebu). It had taken
them three days to negotiate the journey from Mazaua northwards to the Camotes
Islands andthen southwards to Cebu.
It must be pointed out that both Albo and Pigafetta's testimonies coincide and
corroborate each other. Pigafetta gave more details on what they did during their
weeklong stay at Mazaua.
Primary Source: Pigafetta and Seven Days in Mazaua

Source: Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, The Philippine Islands, Vols.
33 and 34, as cited in Miguel A. Bernad, "Butuan or Limasawa? The Site of the First
Mass in the Philippines: A Reexamination of Evidence" 1981, Kinaadman: A Journal
of Southern Philippines, Vol. III, 1-35.

1. Thursday, March 28-In the morning they anchored near an island where they had
seena light the night before a small boat (boloto) came with eight natives, to whom
Magellan threw some trinkets as presents. The natives paddled away, but two hours
later two larger boats (balanghai) came, in one of which the native king sat under an
awning of mats. At Magellan's invitation some of the natives went up the Spanish
ship, but the native king remained seated in his boat. An exchange of gifts was
effected. In the afternoon that day, the Spanish ships weighed anchor and came
closer to shore, anchoring near the native king’s village. This Thursday, March 28,
was Thursday in Holy Week, i.e., Holy Thursday.
2. Friday, March 29-"Next day. Holy Friday, Magellan sent his slave interpreter
ashore in a small boat to ask the king if he could provide the expedition with food
supplies, and to say that they had come as friends and not as enemies. In reply, the
king himself came in a boat with six or eight men, and this time went up Magellan's
ship and the two men embraced. Another exchange of gifts was made. The native
king and his companions returned ashore, bringing with them two members of
Magellan's expedition as guests forthe night. One of the two was Pigafetta.

3. Saturday, March 30 Pigafetta, and his companion had spent the previous
evening Feasting and drinking with the native king and his son. Pigafetta deplored
the fact that, although it was Good Friday, they had to eat meat. The following
morning (Saturday) Pigafetta and his companion took leave of their hosts and
returned to the ships.
4. Sunday, March 31-"Early in the morning of Sunday, the last of March and Easter
day," Magellan sent the priest ashore with some men to prepare for the Mass. Later
in the morning Magellan landed with some fifty men and Mass was celebrated, after
which a cross was venerated. Magellan and the Spaniards returned to the ship for
the noon-day meal, but in the afternoon, they returned ashore to plant the cross on
the summit of the highest hill. In attendance both at the Mass and at the planting of
the cross were the kingof Mazaua and the king of Butuan.
5. Sunday, March 31-On that same afternoon, while on the summit of the highest
hill, Magellan asked the two kings which ports he should go to obtain more
abundant supplies of food than were available in that island. They replied that there
were three to choose from: Ceylon, Zubu, and Calagan. Of the three, Zubu was the
port with the most trade. Magellan then said that he wished to go to Zubu and to
depart the following morning. He asked for someone to guide him thither. The
kings replied that the pilots would be available "any time. But later that evening the
King of Mazaua changed his mind and said that he would himself conduct Magellan
to Zubu but that he would first have to bring the harvest in. He asked Magellan to
send him men to help with the harvest.
6. Monday, April 1 - Magellan sent men ashore to help with the harvest, but no work
was done that day because the two kings were sleeping off their drinking bout the
night before.
7. Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April3- Work on the harvest during the "next to
days,” i.e., Tuesday and Wednesday, the 2nd and 3rd of April.
8. Thursday, April 4-They leave Mazaua, bound for Cebu.

Using the primary sources available, Jesuit priest Miguel A. Bernad in his work
Butuan orLimasawa: The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines: A Reexamination of
Evidence (1981) lays down the argument that in the Pigafetta account, a crucial
aspect of Butuan was not mentioned-the river. Butuan is a riverine settlement,
situated on the Agusan River. The beach off Masao is in the delta of said river. It 18 a
curious omission in the account of the river, which makes part of a distinct
characteristic of Butuan's geography that seemed to be too important to be missed.

The Mojares Panel Report on the Issue

In a resolution dated July 15 but released on Wednesday, August 19, 2020,

the NHCP adopted a recommendation of a panel of Church historians, reaffirming
its earlier stand that Limasawa Island was the site of the first mass that started
Christianity in the Philippines. The panel’s study was the fourth to be made since
1980 and puts an end to a contention by some groups that the first mass was held
in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte. Based on the evidence presented and the
research it has conducted in aid of the evaluation, the evidence and arguments
presented by the pro-Butuan proponents, while commendably serious and
substantial, are not sufficiently conclusive as to demand a repeal or reversal to the
current government ruling on the case of the First Easter Sunday Mass. The panel
therefore recommends that Limasawa Island, Leyte, be sustained as the site of the
First Easter Sunday Mass of 1521. The panel endorses the changes proposed by
historian Dr. Rolando Borrinaga to wit: That Barangay Triana instead of Barangay
Magallanes (both in Limasawa) be recognized – after proper consultation with the
local stakeholders or government units – as the site of the First Easter Sunday Mass,
and that Saub Point in Triana be likewise recognized as the site of the cross planted
by Magellan and his men.
The Importance of Butuan

The panel, however, recognizes the deep historical significance of the

greater Butuan area as a precolonial trading center and base in the Christianization
of Mindanao, a significance that transcends the question of whether it is the site of
the “first mass.” The panel therefore recommends that the National Historical
Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) initiate and support the promotion of Butuan
as a one of the country’spremier historic sites.
Lesson 2 – First Cry of Philippine Revolution: Is it in Pugadlawin or is it in
Balintawak?

From trivial to the most significant “pain” people cry to be heard. History of
Filipinopeople was an array of cries and struggles - “cry” word, in our history signifies –
the pasya, the pagpupunit or the unang labanan which eventually led to the
outbreak of First Philippine Revolution.
After 333 years a “pasya” to fight against Spanish colonialism… which
commenced to the pagpupunit ng cedula – a piece of paper that symbolized Spanish
oppression …withraised that the “Cry” should mean the unang labanan.
"That being the case, "Bonifacio said, "bring out your cedulas and tear them
to pieces to symbolize our determination to take up arms!" The men obediently tore
up their cedulas, shouting "Long live the Philippines!" This event marked the so-
called "Cry of Balintawak.”
The First Cry of Philippine Revolution marked the start of the different
revolutionary events in the country. This happened in Manila in August 1896 where
the members of Katipunan declared rebellion against the Spanish colonial
government by tearing their cedulas. The event happened after the discovery of
Katipunan revealed by Teodoro Patiňo to Fr. Mariano Gil on August 19, 1896, and
subsequently, Spaniards began pursuing to arrest them.
The controversy, however, persist regarding this event stemming from the
identification of dates and places where the cry happened from the testimonies of
differenteyewitnesses of the event.
Thus, as an historic controversy, this issue must be resolved. Did it happen in
Balintawak or Pugad Lawin?
News about the discovery of the Katipunan spread to Manila and the nearby
suburbs, and Andres Bonifacio immediately called for a general meeting. In
Balintawak, Bonifacio hurriedly changed the Code of the Katipunan, hoping that he
could save the society. 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, known as “Tandang Sora” who was later acknowledged as the Mother of the
Katipunan. In there, Bonifacio asked his men whether they were willing to fight to the
bitter end. Everyone shouted approval, except Teodoro Plata, who thought that it
was too soon for a revolution. Heartened by his men's response, Bonifacio then
asked them to tear their "cedulas" (residence certificates) to pieces, as a sign of
defiance and determination to rise against the Spaniards. The men immediately tore
up their cedulas, shouting, "Mabuhay ang Pilipinas (Long live the Philippines): This is
known as the First Cry of the Revolution.

Different Dates and Places of the Cry

Various accounts of the Cry give different dates and places. A guardia civil, Lt.
Olegario Diaz, identified the Cry to have happened in Balintawak on 25 August 1896.
Teodoro Kalaw, Filipino historian, marks the place to be in Kangkong, Balintawak, on
the last week of August 1896. Santiago Alvarez, a Katipunero and son of Mariano
Alvarez, leader of the Magdiwang faction in Cavite, put the Cry in Bahay Toro in
Quezon City on 24 August 1896. Pio Valenzuela, known Katipunero and privy to many
events concerning the Katipunan stated that the Cry happened in Pugad Lawin on 23
August 1896. Historian Gregorio Zaide identified the Cry to have happened in
Balintawak on 26 August 1896, while Teodoro Agoncillo put it at Pugad Lawin on 23
August 1896, according to statements by Pio Valenzuela. Research by historians
Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnacion, and Ramon Villegas claimed that the
event took place in Tandang Sora's barn in Gulod, Barangay Banlat, Quezon City, on
24 August 1896.

Primary Source: Accounts of the Cry

Source: Guillermo Masangkay, "Cry of Balintawak" in Gregorio Zaide and Sonia
Zaide, Documentary Sources of Philippine History, Volume 8 (Manila: National Book
Store, 1990), 307-309.

On August 26th, a big meeting was held in Balintawak, at the house of Apolonio
Samson, then cabeza of that barrio of Caloocan. Among those who attended, I
remember, were Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Tomas Remigio,
Briccio Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Pio Valenzuela, Enrique Pacheco, and Francisco
Carreon. They were all leaders of the Katipunan and composed the board of directors
of the organization. Delegates from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite, and Morong were
also present.

At about nine o'clock in the morning of August 26, the meeting was opened with
Andres Bonifacio presiding and Emilio Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose was
to discuss when the uprising was to take place. Teodoro Plata, Briccio Pantas, and Pio
Valenzuela were all opposed to starting the revolution too early... Andres Bonifacio,
sensing that he would lose in the discussion then, left the session hall and talked to
the people, who were waiting outside for the result of the meeting of the leaders. He
told the people that the leaders were arguing against starting the revolution early
and appealed to them in a fiery speech in which he said: "You remember the tate of
our countrymen who were shot in Bagumbayan. Should we return now to the towns,
the Spaniards will only shoot us. Our organization has been discovered and we are all
marked men. If we don't start the uprising, the Spaniards will get us anyway. What
then, do you say?

"Revolt!" the people shouted as one.

Bonifacio then asked the people to give a pledge that they were to revolt. He told
them that the sign of slavery of the Filipinos were (Sic) the cedula tax charged each
citizen. "If it is true that you are ready to revolt... I want to see you destroy your
cedulas. It will be a sign that all of us have declared our severance from the
Spaniards.

Pio Valenzuela
Source: Pio Valenzuela, "Cry of Pugad Lawin," in Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide,
Documentary Sources of Philippine History, Volume 8 (Manila: National Book Store,
1990), 301-302.

The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Procopio Bonifacio,
Teodoro Plata, Aguedo del Rosario, and myself was Balintawak, the first five arriving
there on August 19, and I, on August 20, 1896. The first place where some 500
members of the Katipunan met on August 22, 1896, was the house and yard of
Apolonio Samson at Kangkong. Aside from the persons mentioned above, among
those who were there were Briccio Pantas, Alejandro Santiago, Kamon Bernardo,
Apolonio Samson, and others.

Here, views were only exchanged, and no resolution was debated or adopted. It was
at Pugad Lawin, the house storehouse, and yard of Juan Ramos, son of Melchora
Aquino, where over 1,000 members of the Katipunan met and carried out
considerable debate and discussion on August 23, 1896. The discussion was on
whether or not the revolution against the Spanish government should be started on
August 29, 1896... After the tumultuous meeting, many of those present tore their
cedula certificates and shouted. "Long live the Philippines! Long live in the
Philippines!

Valenzuela's account should be read with caution: He once told a Spanish

investigator that the "Cry happened in Balintawak on Wednesday, 26 August 1896.
Much later, he wrote in his Memoirs of the Revolution that it happened at Pugad
Lawin on 23 August 1896. Such inconsistencies in accounts should always be seen as
a red flag when dealingwith primary sources.

Santiago Alvarez
Santiago Alvarez regarding the Cry of Balintawak flaunted specific endeavors, as
stated:

We started our trek to Kangkong at about eleven that night. We walked through the
rain over dark expanses of muddy meadows and fields. Our clothes drenched and
our bodies numbed by the cold wind, we plodded wordlessly. It was nearly two in
the morning whenwe reached the house of Brother Apolonio Samson in Kangkong.
We crowded into the house to rest and warm ourselves. We were so tired that, after
hanging our clothes out to dry, we soon feel asleep. The Supremo began assigning
guards at five o'clock the following morning, Saturday 22 August 1896.

He placed a detachment at the Balintawak boundary and another at the backyard to

the north of the house where we were gathered. No less than three hundred men
assembled at the bidding of the Supremo Andres Bonifacio. Altogether, they
carried assorted weapons, bolos, spears, daggers, a dozen small revolvers and a
rifle used by its owner, one Lieutenant Manuel, for hunting birds. The Supremo
Bonifacio was restless because of fear of sudden attack by the enemy. He was
worried over the thought that any of the couriers carrying the letter sent by Emilio
Jacinto could have been intercepted; and in that eventuality, the enemy would
surely know their whereabouts and attack them on the sly. He decided that it was
better to move to a site called Bahay Toro. At ten o'clock that Sunday morning, 23
August 1896 we arrived at Bahay Toro. Our member had grown to more than 500
and the house, yard, and warehouse of Cabesang Melchora was getting crowded
with us Katipuneros. The generous hospitality of Cabesang Melchora was no less
than that of Apolonio Samson. Like him, she also opened her granary and had
plenty of rice pounded and animals slaughtered to feed us. The following day,
Monday, 24 August, more Katipuneros came and increased our number to more
than a thousand. The Supremo called a meeting at ten o'clock that morning inside
Cabesang Melchora's barn. Flanking him on both sides atthe head of the table were
Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Emilio Jacinto, Briccio Pantas, Enrique Pacheco, Ramon
Bernardo, Pantelaon Torres, Francisco Carreon, Vicente Fernandez, Teodoro Plata,
and others. We were so crowded that some stood outside the barn. The following
matters were approved at the meeting:

1. An uprising to defend the people's freedom was to be started at

midnight of Saturday, 29 August 1896.
2. To be on a state of alert so that the Katipunan forces could strike
should the situation arise where the enemy was at a disadvantage.
Thus, the uprising could be started earlier than the agreed time of
midnight of 29 August 1896 should a favorable opportunity arise at
that date. Everyone should steel himself and be resolute in the
struggle that was imminent.
3. He immediate objective was the capture of Manila.

After the adjournment of the meeting at twelve noon, there were tumultuous shouts
of "Long live the Sons of the People!”

According to Guerrero, Encarnacion, and Villegas, all these places are in

Balintawak, then part of Caloocan, now, in Quezon City. As for the dates, Bonifacio
and his troops may have been moving from one place to another to avoid being
located by the Spanish government, which could explain why there are several
accounts of the Cry.
 MIDTERM OUTPUT (20%)

Instruction: Write your own version of the Kartilya ng Katipunan in a way that it can
encourage millennials like you to read and practice its teachings. Focus on the societal
issues/ problems in our country today. Your own version of the Kartilya ng Katipunan
should contain at least 10 teachings. You can write it down either in English or Filipino
only. For students with laptop/pc or with access to computer shops, please submit your
essay in a Microsoft word or in a pdf format. If you don’t have laptop/pc or with access
to computer shops, you may write your essay in a short bond paper and take a picture
of it and then upload it through the submission bin on the LMS. Make sure that the
picture/s is/are clear, and the texts are legible.