Controversies and Conflicting

Views in Philippine History 

CHAPTER 2

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

7100 Islands, 4327 of them still unnamed

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

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

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