THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

IN THE PHILIPPINE
A Reexamination of the
Evidence
By: Miguel A. Bernad
 FIRST MASS
• According to Pigafetta, the first mass
happened on March 31, 1521 which is
Eastern Sunday on Southern Leyte.
• Father Pedro de Valderrama held the
mass and The Rajah of Mazaua and
Rajah of Butuan were present.
• After the mass party, a cross was planted
on a summit of a little hill. The First Mass
marked the birth of Roman Catholicism in
the Philippines.
 WHY IN BUTUAN:
Butuan Tradition: the 3 century
tradition
THE MONUMENT ERECTED NEAR
THE MOUTH OF AGUSAN RIVER
WHICH HAS AN INSCRIPTION:
To the Immortal Magellan: the People of
Butuan with their Parish Priest and the
Spaniards resident therein, to
commemorate his arrival and the
celebration of the First Mass on this site
on the 8th of April 1521. Erected in 1872,
under the District Governor Jose Ma.
Carvallo.
• The date of the First Mass may be an error due to the use of
Gregorian Calendar in the translation of the original date
• Labor Evangelista (Father Francisco Colin)- The First Mass,
Solemn planting of the cross and the formal taking possession of
the Islands in the name of the Crown of Castile happened in
Butuan on Easter Sunday of 1521.
• Historia de Mindanao y Jolo (Father Francsico Combes)-
Magellan landed on Butuan and planted the cross in a solemn
ceremony. Information about the First Mass is not mentioned.
• Colin and Combes both pictured that Magellan visited Butuan
and Limasawa.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCES
• Name of the Place POSSIBLE WITNESS:
• The expedition traveled 20 to 25 leagues
• Gines de Mafra-
from Homonhon, the first landing point
Ambrosiana Codex
• The latitude position
• The geographical feature
• Bonfire
• Balanghai
• House
• Abundance of Gold
• Developed settlement
RECENT EVIDENCES
• 1976-BCHFI’s 28 new gathered evidences and
10 newly discovered balanghai boats in Masao
River
• Statement of Gregorio Zaide
• Archaeologist examining the coordinates
• Yale Codex
CONCLUSION

• Mazaua is located 9 and 1/3 latitude,

south of Seylani which is 10 latitude. This
could mean that it can be nearly located
Butuan City or in the municipality of
Agusan del Norte.
WHY IN LIMASAWA?:
• Limasawa is a small
island now occupied by
the province of Leyte
• Historically important
because Ferdinand
Magellan left after first
landing and resting in
Homonhon in March 1521
IMPORTANT EVENTS TOOK IN LIMASAWA ISLAND:
• Ferdinand Magellan’s alliance with Raha Kulambu
• The First Mass
• According to Francisco Albo’s account, he didn’t mention the
First Mass in the Philippines but only the planting of the
cross.

Witness: Antonio Pigafetta wrote Mazaua as the name of the

island.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCES
• The evidence of Albo’s
Logbook
• The evidence of Pigafetta
• Summary of Evidence of Albo
and Pigafetta
• Confirmatory evidence from
Legazpi Expedition
• Monograph by Fr.Bernard in
1981
• Study of William Henry Scott
in 1982
RECENT EVIDENCES
 RA 2733
CONCLUSION

• Limasawa is the original site of the First Catholic

Mass in the Philippines, according to a 2 year
study of National Historical Commission in the
Philippines (NHCP}. (August 24,2019. ABS CBN
News)
REPUBLIC ACT No. 2733
An Act to Declare the Site in Magallanes,
Limasawa Island in the Province of Leyte, Where
the First Mass in the Philippines
The NHCP Board of Commissioners signed
Resolution No. 2 last July 15 adopting the report
submitted by the investigating panel on the issue
surrounding the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the
Philippines
The national historical commission also
studied the 1895 journal articles of historians
Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Pablo Pastells,
SJ, which revisited Pigafetta’s accounts and
emphasized that Limasawa, not Butuan, as the
site of the first Catholic mass in the country.
The Two Faces of the
1872 Cavite Mutiny
By Chris Antonette Piedad-Pugay
 “GOMBURZA
The Martyrdom”of the three martyr
priests in the person of Fathers Mariano
Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto
Zamora (GOMBURZA)
All Filipino must know the different
sides of the story since this event led to
another tragic yet meaningful part of our
history.
1872 Cavite Mutiny :
SPANISH
PERSPECTIVE
- Jose Montero y Vidal a Spanish
historian documented the event and
highlighted it as an attempt of indios to
overthrow the Spanish government in the
Philippines.
- Gen. Rafael Izquierdo’s official report
magnified the event and made use of it to
implicate the native clergy.
- Izquierdo and Montero scored out that the
main reason of the revolution are the
abolition of privileges of the worked of
Cavite.
- Izquierdo reported to the King of Spain that
the ‘rebels’ wanted to overthrow the Spanish
government to install a new ‘hari’ in the likes
of Father Gomez, Burgos and Zamora.
 January 20,
- The district of Sampaloc celebrated the feast
1872
of the Virgin of Loreto.
- The participant celebrated it with the fireworks
display.
- Those in Cavite mistook it as the sign for the
attack.
- The 200 men contingent headed by
Seargent Fernando Lamadrid
launched an attack targeting Spanish officers
at sight and seized the arsenal. Sgt . Lamadrid
 February 17,
1872
- Attempt of the Spanish government
and Frailocracia to instill fear among
Filipinos so that they may never
commit such daring act again, the
GOMBURZA were executed.
- The execution of the Gomburza is one
of the moving forces that shaped
Filipino Nationalism.
 A Response to
Injustice :
The Filipino Version
of the Incident
- Dr. Trinidad Hermenigildo
Pardo de Tavera, a Filipino
scholar and researcher, wrote the
Filipino version of the Filipino
incident in Cavite.
- In his point of view, the incident was
a mere mutiny by the native Filipino
soldiers and laborers.
- On January 20, 1872, about 200 men
comprised of soldiers, laborers of the
arsenal and residents of Cavite headed by
Sergeant La madrid rose in arms and
assassinated the commanding officers and
Spanish officers in sight.
- Tavera believed that the Spanish friars and
Gen. Izquierdo used Cavite Mutiny as a
powerful lever by magnifying it as a full
blown Conspiracy.
- Central Government of Spain
welcomed an educational degree
authored by Segismundo
Moret promoted the fusion of
sectarian schools run by the friars
into a schools called “Philippine
Institute”.
- Convicted educated men who
participated in the mutiny were
sentenced life imprisonment while
members of the native clergy headed
by the GOMBURZA were executed by
garrote.

- This leads to the awakening of

Nationalism and eventually to the
outbreak of Philippine Revolution.
Unravelling the
Truth
Considering the four accounts of the
1872 Mutiny, there were some basic facts
that remained
1. There unvarying
was a dissatisfaction : the workers of the
among
arsenal; their privileges was drawn back by Gen. Izquierdo.
2. Gen. Izquierdo introduced rigid and strict policies that made
Filipinos move turn away from Spanish Government in
disgust.
3. The Central Government failed to conduct an investigation
on what truly happened.
4. Filipino clergy members actively participated in the
secularization movement in order to allow Filipino priest to
take hold of the parishes in the country making them prey
to the to rage of the friars.
5. Filipino was active participant and responded to what
they deemed injustice.
6. The execution of GOMBURZA was a blunder on the
part of Spanish government.
“Not forget those
who fell during
the night”
DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE “CRY“
 Pío Valenzuela’s “Cry of Pugad Lawin”
 August 23, 1896
 “Cry of Balintawak” as the staging
point of the Philippine Revolution.
 He surrendered to General Ramon
Blanco on September 3, 1896 and
was imprisoned in Fort Santiago,
where upon investigation, he told
Francisco Olive, the Spanish
investigator that the “Cry” was staged
at Balintawak on Wednesday, August
26, 1896.
 Pío Valenzuela’s “Cry of Pugad Lawin”
On August 22, 1896 in the house of
Apolonio Samson at Kangkong.
It was at Pugad Lawin, in the house of
Juan Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino
where over 1000 of katipuneros met and
carried out debate on August 23 whether
or not the revolution start on August 29,
1896.
Only Teodoro Plata protested.
After the meeting, the katipuneros tore
their cedulas and shouted “Long Live the
Philippines!”
 Gregoria de Jesus’s Version of the First
“Cry”
August 25, 1896
“Lakambini of the Katipunan”
Custodian of the secret documents,
seal, and weapons of the Katipunan.
 While Bonifacio and his men
gathered in the hills of Balintawak for
the war, the Spanish authorities were
coming to arrest her so she fled to
manila and later joined his husband.
 Gregoria de Jesus’s Version of the
First “Cry”

When the Katipunan had been

discovered and some of the members
were arrested, she immediately
returned to Caloocan.
Through her friend, she learned that
the Spanish were coming to arrest
her so at 11 o’clock at night, secretly
going through the rice fields in La
Loma with intention of returning to
Manila.
 Santiago Alvarez’s The “Cry of
Bahay Toro”
August 24, 1896
Son of Mariano Alvarez and relative
of Gregoria de Jesus.
Unlike Masangkay, Samson and
Valenzuela, Alvarez was not an
eyewitness of the historic event.
Hence, His version cannot be
accepted as equal in weight to that
given by actual participants of the
event.
 Santiago Alvarez’s
The “Cry of Bahay Toro”
 Sunday, August 23, 1896 at 10 o’clock in the
morning at the barn of Kabesang Melchora,
about 500 of the katipuneros met together and
were ready and eager to join Bonifacio and his
men.
 Monday, August 24, 1896, Bonifacio hold a
meeting inside a big barn began at 9 o’clock in
the morning were about 1000 katipuneros
present.
 12 o’clock of the same day when the meeting
adjourned, the loud cries of “Long Live Sons
of the Country!” (Mabuhay ang mga Anak ng
Bayan!) were heard.
 Guillermo Masangkay’s
The “Cry of Balintawak”
 August 26, 1896
 The historic first rally of the Philippine
Revolution
occurred at the rustic barrio of Balintawak, a
few kilometers north of the city of Manila..
At about 9 o’clock in the morning of
August 26, 1896, a big meeting was held
in Balintawak by Bonifacio
Teodora Plata, Briccio Pantas and Pio
Valenzuela opposed to start the uprising
early.
 Guillermo Masangkay’s
The “Cry of Balintawak”
 The people then agreed to Bonifacio and
screamed “Revolt!”
 Bonifacio then asked the people to give pledge by
destroying their cedulas as it is the sign of slavery
of the Filipinos by the Spaniards.
 At about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, while the
gathering of Balintawak was celebrating the
decision of the Katipuneros to start the uprising,
the guards outside gave warning that the
Spaniards were coming. Shot were exhanged
between the Katipuneros and Spaniards thus the
start of the Revolution.