BUTUAN OR

LIMASAWA:
THE SITE OF THE
FIRST MASS IN THE
PHILIPPINES
Lesson Objectives
At the end of the discussion, the students should be able to:
• Appraise the knowledge of the students with regards to the
controversial and conflicting views on the different historical
accounts.
• Demonstrate the ability to formulate arguments in favor or
against a particular issue using primary sources
• Recognize the multiplicity of interpretation that can be read
from a historical text
ENGAGE: Read in advance the attached PDF in our GCR about our
topic ONE PAST, MANY HISTORIES, and share your thoughts in the
comment section.
LOOKING BACK!
Before we proceed to our discussion about the controversy of the SITE
OF THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES, watch first the video
about “Ferdinand Magellan - First Circumnavigation of the Earth”.

CLICK
THE
LINK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylwiOLab5AA
 “History is a guide to
navigation in perilous
times. History is who we
are- David McCullough
and why we are the way we
are.”
 THE FIRST VOYAGE
AROUND THE WORLD
By: Antonio Pigafetta
 Antonio Pigafetta
(1490 – 1534)

• Known by the name of Antonio Lombardo or Francisco

Antonio Pigafetta
• Famous Italian traveler
• Born in Vicenza around 1490; died in the same city in 1534
• Studied astronomy, geography and cartography and during
his younger years, he worked in the ships owned by the
Knights of Rhodes
 Antonio Pigafetta
(1490 – 1534)

• Joined the Magallanes – Elcano famous

expedition to the Moluccas begun in August
1519 and finished in September 1522
• Had a hand-written account of the
expedition entitled “The First Voyage
Around the World”
 HISTORICAL CONTEXT

These 5 ships were the first

“The First voyage Around ones to circumnavigate King Charles V provided the
the World” was written in around the world. It was led Spanish fleet named
one of the 5 ships of the by Ferdinand Magellan, a Armada de Molucca which
Magallanes – Elcano Portuguese explorer, and was led by Magellan.
expedition. when he died in the Battle
of Mactan, Juan Sebastian
Elcano took over.
THE FIVE SHIPS
• Santiago
• San Antonio
• Concepcion
• Trinidad
• Victoria
Antonio Pigafetta was on board
First ship that circumnavigated the world
The only ship to complete the voyage
 The Five Ships
• Out of the five ships, only three reached in the
Philippines.
• After the battle of Mactan, their men were enough to
man two ships: Trinidad and Victoria.
• Until they returned to Spain, only one ship survived –
Victoria - and one of the survivors was Antonio Pigafetta
who kept a journal about their expedition.
• Pigafetta’s account is the longest and most
comprehensive in describing their encounters during the
Magallanes-Elcano expedition.
 TIMELINE
DURING THEIR
STAY IN THE
PHILIPPINE
MARCH 16, 1521 (Arrival in Samar)

⮚ Arrived in Zamal (now Samar), the island was

called Humunu (now Homonhon)
⮚ Locals welcomed them by giving them their
native products such as fishing, figs, coconuts,
palm wine
MARCH 31, 1521(First Mass in the Philippines)

⮚ Sunday Morning
⮚ Held at Mazaua
⮚ Attended by local islanders, Spanish
voyagers, the two Rajas, and Magellan
 APRIL 7, 1521 (Arrival in Zubu)

⮚ Arrived at the port of Zubu (Cebu), the largest and where

there were the most trade among the islands
⮚ Pigafetta described the inhabitants’ houses that were made
of logs
⮚ Fired mortars as a “sign of peace and friendship”
⮚ There was tension between the King of Zubu and the
voyagers and Magellan threatened them to rage war
APRIL 14, 1521 (Image of Child Jesus)

⮚ Held mass with Raja Humabon and

baptized 800 souls
⮚ Pigafetta showed the image of
Child Jesus and a cross to the
queen and asked her to keep
these in place of her idols
⮚ The Child Jesus is known today as
Señor Santo Niño, whose feast is
celebrated every third Sunday of
January in Cebu
APRIL 27, 1521 (Battle of Mactan)

⮚ Datu Zula, chief of the island Matan (Mactan)

welcomed them. But Cilapulapu, the other chief
refused to obey to the King of Spain
⮚ Datu Zula requested the captain to defeat
Cilapulapu, which started the battle
⮚ Natives outsmarted them, used “patibongs’ to
defeat them.
⮚ The voyagers were losing in this battle
APRIL 28, 1521 (Death of Magellan)
⮚ Captain told them to give up
this losing battle, but his
men insisted
⮚ Magellan was shot in the leg
with a poisoned arrow.
⮚ He died, their “mirror,
comfort, and true guide” as
what Pigafetta described
⮚ They retreated leaving their
captain dead.
 SEPTEMBER 8, 1522

Victoria, the only ship that survived,

finally arrived in Seville. Thus, ending the
Magallanes – Elcano expedition.
BUTUAN OR
LIMASAWA?
A Reexamination of the
Evidence
 MASAO (Butuan City)
• 1872: A monument to commemorate the site of the first mass on the Philippines
was erected in Butuan. It was eventually corrected by the Jesuit missionaries as
erroneous
• 1953: The people of Butuan asked the Philippine Historical Committee to rehabilitate
the monument or place a marker on the site.
• On the basis of this objection the monument was re-erected but the marble slab
stating it was the site of first Mass was removed.

• Zaide identified Masao in Butuan as the location of the first Mass. The basis of
Zaide’s claim is the diary of Antonio Pigafetta, Chronicler of Magellan’s Voyage.
 LIMASAWAS (Samar, Leyte)
• Jaime de Veyra stated that the first Mass was celebrated in Limasawa
and not in Butuan.
• Jesuit historian Pablo Pastells stated in the footnote to Francisco Colin’s
Labor Evangelica that Magellan did not go to Butuan but went from
Limasawa to Cebu.
• Francisco Albo does not mention the first Mass but he writes that they
erected a cross on a mountain which overlooked three islands to the
west and the southwest
• In the authentic account of Pigafetta, the port was not in Butuan but
an island named Mazua (Masawa)
 THE SHIFT IN OPINION
• Fr. Pablo Pastells was the man initially responsible for the shift. He
was a Spanish Jesuit scholar.
• He collected an enormous number of documents from the
Archivo de Indias in Seville and from other sources.
• The shift in opinion from Butuan to Limasawa was due to a
rediscovery and a more attentive study of two primary sources
on the subject: namely, Pigafetta’s account and Albo’s log.
• Some recent defenders of the Butuan tradition have blamed the
shift of opinion on two Americans, namely Emma Blair and James
Robertson whose voluminous collection of documents on the
Philippine Islands was published in Cleveland from 1903 to 1909.
THE EVIDENCE
FOR LIMASAWA
▰ We now come to the evidence in favor of Limasawa.
▰ The evidence may be outlined as follows:
▻ The evidence of Albo’s Logbook
▻ The evidence of Pigafetta
a) Pigafetta’s testimony regarding the route;
b) The evidence of Pigafetta’s map;
c) The two native kings’
d) The seven days at “Mazaua”;
e) An argument of omission
▻ Summary of the evidence of Albo and Pigafetta
▻ Confirmatory evidence from the Legaspi expedition
1. The Evidence of Albo’s Logbook

• Francisco Albo joined the Magellan expedition as a pilot

(“contra-maestre”) in Magellan’s flagship “Trinidad”.
• He was one of the 18 survivors who returned with
Sebastian Elcano on the “Victoria” after having
circumnavigated the World.
• Albo began keeping his own diary – merely only a log-
book – on the voyage out. His account of their entry
into Philippine waters (or, as it was then called, the
archipelago of San Lazaro).
1. The Evidence of Albo’s Logbook

• Such is Albo’s testimony. The island that he calls Gada seems

to be the acquada of Pigafetta, namely the island of
Homonhon where they took in supplies of water and wood.
The large island of Seilani which they coasted is the island of
Leyte. Coasting southwards along the eastern coast of that
island, then turning southwest they came upon a small island
named, Mazava, which lies at a latitude of 9 and two-thirds
degrees North.
 1. The Evidence of Albo’s Logbook

• That fits the location of the small island of Limasawa, south

of Leyte. The island’s southern tip is 9⁰54’N.
• It is to be noted that 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.
This also fits the southern end of Limasawa. It does not fit
the coast of Butuan from which no islands could be seen to
the south or the southwest, but only towards the north.
 1. The Evidence from Pigafetta
• The most complete account of Magellan expedition is that by Antonio
Pigafetta entitled Primo viaggio intomo al mondo (First voyage around
the World).
• The pertinent section in Pigafetta’s account is that part in which he
narrates the events from the 16th of March 1521 when they first sighted
the islands of the Philippines, up to the 7th of April when the expedition
landed at Cebu.
• In examining the evidence from Pigafetta, we shall consider 5 points:
a)Pigafetta’s Testimony regarding the Route
b)The evidence of Pigafetta’s Maps
c)The two Kings
d)Seven days at Mazaua
e)An argument from Omission
 SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE
OF ALBO AND PIGAFETTA
Taking the evidence of Alba’s logbook together with that from
Pigafetta’s account, we may take the following points as established:
1.Magellan’s expedition entered Philippine waters south of the
island of Samar and dropped anchor at Homonhon where they
stayed a week. Then they sailed westward towards Leyte and
then southwards parallel to the eastern coast of that island and
that of the adjoining island of Panaon. Rounding the southern tip
of the latter, they anchored off the eastern shore of a small island
called Mazaua. There they stayed a week, during which on Easter
Sunday they celebrated Mass and planted the cross on the
Summit of the highest hill.
SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE
OF ALBO AND PIGAFETTA
2.The island Mazaua lies at a latitude of nine and two-thirds degrees
north. Its position (south of Leyte) and its latitude corresponded to
the position and latitude of the island of Limasawa, whose southern
tip lies at 9 degrees and 54 minutes North.
3.From Mazaua the expedition sailed northwestwards through the
Canigao channel between Bohol and Leyte, then northernwards
parallel to the eastern coast of this latter island, then they sailed
westward to the Camotes Group and from there southwestwards to
Cebu.
4.At no point in that itinerary did the Magellan expedition go to Butuan
or any other point on the Mindanao coast. The survivors of the
expedition did go to Mindanao later, but only after Magellan’s death.
The Legaspi Expedition

• As pilots of the Legaspi expedition

understood it, Mazaua was an island near
Leyte and Panaon; Butuan was on the
island of Mindanao. The two were entirely
different places and in no wise identical.
The First Mass

Francisco Albo
1. Albo did not mention the first Mass
only the planting of the cross.
The First Mass

Francisco Albo
2.He did not mention Limasawa or
Masao.
The First Mass

Francisco Albo
3. Albo does not specify how long they
remained on MAZAVA.
The First Mass

Francisco Albo
4. Mazava which lies 9 and 2/3 degrees latitude.
*This fit to the location of Limasawa island the
southern Tip of Leyte.
The First Mass

Antonio Pigafetta
1.From the Island of Homuno(Homonhon) or “Aguada” the fleet
sailed down the Leyte Coast and Landed at Small Island of Mazaua
wich lies 9 and 2/3 degrees latitude.
*This fit to the location of Limasawa island the southern Tip of Leyte.
The First Mass

Antonio Pigafetta
2. It was on this island that the mass was celebrated on Easter
Sunday, March 31, and a cross was planted on the top of the hill.
*Albo did not mention the first Mass only the planting of the
cross.
The First Mass

Antonio Pigafetta
3. March 31, Mentioned about king of Mazaua and
King of Butuan Raja Siagu
The First Mass

Antonio Pigafetta
4. They sailed northwards and westwards stopping at various Islands along the
route(to allow the guide to catch up with the lardger ships which were
faster,they came to a channel between”Matan” and Zubu(Cebu) on Sunday,
April 7.
CONCLUSION : Father Miguel A. Bernad
1981
1. The first mass on Philippine soil was offered on Easter Sunday,
March 31, 1521 on the island of Mazaua, Which lies at a latitude of 9
and two-third degrees North.
2. The Island of Mazaua is identical with what is called in modern maps
the island of Limasawa. The latitude given imprecisely as “ 9 and two-
third degrees North” corresponds substantially to the actual latitude of
Limasawa.
3. From Limasawa (or Mazaua)The Fleet sailed north and west to Cebu.
4. Magellan’s fleet did not touch at Butuan (or any part of Mindanao) on
it’s way from Homonhon to Cebu.
5. The First mass on Philippine soil was not offered at Butuan nor at any
point of Mindanao.
Why then
the Butuan
Tradition?
1.It must be remembered that the tradition is based
on second-hand information. One author repeats
what previous authors have written and is turn
copied by subsequent authors.
2.Magellan and his men got to know the rajah of
Butuan and Mazaua. According to Pigafetta, that
rajah was at Mazaua only on a visit. But it is easy
to see how the fact that Magellan had known the
rajah of Butuan could be misunderstood by later
historians as meaning that he had known him at
Butuan.
3. tradition, while erroneous as to the site
if the first Mass, is not entirely without
validity.
⮚ From the tradition that “Magellan
visited Butuan,” it is easy for incautious
historians to conclude that “therefore
the first Mass must have been
celebrated at Butuan”.
The Importance of Butuan

• From the accounts of Legaspi’s expedition, which

visited Butuan forty-four years aster Magellan’s
death, we know that Butuan was an important
trading port for interisland (and possibly for
foreign) commerce.
• Almost all of the archeological artifacts on display
in the New Museum at Butuan (affiliated with the
National Museum) had been dug up on that delta.
 The Importance of Butuan
• Butuan’s importance is underlined by the fact that it
was the first place in Mindanao where a Christian
mission was established. It was served, first by the
Jesuits and later by the Augustinian Recollects.
• Thus, the importance of Butuan in the history of the
Philippines is in no way dependent upon its claim to
have been the site of the first Mass in the Philippines.
To reject that claim is no way belittle Butuan’s
importance. Butuan in its own right deserves an
honorable place in the study of Philippine culture and
history.
In continuation of our topic “One Past, but
many Histories”, kindly access the other
PPT in our GCR about the conflicting
views about the “FIRST CRY”