SAINT LOUIS COLLEGE

City of San Fernando, La Union

College of Arts and Sciences, Teacher-Educ. and Information

Technology

GE 2: READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Chapter 3

One Past but Many Histories:

Controversies and Conflicting Views on Philippine History

The history of the Philippines has numerous splendid topics to discuss. Many
issues have only been briefly explicated and sometimes this being confusion in
understanding our past as one nation.

With several possibilities of interpreting the past, another important concept

that we must note is multi- perspective. This can be defined as a way of looking
every personality, developments, cultures and societies from different point of view.
This means that there is a multitude of ways by which we can view the world, and
each could be equally valid, and at the same time, equally parial as well. Historical
writing is, by definition, biased, partial, and contains preconceptions. The historian
decides on what sources to use, what interpretation to make more apparent,
depending on what his/her end is. Historians may misinterpret evidence, attending
to those that suggest that a certain event happened, and then ignore the rest that
goes against the evidence. Historians may omit significant facts about their subject,
which make the interpretation unbalanced. Historians may impose certain ideology
to their subject, which may not be appropriate to the period the subject was from.
Historians may also provide a single cause for an event without considering other
possible causal explanations of the said event. These are just many of the ways a
historian may fail in his or her historical inference, description and interpretation.
With multi - perspective as an approach in history, we must understand that
historical interpretations contain discrepancies, contradictions, ambiguity and are
oftentimes the focus of dissent.

Different kinds of sources also provide different historical truths- an official

document may note different aspect of the past that say, a memoir of an ordinary
person on the same event. Different historical agents create different historical
truths. and this may be a burdensome work for the historian, it also renders more
validity to the historical scholarship.

Lesson 1: Site of the First Mass: Butuan/Limasawa

Where did the First Catholic Mass take place in the Philippines?

There is a controversy regarding the site of the first Mass ever celebrated on
Philippines soil. Pigafetta tells us that it was held on Eastern Sunday, the 31st of
March 1521, on an asland called Mazaua, two native chieftains were in attendance:
rajah of mazaua and rajah of Butuan. After the Mass the party went up a little hill and
planted a wooden cross upon its summit. The subject of the controversy is the
identity of Mazaua.

One school of thoughts points to the island south of Leyte which in the Philippine
map is called Limasawa; the other school of thoughts rejects that claim and points
instead to the beach called Masao at the mouth of the Agusan River in northern
Mindanao, near what was then the village (now the city) of Butuan

Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson the students should be able to;
1. Criticize conflicting views concerning the site of the first mass.
2. Compare and contrast views of prominent people on particular issues.
3. Debate on the controversial historical issue.
Lesson Proper

Butuan Perspective

The Butuan claim rests upon a tradition that was almost unanimous and
unbroken for three centuries, 17th, 18th and 19th. On the strength of that
tradition/claim and embodying it, a monument was erected in 1872 near the mouth
of the Agusan River at a spot that was then within the municipal boundaries of
Butuan, but which today belongs to the separate municipality of Magallanes named
after Ferdinand Magellan. The monument was a brick pillar on which was a marble
slab that contained an inscription which might be translated as follows
“To the Immortal Magellan: the people of Butuan with their parish priest and the
Spanish 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 monument was erected apparently at the instigation of the Parish priest of
Butuan, who at that time was a Spanish friar at the Order of Augustinian Recollects.

The 17th Century

The Butuan tradition was already in possession of the 17th century, so much
that it was accepted without question by Two Jesuit historians who otherwise were
quite careful of their facts

1. Father Francisco Colin S.J. (1592-1660)

Account/book: “Labor Evangelista”
Publication: first published in Madrid in 1663 three years after his death.
the work was reissued 240 years later in a magnificent three volume
edition annotated by Father Pablo Pastells S.J. (Madrid, 1903)

Here is an excerpt from Colin’s account of Magellan arrival and of the first
Mass:
“ At the end of three months and twelve days during which they traversed
4,000 leagues, having crossed the equator a second time, they climbed up to 15
degrees North latitude where they came upon two islands which they named Las
Velas(the sails). At 12 degrees North they came upon the ladrones Islands. A few
days later they saw the island of Ibabao (Samar) in this Archipelago. But the first
island they touched at was Humunu, a small uninhabited island near Guluan
Point….To that and other islets they gave the name of Buenas Senas (Good omen)
but to the entire Archipelago they gave the name San Lorenzo being the Saturday of
Saint Lazarus, Sunday in lent of the year 1521.
On Eastern Day, in the territory of Butuan, the First Mass ever offered in these
part was celebrated and a cross planted. Magellan then took formal possession of
the Island in the name of the Emperor and of the Crown of Castille.
The man who gave the most signal service to our men was the chief of
Dimasaua relative of the chief of Butuan and of that of Zebu, whither he let the
armada, which entered the harbor at noon on the 7 th of April, the Octave of Easter”

2. Father Francisco Combes S.J. (1620-1665)

Account/book : Historia de Mindanao y Jolo
Publication: printed in Madrid in 1667, two years after his death and 5
years after Colin’s work was published
Combes History of Mindanao was also reissued 230 years afterwards in an
edition edited by Wenceslao Retana assisted by Father Pastell. In Combes
account of Magellan’s voyage, he gives a somewhat different version of the
route by the discoverer.
Here is an excerpt from Combe’s account:
The first time that the royal standards of the Faith were seen fly in this island
of Mindanao was when the Archipelago was first discovered by the Admiral Alonso
de Magellanes. He followed a new and difficult route (across the Pacific) entering
by the street of Siargao, formed by that island and that of leyte, and landing at the
island of Limasaua which is the entrance of the strait. Amazed by the novelty and
strangeness of the Spanish nation and the ships, the barbarians of that island
welcomed them and gave them good refreshment.
While in Limasaua, enjoying rest and good treatment, they heard the River of
butuan, whose chief was more powerful. The barbarian lived up to our men’s
expectations, provided them with food they needed…. Magellan contented himself
with having them do reverenge to the cross which is erected upon a hillock as a
sign to future generations as their alliance… The solemnity with which the cross
was erected and the deep piety shown by the Spaniards and by the natives
following the examples of the Spaniards, engendered great respect to the Cross.
Not finding in Butuan the facilities required by the ships, they returned to
Limasaua to seek further advice in planning their future route. The Prince of
Limasaua told them of the three most powerful nations among the Pintados
(Visayans) namely those of Caraga, Samar and Zebu. The nearness of Zebu, the
facilities of its port and the more developed social structure aroused everyone
desires to go there. Thus, guided by the chieftain of Limasaua, passing between
Bohol and Leyte and close to Camotes Islands, they entered the harbor of Zebu by
the Mandawe entrance on the 7th of April 1521, having departed from Limasaua on
the first day of the month.

Both Colin and Combes exercise a strong influencer over subsequent writers
Like
A Calabrian writer, Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Carreri – “Giro del
Mundo (Voyage Around the World)

Excerpt from Carreri’s Account

“On whit Sunday the first Mass was said on the land of Butuan, a cross erected
and possession taken in the name of the most invincible Charles the 5 th. The Lord of
Oimasaua kinsman of the King of Butuan and to him of Cebu was assisting to Magellan,
for he brought the ship in to the port on the 7th of April. Before Mass was said on Whit
Sunday, the Lord and the King of Cebu were baptized and by their means, many men of
note and others to the number of 500 and after dinner the queen with 300 men”.

The 18th Century

One passage in Colin’s account which seems to have been misunderstood and which
may have misled some later writers was on how he described the Island of Mindanao

“After that of Manila, the island of Mindanao is the largest in size and the
best in qualities among the islands of this Philippine Archipelago. Upon these two
largest islands, the other island depends for protection and security. Mindanao
takes its name from the principal Province or Kingdom in it. And this is so called
from its many lakes: for danao in the language most widely used in these islands
means “lake”; whence, “Maguindanao”, the place and the dwellers of lakes. . .

The first Province that faces the sea from across New Spain (Mexico) is that
of Caraga, which begins at the Cape of San Agustin and stretches some fifty
leagues to the point of Surigao in the north east; and from there the coastline
stretches westward some fifteen leagues to the river of Butuan, noteworthy in the
history of these Islands, not so much for its gold and other good qualities as for
the fact that it was one of the first places where the Discoverer, the Illustrious
Hernando de Magallanes, landed and was accorded good treatment. . .

Colin does not say that Magellan first sighted the Cape of San Agustin and then
sailed northwards along the Pacific coast of Mindanao, rounded Surigao point, and
then sailed westward to Butuan. Colin said explicitly that Magellan entered
Philippine waters farther north, namely near Samar, landing first at Homonhon. But
careless readers, seeing Colin’s description of eastern Mindanao, coupled with
Combes’ statement that Magellan had “entered” Philippine water through Siargao
Strait, jumped to the conclusion that Magellan must have come by the southern route
as later explorers did. This mistake became quite widespread in the 18 th and 19th
centuries

One of the historians who made this error and who in turn influenced later writers
was:

Fray Juan de la Concepcion, Augustinian (1724-1787) whose 14 –volume History of

the Philippines was published in Manila shortly after his death. Here is the excerpt
from Fray Juan account about Magellan’s coming and about the first Mass in the
Philippines

“The general left the islands which he called las Velas Latinas or the Archipelago
of San lazaro – a name which they still retain, although they have also added the name of
Marianas Islands. It is said that this was the Celebes of antiquity, although I do not think
this opinion is solidly founded. They sailed 300 leagues westward, discovered many
islands with abundant supplies. Magellan had with a native Indian who understood their
language, which was a great help. They first saw Cape San Agustin at the southern tip of
the large island of Mindanao. They sailed along the coast of the province of Caraga,
entered the strait of Siargao which is formed by the Banajao Point and the island of Leyte
and they landed at the island of Limasawa which is at the entrance of the strait.

…With the good reception given them by the natives of Limasawa, they rested and
recovered from past sufferings. There, magellan heard of the River of Butuan, whose datu
or chieftain was more powerful. He decided to go mouth of the river, being led thither by
the hopes aroused by its fame. The chieftain (of Butuan) lived up to those hopes. He sent a
boat with ten men to inquire what kind of ships, of men atc. Magellan replied through the
interpreter that they were vassals of the great and powerful King of Castile; that all they
sought was peace and free trade; that they desired to buy food supplies at a fair price. The
chieftain replied that he did not have enough supply so large an expedition, but that he
would bring what he could. They brought on board 4 pigs, 3 goats and a supply of rice. It
was Eastern Sunday. The General ordered the construction on land of a shelter made of
branches. Then he ordered all his men to disembark to hear a Mass, which was
celebrated with great devotion by all, thanking God for his blessings. And this was the
first Mass ever offered on these Islands. He then ordered a large cross to be set up on a
hill”.

Certain phrases in the foregoing account are reminiscent of Combes and

Colin; yet fray Juan had misread his sources. He has mixed up several things.

1. He seems to think, that the islands called “Las Velas” and the “Marianas
Islands and the Archipelago of San Lazaro were all one and the same thing.
2. He has misconstrued Magellan route, depicting him as sighting the southern
tip of Mindanao and sailing northwards along Pacific coast of this island, and
then entering by the Siargao Strait into Limasawa “which is at the entrance of
that strait”

The 19th Century

Towards the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 19th century,
one of the important writers who accepted the Butuan tradition was
Fray Joaquin Martinez de Zuṅiga, Augustinian (1760-1818), whose Historia de
Filipinas was published in Sampaloc in 1803. His other work, a description of his
travel around the Islands remained in manuscript for nearly a century, until Retana
brought it out in a two-volume edition in 1893.

Excerpt from Fray Joaquin’s account

On Eastern Sunday of the year 1521 Magellan was in butuan. He ordered the
sacrifice of the Mass to be celebrated ashore, and he planted a cross on a hillock near the
beach. The natives were present at these ceremonies, and they also witnessed the taking
of possession of the land in the name of the Crown of Castile. These rites over, Magellan
proceeded to cebu where they killed him.”

By the 19th century, the Butuan tradition was taken for granted and writers each
copying from previous and being in turn copied by those who came after. Among
the many who could be cited as mentioning the first Mass in Butuan is the account of
an Englishman, John Foreman:

“On the 16th of March 1521 the Ladrones Islands were reached….. the fleet
continued its course westward. Coasting along the North of the Island of Mindanao they
arrived at the mouth of Butuan River, where they were supplied with provision by the
chief. It was Eastern Week on this shore the First mass was celebrated in the
Philippines.”

Unfortunately, in copying what previous authors had written, some subsequent

writers were copied not only the essence of Butuan tradition but also a good deal of
the erroneous detail that were peripheral to the tradition. The accumulated errors of
three centuries may be found illustrated in the work of a Dominican friar whose-two
volume treaties was published at Santo Tomas in Manila in 1901

Excerpt from the account of the Dominican Friar

After many days of good sailing, Magellan expedition caught sight of the Marianas
Islands which Magellan named the Archipelago of San lazaro, having discovered them on
the Saturday of Passion Sunday (7 March 1521). A little later magellan expedition came to
the Philippine territory where the Spaniards were well received by the natives of Punta
Guiguan to the east of Samar; and passing later through the Strait of Surigao, they
dropped anchor at Limasagua, whose chieftain came aboard and was entertained by
Magellan. The latter, on Eastern Sunday, disembarked at Butuan, a town in the island of
Mindanao where the first Mass in the Philippine was celebrated. He returned to
Limasagua; and learning of the importance of Cebu, he proceeded therein; following the
coast between Samar and Leyte and passing by the Camotes, he arrived in cebu on 7 April
1521.”

The good friar had not only checked on original sources: he had not even bothered
to look at the map, following the incredible route between Leyte and Samar-
magellan expedition should have ended up in the Bicol Peninsula not in Cebu.

But the essence of the Butuan tradition was accepted by even otherwise careful
scholars at the end of the 19th and the early decades of the 20th century.

Wenceslao Retana- certainly accepted the Butuan tradition. When Retana

published his edition of Martinez de Zuniga’s Estadismo in 1893, the Butuan
tradition was already very well entrenched. Two decades earlier in 1872, the
provincial and municipal authorities together with the Spanish Augustinian Recollect
missionaries of Butuan, had erected the monument. The monument was not only a
witness of the Butuan tradition but it also was accepted in turn as confirmatory
evidence for that tradition’s veracity. The Jesuit scientist of the Manila
Observatory in compiling their two-volume work El Archipelago Filipino
(published in Washington in 1900) mentioned that monument and did not
question the tradition which it represented.

As late as the 1920’s the textbook in Philippine History in use at the Ateneo de Manila
accepted the Butuan, although it took care to correct previous author’s mistakes
concerning the Marianas Islands and other mistakes;

“Magellan sailed on and reached the Southern Ocean on November 27 with only
three vessels. He sailed a northerly and a northwestward course….Finally they made port
in the islands of the “Lateen Sails” or “the Ladrones” for the natives robbed them of
whatever they could find in the ships, which they have been allowed to board. In the 17 th
century this islands took the name of “Marianas”. On march 16th they descried the island
of Samar and to the southeast that is Homonhon, Malhon or Jomonhol, all which names
its bears at present. Here they stopped and were well received by the inhabitants who
offered them abundant provisions.

In Limasawa, the chief, named Bancao, made himself the friend of the voyages
and recived from the admiral the title of prince. From Limasawa the voyage sailed to the
coast of Butuan. A cross was planted on a little promontory near the seashore, on the left
side as one enters the Agusan River. There the first Mass said on Philippine soil was
celebrated. A simple monument stands as a record of the important event.”
It is obvious that the passage accepts not only the Butuan tradition but specifically
the testimony of the Butuan monument regarding the site of the first Mass on the
Philippine soil

Limasawa Perspective

The Evidence for Limasawa may be outlines as follows

A. The Evidence of Albo’s Log-Book

B. The Evidence of Pigafetta
1. Pigafetta’s testimony regarding the route (lesson 6 – first voyage around
the world)
2. The seven days at “Masaua”
3. An Argument from Omission
4. Geography of Mazaua
C. Confirmatory evidence from Legazpi Expedition

A. 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, as cited in Miguel A. Bernard “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. 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 approach it. 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 degree North
latitude.
3. Departing from those two islands, they sailed westward to an uninhabited
esland of “Gada” where they took in a supply of food and water. The sea
around the island was free from shallows
4. From the island they sailed westward towards a large island named SEILANI
which was inhabited and was known to have gold. (Seilani ---- or, as Pigafetta
calls it, “CEYLON” --- was the island of LEYTE)
5. Sailing southwards along the coast of that island of SEILANI, they turned
southwest to a small island called “MAZAVA”. The 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
palnted 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 northards again toward Seilani. They followed to the
coast of seilani in a northwesterly direction, ascending up to 10 degrees of
latitude where they saw three islands
8. Fromthere they sailed westward 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 10 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 the channel and turned westward and anchored at the town
(la villa) of Subu where they stayed for many days and obtained provisions
and entered into a peace-pact with the local king.
10. The ton of Subu was on an east-west direction with the island of Suluan and
Mazava. But between Mazava and Subu, there were so many shallows that the
boats could not go westward directly but had to go in a roundabout way.

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 food. The large island of Seilani which they coasted is the island of Leyte.
Coasting southwards along the eastern coast of the island, then turning southwest
they came upon a small island named, Mazava, which lies at a latitude of 9 and
one-third degrees North.
That fits the location of the small island of LIMASAWA, south of LEYTE. The
island’s southern tip is at 90 54’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 southwest but only
towards the north

B. Evidence of Pigafetta
Primary Source: Pigafetta and the Seven Days in Mazaua
In that island of “Mazaua --- which according to Pigafetta was situated at latitude of
nine and two-thirds degrees North—the Magellan expedition stayed a week “We
remained there seven days”, says Pigafetta. What did they do during those seven
days?
1. Thursday, 28 March – In the morning they anchored near an island where,
they had seen a light the night before. A small boat (boloto) came with eight
native to whom Magellan threw some trinkets as present. The natives paddled
away but two hours later two large 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 affected. In the afternoon of that day, the
Spanish ships weighed anchor and came closer to the shore, anchoring near
the native king’s village. This Thursday, 28 March, was Thursday in HolyWeek
(Holy Thursday)
2. Friday, 29 March – 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 them two members of Magellan’s expedition as guests for
the night. One of the two was Pigafetta
3. Saturday, 30 March – 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 leace of their
hosts and returned to the ships.
4. Sunday, 31 March – Early in the morning of Sunday, the last of March and
Easter day,” Magellan sent the priests ashore with some men to prepare for
the Mass. Later in the morning Magellan landed with fifty men and Mass was
celebrated, after which a cross was venerated. Magellan and the Spaniards
returned to the ship for the noon-meal but in the afternoon they returned
ashore to plant the cross in the summit of the highest hill. In attendance both at
the mass and the planting of the cross were the king of mazaua and king of
Butuan
5. Sunday, 31 March – On the same afternoon, while on the summit of the
highest hill, Magellan asked the two kings which ports he should go in order
to obtain more abundant supplies of food ports 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 there. The king 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
his men to help with the harvest.
6. Monday, 1 April – Magellan send his men ashore to help with the harvest, but
no work was done that day because the two kings were sleeping off their
drinking bout of the night before
7. Tuesday, 2 April – and Wenesday, 3 April --- Work on the harvest during
the next two days
8. Thursday, 4 April --- They leave mazaua bound for Cebu. “We remained
there seven days”, says Pigafetta. Every day is accounted for. The Mass on
Easter Sunday celebrated on the island of Mazaua.

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 of masao
is in the delta of said river. It is a curious omission on the account of the river,
which makes part of a distinct characteristic of butuan geography that seemed to
be too important to be missed.
It must also be pointed out later on, after Magellan’s death, the survivors of his
expedition went to Mindanao and seemingly went to Butuan. In this instance,
Pigafetta vividly describes a trip up a river, but note that this happened after
Magellan’s death in the Battle of Mactan.

Excerpt from Pigafetta account – trip up a river after the expedition left Zubu
“When we were at a distance of eighteen leagues from the island of Zubu, near the head
of another island called Bohol, in the midst of that archipelago, seeing that our crews were too
much reduced in number, so that they were not sufficient for managing all the three ships, we
burned the Conception after transporting into the other two all that it contained that was
servicable. We then took the S.S.W. course, coasting along an island called Panilongon, where
the people were black as in Ethiopia.
We then arrived at a large island, the king of which having come on board our ship, in
order to show that he made alliance with us and would be friendly, drew blood from his left
hand, and stained with it his breast, his face, and the tip of his tongue. We then did likewise,
and when the king went away, I alone accompanied him on shore to see the island.
We entered a river where we met many fishermen, who presented some of their
fish to the king. He then took off the cloth which covered his middle, and some of his chief
men who were with him did the same, they then all began to row and to sing. Passing
near many houses, which were on the brink of the river, we arrived at two hours of the
night at the house of the king, which was two leagues from the mouth of the river where
the ships were.”

An Argument from Omission

If “Mazua is Butuan or in the vicinity of Butuan, there is a curious omission
in Pigafetta’s account which would difficult to explain. Butuan is a riverine
settlement. It is situated in the Agusan River. The beach called Masao is in the
delta of that river. If the Magellan expedition was at the delta and if the Mass
was celebrated there, why is there no mention of the river?
Later on after Magellan’s death and after the Cebu debacle, the survivors
of Magellan’s expedition went to Mindanao and it seems, actually went to
Butuan. Pigafetta describes quite vividly a trip up river to see the queen. But
that was after Magellan’s death. Forty years later members of legaspi’s
expedition visited Butuan and the river anchorage forms a very important part
of their account.
The fact that there was no mention of the river is a significant fact in
Pigafetta’s account of their seven-day stay at Mazaua. “We must therefore take
him literally: Mazaua was an island surrounded by sea, nor a river delta

THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAZAUA

The question may be asked: If “Mazaua” is the island of Limasawa, why did
Magellan go there? Why go to an insignificant little island: why not instead to the
larger islands? The answer must be sought in geography.
Magellan was coasting southward down the eastern coast of Leyte (Albo – SEILANI;
Pigafette – CEYLON) with Hibuson Island on the left. This took him down to the
southern tip of what looks lika a part of Leyte but is really a separate island, the
island of Panaon. When his ship rounded the tip of Panaon, the wind was blowing
westward form the Pacific. It was late March: in March and April in this part of the
Philippines, the east wind is strong. It is what the people of Limasawa call the
“Dumagsa”, the east wind. Sailing with the wind Magellan’s vessels would fing
themselves going west or southwest, towards the island of Limasawa. Having seen a
light on the island one night, they decided the following daya to anchor off it

A visit to Limasawa will convince the traveler that here indeed is the place
described by Pigafetta. The island is shaped like a tadpole, running north to south.
The northern portion is almost all hills with the slopes dropping steeply to the sea,
leaving only narrow coastal strip. But the southern portion of the island is almost all
level land with a few hills. It has a good harbor, protected on the west by Panaon
Island and on the east Limasawa. The fields in this portion of the island are fertile. It
is easy to understand why an expedition should wish to stay a week anchored off this
fertile island where the natives were friendly and there was enough food, water and
wood. Here the Mass could be said with solemnity. Here , on one of the hill the cross
could be planted which everyone could see from the plain. And from the top of the
hill could be seen the islands to the south, to the east and to the west.

It is unfortunate that in the controversy that has arisen between the supporters
of Butuan and those of Limasawa, this question of geography has been given little
notice.

If the island of limasawa is the Mazaua of Pigafetta and the Masava of Albo,
Why then is it now called Limasawa? Were Pigafetta and Albo wrong? Or were the
historians and map-maker wrong from the 17th century onwards.

We do not have the answer to the questions? Except to state that in the
southern part of Leyte, the island is still referred to by the fisherfolks as MASAOA not
Limasawa

C.Confirmatory Evidence from The Legaspi Expedition

There is confirmatory evidence from the documents of the legazpi expedition,

which sailed into Philippine waters in 1565, fourty-four years after Magellan. One of
the places that Legaspi and his pilots quired about “ Mazaua from Camotuan and his
companions, Natives of the village of Cabalian at the southeastern end of the island
of Leyte. Guided by these natives, the Legaspi ships rounded the island of Panae
(Panaon) which was separated from Leyte by a narrow strait and anchored off
“Mazaua” --- but they found the inhabitants to be hostile, apparently as a result of
Portuguese depredations that had occurred in the four-decade interval between
Legazpi and Magellan expeditions

From Mazaua they went to Camiguing (which was “visible” from Mazaua) and
from there they intended to go to Butuan on the island of Vindanao but where driven
instead by contrary winds to Bohol. It was only later that a small contingent of
Spaniards, in a small vessel, managed to go to Butuan.

The point seems clear: as pilots of the Legazpi expedition understood it,
Mazaua was an island near Leyte and Panaon: Butuan was an island of Mindanao
The two were entirely different places and in no wise identical
The Shift in Opinion from Butuan to Limasawa

How then did the shift in opinion --- from Butuan to Limasawa – come about?
How was the Butuan tradition—so well entrenched for three centuries – finally
dislodged?
Some recent defenders of the Butuan tradition have blamed the fhift of opinion on
two Americans namely Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, whose 55-
volume collection of documents on the Philippine Islands was published in
Cleveland from 1903 to 1909.
But the man initially responsible for the shift seems to have been a Spanish Jesuit
scholar, Father Pablo Pastells S.J.
The shift in opinion 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. What the
effect of the study was may be seen in the change in pastels thinking.
Pastells had collaborated with Retana in a new edition of Combes. Retana had
accepted the Butuan tradition in his edition of Martinez de Zuṅiga in 1893. In their
joint edition of Combes of 1897, neither Retana nor Pastells showed any sign of
change of opinion. They accepted the Butuan tradition as if they were not aware of
any contrary opinion.
Meanwhile, however, Pastells was preparing his own edition of Francisco Colin’s
Labor Evangelica, which was eventually published in three volumes in Madrid in
1903. While preparing that edition, Pastells had occasion to restudy both Pigafetta
and Albo, and it was thaen that he realized that the three-century Butuan tradition
had been erroneous. Colin, of course had contributed materially to the
strengthening of that tradition by stating that the first Mass had been celebrated at
Butuan. To that statement Pastells appended a footnote:
“Magellan did not go to Butuan. Rather, from the island of Limasawa he
proceeded directly to Cebu. In that island he had dealings with Rajah Siagu, chieftain of
Butuan: and this would explain the author’s (i.e.Colin’s) error. See the “Voyage” of
Pigafetta and the diary of Albo, both of whom were eyewitnesses”.

The “rediscovery” of Pigafetta’s account and of Albo log is not unwarranted.

Although these works had been published earlier and were available in the great
libraries, they were not well known to many people at that time. Ot those who knew
of these works may not have studied them with the attention that they deserved. This
may explain how such a well-read scholar and bibliographers like Retana did not
seem to take them into consideration when preparing his editions of Martinez de
Zuṅiga and of Combes.

Among the Philippine scholars of the early 20th century who rejected the Butuan
tradition in favor of Limasawa were Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Jayme de Veyra.
The Limasawa opinion has been generally accepted since then, although there is still
today a small but vigorous group determined to push the Butuan claim.