FIRST MASS HELD IN MASAO NOT LIMASAWA

Source: Pearl of the Orient: Discover Old Philippines (2017, April 1)

Link: https://www.facebook.com/PearlOfTheOrient.ph/photos/first-mass-held-in-masao-not-limasawaon-easter-sunday-
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FIRST MASS HELD IN MASAO NOT LIMASAWA

On Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521, a mass officiated by the Augustinian Friar Pedro Valderrama was held on the
shore of Masao, Butuan, Agusan del Norte. At sundown, Magellan planted a wooden cross on the summit of a hill
overlooking the sea. He named the country the Islas de San Lazaro.
Noted historian Dr. Sonia M. Zaide presented the evidence for Masao rather than Limasawa [an island in Southern
Leyte] as the site of the first recorded mass in the Philippines.
First, in all primary sources including the diary of Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler of Magellan's voyage, the name
of the place was Mazaua. Limasawa has four syllables and beigns with another letter.
Second, according to primary records, the expedition traveled 20 to 25 leagues from Homonhon, the first landing
point. If they had been to Limasawa Island, the distance is only 14.6 leagues or one-half of that lenght.
Third, the distance to Cebu from Mazaua according to Pigafetta was 35 leagues [140 miles]. The distance from
Limasawa to Cebu is only 80 miles.
Fourth, it was mentiones that the king came to their ship in a balanghai. Butuan is now the site of at least nine
excavated balanghai relics; by contrast, Limasawa has no significant archeological relics or balanghai tradition.
Fifth, the Western explorers got excited at the abundance of gold in Mazaua, for that was the main currence at that
time. Both archeological relics and the gold mines today attested to the abundance of gold in the Agusan Valley.
Magellan never landed at Limasawa at all.
On June 19, 1960, the Philippine Congress enacted a bill [R.A. No. 2733] declaring Limasawa as the place where
Magellan celebrated the first recorded mass in the Philippines on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521. President Carlos
P. Garcia did not sign the law because he was not sure of the fact that the 'Mazaua' in the Pigafetta Codex is really
Limasawa.
It was the American historian Emma Helen Blair and John Alexander Robertson who claimed in 1909 that the island
of Mazaua is the present island of Limasawa without giving any explanation for the identification.
--- Ian R. Andres ---
References:
Rosario M. Cortes, C. P. Boncan, Ricardo T. J.,
"The Filipino Saga: History as Social Change"
New Day Publishers, 2000. p. 489.
Maria Christine N. Halili,
"Philippine History"
Rex Book Store, 2014. p. 73.
Dirk Barreveld
"CEBU - A Tropical Paradise in the Pacific"
Lulu Press, Inc, 2014.