BUTUAN OR LIMASAWA: THE SITE OF THE

FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES

BS- ACCOUNTANCY

BLOCK 06

Roxette Dauphe Lapaan

Erica Mae Barrozo

Christoper Lucky Gotoc

Justine Kate Bona

Mary Rose Manangan

Mc Kennely Guiterrez

Nicole Dy
RATIONALE

Catholicism was brought to the Philippines by the Spaniards who came to colonize the island
during 16th century. The initial contact was made in 1521, Magellan and his crew accidentally
hit the island of Homonhon, held the first mass in Limasawa, and converted Humabon and his
followers in Cebu. However, there was a controversy regarding the site of the first Mass ever
celebrated on the Philippine soil. Pigafetta tells us that there were two cheftains in attendance:
the Rajah of Mazaua and the Rajah of Butuan. According to him, after the Mass, the party went
up a little hill and planted a wooden cross upon its summit. The subject of controversy is the
identity of this place which Pigafetta calls “Mazaua”.

There are two conflicting claims as to its identity: one school of thought points to the little island
south of Leyte which in the maps is called Limasawa; the other school 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 of butuan. In this paper, we shall describe and analyze
certain aspects of what has been labeled in the literature as Filipino “folk religion” and how it
really starts. We say “certain aspects” in that it is impossible within the limits of a single essay to
deal with all facets of Filipino folk religious practices. In fact, the discussion will center mainly
on Roman Catholicism and the site where the first mass occur. Even if the scope of the study is
limited, it is nevertheless worthwhile undertaking if only to start something upon which other
future and more detailed works may be based.

I. Evidence for Limawasa

The evidenced is outlined as follows:

1. The Evidence of Albo's Log-book

2. The Evidence of Pigaffeta

a. Pigaffeta'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 from omission.

3. Summary of evidence of Albo and Pigaffeta.

4. Confirmatory evidence from Legazpi expedition.

1. The Evidence of Albo's Log-book Francisco Albo joined the Magellan’s expedition as
a pilot "contra-maestre" in Magellan's flagship "Trinidad". He was one of the eighteen 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, while they were
sailing in the southward in the Atlantic along coast of South America, off Brazil. His account of
this entry into Philippine waters (or, as it was then called, the archipelago of San Lazaro) may be
reduced to the following points;

1. On the March 16, 1521, as they sailed in the westerly course in the Ladrones, they saw
land from the northwest, and later they found out that its name was Yunagan.

2. On the same day they went also to the other small island named Suluan, and there they
were anchored. There they saw some canoes but this fled at the Spaniards’ approach.

3. Departing from the two islands, they sailed and they reached the island "Gada" where
they took the supplies of food and water.
 4. From that island they sailed westward and reached the bigger island Seilani or Ceylon
which is inhabited and was known to have gold.

5. Sailing southwards along the coast of island Seilani they turned southwest to a small
island called "Mazava".

6. The people of that island Mazava was very good. Spaniards built cross along the
mountain top, and from there they were shown the three islands to the west and southwest. 7.
From Mazava, they sailed again back to Seilani, they followed the coast of Seilani in northwest
direction and they saw three small islands.

8. From there they sailed westward and reached the three islets, where they anchor for the
night. There they entered a channel between two islands; one was called "Matan" and the other
one "Subu".

9. They sailed down that channel and turned westward and anchored at the town of Subu
where they stayed for many days and obtained provisions and entered into a peace-pact with the
local king.

10. The town of Subu was on an east-west direction of islands Suluan and Mazava. But
between Subu and Mazava, there were so many shallows that the boat can't go westward directly
but had to go in a round-about way. In Albo's testimony, the island he calls Gada was 'acquada'
in Pigaffeta, namely the island Homonhon where they took water and wood. The large island of
Seilani is now called Leyte. Voasting southwards along the eastern coast of that island, than
turning southwest, they've reached the small island called Mazava. Limasawa found in the south
part of Leyte. It is noted that Albo doesn't defined where the first mass arrived bit only the
planting of the cross along the mountain top which could be seen the three islands to the west
and southwest. It does not fit the coast of Butuan from which no islands could be seen to the
south or to the southwest, but only towards the north.

In explaining the evidence from Pigafetta, we shall consider 5 points; (a) Pigaffetta’s
testimony regarding the route taking the expedition from the Pacific Ocean to Cebu. (b) The
evidence of Pigafetta’s map (c) The presence of two native kings (d) The events of the seven
days of the island of “Marzaua”, € An argument from omission.

A. Pigaffetta’s testimony regarding the route taking the expedition from the pacific ocean to
cebu

This regards on the route taken by the Magellan expedition as reconstructed if we follow
Pigaffeta’s account day-by-day. Here is a summary of his account.

Saturday 16 March 1521 - Magellan’s expedition sighted a “highland” named “Zamal” which
was some 300 leagues westward of the Ladrones (Now the Marianas) Islands.

Sunday, 17 March – after sighting the Zamal Island, they landed on another island which was
uninhabited which lay to the right above of the Zamal Island. There they sent up two tents for
sick members of the crew and had a sow killed for them. The island was “Humunu”
(Homonhon).

On the same day as March 17, Magellan named the entire archipelago the “Island of Saint
Lazarus”, the reason being that it was the Sunday in the Lenten season when the Gospel assigned
for the Mass and the liturgical Office was the eleventh chapter of St. John, which tells of the
raising of Lazarus from the Dead.

Monday, 18 March – In the afternoon, they saw a boat coming towards them with nine men in it.
An exchange of gifts occurred, Magellan asked for food supplies and the men went away with
the promise of bringing rice and other supplies in “four days”
Magellan renamed the Island and called it the “Watering place of Good Omen” (Acquada la di
bouni segnialli) which represents the present springs of water and evident gold in the island.

Friday, 22 March – At noon the natives returned, this time there were two boats and they brought
food supplies.

Magellan’s expedition lasted eight days in Homonhon: from Sunday 17 March up to the
following week of 22 March.

Monday, 25 March – In the afternoon, the expedition along the island was put to an end and it
was time to leave. On this day as they were about the weigh anchor, an accident happened to
Pigafetta: he fell into the water but was rescued.

The route taken by the expedition after leaving Homonhon was towards the west southwest,
between four Islands: namely Cenalo, Hiunanghan, Ibusson and Albarien. (All mainland’s of
Leyte) They left Homonhon sailing westwards Leyte, the followed the Leyte coast west
southwards, passing between the island of Hibuson on their portside and Hiunangan Bay on their
starboards and the continued southward and then turning westward to “Marzaua”

Thursday, 28 March – In the Morning of Holy Thursday, they anchored off an island where the
previous night they had seen a light or a bonfire. The Island is twenty five leagues from the
Acquada and is called Marzaua.

They remained seven days in Marzaua.

Thursday, 4 April – They left Marzaua, bound for Cebu. They were guided by the King of
Marzaua who sailed his own boat. Their route took them past five islands namely: “Ceylon,
Bohol, Canighan, Baibai, and Gaitighan.”

At Gatighan, they sailed westward towards three Islands of the Camotes Group, namely: Poro,
Pasihan and Ponson (Which Pigafetta calls as Polo, Ticobon and Pozon). Here the Spanish ships
stopped the King of Marzaua to catch up with them, since Spanish ships were more relatively
faster that the balanghai – a thing that the King of Marzaua admired.

From the Camotes Islands they sailed towards “Zubu” (Cebu)

Sunday, 7 April – At noon, they entered the harbor of Zubu. It took three days to figure out the
journey from Marzaua to the Camotes Islands towards Cebu.

The question now to be asked is: “Could Mazaua be Butuan?”

 =
Limasawa area= 6.98 has. Marzaua with a
circumference of 3-4 legua (9-12 nautical
miles) has an of from 2123 to 3930
hecstares

Fig. 1. The Limasawa hypothesis asserts the Leyte isle is the equal of Magellan’s port, Mazaua.
That is, they are identical: perfect, exact, total equal of one another. In terms of size Limasawa’s
698 hectares ill fit Mazaua’s area of 2213 to 3930 hectares converted from Ginés de Mafra’s
estimate of its 3-4 leguas circumference, A list of 32 Mazaua properties shows in no instance do
the two coincide.

Fig. 2. Map of “Cap. de Gatighan” with Mazaua at top right hand corner. Orientation is south-
north against today’s north-south convention. Mazaua’s location is southeast of Bohol. Note isle
sandwiched between Ceilon (Panaón) and Bohol. In today’s map this isle is identified as
Limasawa. By wrongly classifying Ceilon as Leyte historians have misappreciated the tracks
drawn by Pigafetta and Albo. R.A. Skelton, Donald F. Lach, and Theodore J. Cachey have
correctly identified it as Panaón. This map is taken from the Mario Pozzi edition of the
Ambrosiana.
Fig. 3. Pigafetta’s map of Mazaua (upper right hand corner) in the French Nancy-Libri-Phillipps-
Beinecke-Yale codex, one of three French extant manuscripts of Antonio Pigafetta’s account of
the first circumnavigation. The facsimile book was published by Yale University in 1986. The
cross west of Mazaua indicating location where Magellan’s fleet anchored is repeated in all the
French manuscripts. So are the “stilt” houses facing a cove. Of 23 charts in the Yale codex (and
in all other codices) this is the only one where the scrolls for placenames are empty. It does tell
us Pigafetta himself did-n’t have a hand in its execution. This map is from the companion
facsimile book to the English tr. by R.A.Skelton.

B. The evidence of Pigafetta’s maps

1. Marzaua is a small island which lies off the southwestern tip of the larger island of Ceilon
(Southern Leyte) and is to the east of the island of Bohol. It lies near the passage between Bohol
and the western coast of “Ceilon” (Leyte)

2. The Island of Marzaua in Pigafetta’s map, therefore lies roughly to the actual position of the
Island of Limasawa.

3. In no way can Marzaua be identified with Butuan, which is situated in another and much
larger island (as of today is Mindanao), the same island in which Calagan, Cippit and
Marngdanao are located.

C. The Two Kings

The presence of the two rajahs or kings of Mazaua confirm the evidence. One was the
king of Mazaua while the other one was the king of Butuan. Pigafetta was there and stayed for
seven days. It means that Mazaua is not Butuan.
D. Seven days at Mazaua

According to both Pigafetta and Albo, the Magellan expedition stayed a week in the
island of Mazaua. What did they do during those days?

Pigafetta’s day-by-day account of those seven days:

Thursday, 28 March. – In the morning they anchored near an island. Magellan threw some
trinkets to eight natives who came with a small boat. The natives paddled away and return after
two hours with two larger boats with one of the native king. They welcomed them and
exchanged gifts happened. In the afternoon, the Spanish ships anchored near the native king’s
village.

Friday, 29 March. – Interpreter was sent by Magellan to tell the king that they came as friends
and also asked for food supplies. The king went to the ship of Magellan with six or eight men
and exchanged another gifts. They returned ashore with two members of Magellan as guests and
one of them was Pigafetta.

Saturday, 30 March – Pigafetta with the other member spent the evening feasting and drinking
with the native king and his son. The following morning (Sunday), the two members of Magellan
came back to their ships.

Sunday, 31 May. – Early in the morning Magellan sent a priest to prepare for the Mass. After the
cross was venerated they celebrated the Mass with some fifty men together with Magellan. In the
afternoon, Magellan and Spaniards plant the cross on the summit of the highest hill. Both the
king of Mazaua and the king of Butuan were there during the Mass and planting of cross.

Sunday, 31 May. – While on the summit of highest hill, Magellan asked the kings about ports
which have abundant supplies of food. They replied that Zubu (Cebu) was the port with most
trade. Magellan wished someone to guide him and the kings replied that pilots would guide
them. The king changed his mind and decided to guide them after they bring the harvest in.

Monday, 1 April. – No work was done that day even if Magellan sent men to help with the
harvest because the two kings were sleeping off their drinking bout the night before.

Tuesday, 2 April up to Wednesday, 3 April. – Work on the harvest for two days.

Thursday, 4 April. – They went to Zubu (Cebu).

The first Mass was celebrated on the island of Mazaua, and not in Butuan or any places.

E. An Argument from Omission

If Mazaua were Butuan, or part of Butuan, there is a possible curios omission in

Pigafetta’s account that would be hard to explain. Butuan is a riverine settlement situated on the
Agusan River. If the Mass were celebrated there, why is there no mention of the river?

The fact that there is no mention of the river is a significant fact in Pigafetta’s account of
their seven-day stay at Mazaua. Thus, we must take it literally: Mazaua was an island surrounded
by sea, not a river delta.
II. Summary of the Evidence of Albo and Pigafetta

The following evidences were taken from Albo’s logbook and Pigafetta’s account:

1. Through the south island of Samar, Magellan’s expedition has entered the Philippines and
stayed for a week at Homohonhon. They sailed westward towards Leyte and rounded the
southern tip of Panaon Island where they anchored off the eastern shore of Mazaua Island. Upon
a week of staying, during which on Easter Sunday, they celebrated a mass and planted a cross on
highest hill’s summit.

2. The described position of Mazaua Island and its latitude of nine and two-thirds degrees North
clearly correspond to the position and latitude of south of Leyte.

3. Clearly from Mazaua, Magellan’s expedition sailed northwestwards through the Canigao
Channel, then norther wards parallel to this latter island, then sailed westward to Camotes Group
and southwestwards to Cebu.

4. In that itinerary, at no point did the Magellan expedition go to Butuan or any on the Mindanao
Cost. It was said that only after Magellan’s death did the survivors of the expedition did go to
Mindanao.

III. Confirmatory evidence from the Legazpi expedition

The Legazpi Expedition

There is confirmatory evidence from the documents of the Legazpi expedition, which
sailed into Philippine water in 1565, forty-four years after Magellan. Legazpi and his pilots were
anxious to visit was precisely Mazaua, and they inquired about "Mazaua" from Camotuan and
his companions, natives of the village of Canadian at Southeastern end of the island of Leyte.
Guided by these natives, the Legazpi 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 depredation are that had occurred in
the four-decade interval between the Legazpi and the Magellan expeditions. From Mazaua they
went to Camiguing which was visible from Mazaua and from there thy intended to go to Butuan
on the island of Vindanao but were driven instead by contrary winds to Bohol. The point seems
clear that as pilots of the Legazpi 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.

CONCLUSION

In results, it was proven that the first Holly Mass was celebrated in Limasawa Island on March
31, 1521. This was confirmed by the National Historical Institute (NHI) with the proclamation of
Republic Act 2733, an act declaring the site in Magallanes, Limasawa Island in the Province of
Leyte, where the first mass in the Philippines was held as a historical shrine, to provide for the
preservation of historical monuments and landmarks threat. The NHI also cited the chronicles or
diary of Antonio Pigafetta as the most credible primary source that gives the best evidence with
the argument. It must also be noted that the island of Limasawa is the "Mazaua" of Pigafetta and
the "Masava" of Albo, why then it is called as Limasawa? Well, there is no concrete and direct
answer to that but the fishermen from the Southern Leyte still referred the island as "Masaoa". In
addition, despite the rejection of Butuan as the place where the first holly mass happen, one
cannot deny the fact the cultural and historical importance of Butuan. Aside from being one of
the first places that Ferdinand Magellan visited, a visit to the museum at Butuan will show the
archaeological importance of the place. Moreover, it served as an important trading port of
commerce for interisland and possibly foreign. It was also the first place where a Christian
mission was established and was first served by the Jesuits and later by the Augustinian
Recollects.
REFERENCES
http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno2733.html#.W6QNwcsRWyV

http://www.xeniaeditrice.it/mazaua.pdf

https://journals.ateneo.edu/ojs/budhi/article/view/582/579