Region VI – Western Visayas

St. Anthony College of Roxas City, Inc.

San Roque Ext., Roxas City, Capiz

Name: James B. Dellava Section: BSN I – STEM B – BFO Date: March 02, 2020

Butuan or Limasawa? The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines

(A Reexamination of Evidences)
It has been a very long time since the controversy about the site of the first mass in the
Philippines have flickered. Until this time, it is still a blistering issue that leaves a big question mark to
the minds of the people most especially to the Filipino community.
There is a controversy regarding the site of the first Mass ever celebrated on Philippine Soil.
The famous Pigafetta in his account would tell us that it was held on Easter Sunday, the 31 st of March
1521, on an island called “Mazaua.” Two native chieftains were in attendance: the Rajah of Mazaua
and the Rajah of Butuan. After the Mass, the party went up on 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 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, now the city of Butuan. (Bernard, A. 2002. Butuan or Limasawa: The Site of the
First Mass in the Philippines: A Reexaminationof the Evidence. Accessed on March 1, 2020. Retrieved
from https://journals.ateneo.edu/ojs/index.php/budhi/article/view/582/579

1) Certain accounts said that on March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday, Friar Pedro Valderrama celebrated
mass together with Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, his men, and the ruler of Mazaua,
Rajah Siaiu and his brother Rajah Colambu, the ruler of Butuan. Afterwards they planted a cross on
the highest hill and stayed in the area for seven days and helped in the rice harvest for two days.
(Mascariñas, E. 2012, April 4. Butuan historians ask CBCP to resolve first mass controversy in city’s favor.
Accessed on March 1, 2020. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2VCkZNH)
2) The Gancayco Commission concluded that the First Mass was held in Limasawa after it found that
the most complete and reliable account of the Magellan expedition into Philippine shores in 1521 is
that of Antonio Pigafetta which is deemed as the only credible primary source of reports on the
celebration of the first Christian Mass on Philippine soil. Pigafetta's Mazaua, is an island lying off the
southwestern tip of Leyte, the position of Mazaua, as plotted by Pigafetta, matched that of
Limasawa. (Arnaiz, J. 1st mass controversy: it’s Limasawa. Accessed on March 1, 2020. Retrieved
from https://bit.ly/3cnn3z3)
3) Historian Dr. Sonia M. Zaide presented the evidence for Masao, Butuan rather than 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.
(Rosario M. Cortes, C. P. Boncan, Ricardo T. J. The Filipino saga: history as social change new day
publishers, 2000. p. 489. Accessed on March 1, 2020. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/38fUz72)
4) In favor of Butuan, the Butuan City Regional Museum has gathered 28 new pieces of interesting
scientific evidences and comparisons to substantiate Butuan’s claim, including the recovery of 10
Balahanghai boats which were accidentally dug up near Masao River in 1976. (Serrano, B. 2006,
April 2. Butuan to pursue claim it was site of First Mass in RP 485 years ago. Accessed on March 1,
2020. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2TqboXK)
5) In favor of Limasawa, Leyte, Jaime de Veyra stated that the first mass was celebrated in Limawasa
not in Butuan. Moreover, Historian Pablo Pastell’s, states in his footnote to Francisco Colin’s Labor
Evangelica that Magellan did not go to Butuan but from Limasawa to Cebu. Lastly, Father Bernard
studied all Pigafetta’s maps, which place in Mazau off the southern tip of the larger island of Leyte,
a check with the modern maps will show that this jibes with Limasawa and not in Masao or Butuan.
(Decilio, R. 2018, August 9. Site of-first-mass-in-the-philippines history-1-4. Accessed on March 1,
2020. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3cyjoyK)