WHERE IS THE REAL SITE OF FIRST MASS

PHILIPPINE HISTORY AND CONSTITUTION

Limasawa or Masau

Magellan’s Arrival

Heading northwest,the crew reached the equator on February 13, 1521. On March 6, they
reached the Marianas and Guam. Magellan called Guam the “Island of Sails” because they saw a
lot of sailboats. They renamed it to “Ladrones Island” (island of Thieves) because many of
Trinidad’s small boat were stolen there. On March 16, Magellan reached the Island of
Homonhon in the Philippines, with the 150 crew left, and became the first European to reach the
Philippines. Magellan named the country as “Archipelago de Lazaro”and it was only in 1542 that
the island was renamed as “Philippines” by a voyager named Ruy Lopez de Villabos in honor for
the Spanish Crown Prince Felipe, later Philip II.

Controversies between Limasawa and Masao/Butuan

Magellan was able to communicate with the native peoples because his Malay interpreter,
Enrique, could understand their language. Enrique was indentured by Magellan in 1511 right
after the sacking of Malacca, and was at his side during the battles in Africa, during Magellan’s
disgrace at King’s court in Portugal, and during Magellan’s successful raising of the fleet. They
traded gifts with Rajah Siaiu of Mazaua, who guided them to Cebu April 7.

Rajah Humabon was the main Raja of Cebu Island in the Philippines at the time of Ferdinand
Magellan’s arrival in the archipelago in 1521. There are no official written accounts of his
existence prior to the Spanish arrival, but extensive narration by cartographer Antonio Pigafette
was made on Humabon and Philippines society to the implementation of Spanish rule. Visayan
oral legend accounts Humabon as being son of Sri Bantug lamay, a direct nobleman descendant
of the kingdom og Srivijaya. Rajah Humabon was the first official Catholic of the Philippines,
after he and his wife were baptised by Magellan’s priest. According to Pigafetta, it was
Humabon who had requested Magellan to kill his rival Lapu Lapu, the datu (chieftain) of nearby
Mactan Island. Humabon’s conversation to Christianity however, had an adverse affect of
allowing Spanish to dictateover Humabon, and later he had put an order out to poison the
remaining Spanish soldiers in Cebu after the death of Magellan at the battle of mactan.

According to the book of Reading in Philippine History the first mass in the Philippines was held
on march 31, 1521.However, there's an issue as to where it was celebrated. the start of
Christianity recognition of Masau in Butuan city as the real site. Yet, some conclusion that the
First Holy Mass was celebrated in LImasawa(Southern Leyte).

Controversies between Limasawa and Masao/Butuan

The first Catholic Mass in the Philippines was held on March 31, 1521 (Eastern Sunday). It was
said by Father Pedro de Valderrama along the shores of what was referred to in the journals of
Antonio Pigafetta as "Mazaua". Located at the Southern Leyte a popular known as the birthplace
of the Church in the Philippines. Holy Mass marked Catholicism in the Philippines.
LIMASAWA
 Jaime de Veyra stated that the first mass was celebrated in Limasawa not in Butuan.

 Historian Pablo Pastells stating by the foot note to Francisco Colin’s Labor Evangelica that
Magellan did not go to Butuan but from Limasawa to Cebu.

 Francisco Albo (pilot of Magellan’s flagship does not mention the first mass but he writes that
they erected a cross on a mountain which overlooked three islands the west and southewest.

 James Robertson agreed with pastels in a footnote that “Mazua” was actuall Limasawa.

 In the authentic account of pigafette, the port was not in Butuan but an island named Mazua
(Masawa).

 Father Bernard studied all the 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 Masao/Butuan.

EVIDENCE FOR LIMASAWA

1. The evidence of Albo’s Log-book

2. 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 from omission

3. Summary of the evidence of Albo and Pigafette.

4. Confirmatory evidence from the Legazpi expedition.

MASAW/BUTUAN
MASAO
 1872: A monument to commemorate the site of the first mass on the Philippines was erected in
Butuan.

 1953: The people in 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 the first mass was removed.

 Zaide identified Masao in Butuan as the location of the first mass. The basis Zaide’s claim is
the diary of Antonio Pigafette, chronicle of Magellan’s voyage

EVIDENCE FOR MASAO

. The name of the place

2. The route from homonhon

3. The latitude position

4. The geographical features

a) The bonfire

b) The balanghai

c) House

d) Abundance of gold

e) A developed settlement
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2733

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2733 - AN ACT TO DECLARE THE SITE IN MAGALLANES,

LIMASAWA ISLAND IN THE PROVINCE OF LEYTE, WHERE THE FIRST MASS IN THE
PHILIPPINES WAS HELD AS A NATIONAL SHRINE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE
PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS THEREAT, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Section 1. The site in Magallanes, Limasawa Island in the Province of Leyte, where the first
Mass in the Philippines was held is hereby declared a national shrine to commemorate the birth
of Christianity in the Philippines.

Section 2. All historical monuments and landmarks in said site shall be preserved and/or
reconstructed whenever necessary as much as possible in their original form and are hereby
declared national historical monuments and landmarks.

Section 3. The National Planning Commission shall exercise supervision and control over the
reconstruction and/or preservation of the aforesaid site and monuments, and shall issue rules and
regulations to effectuate the preceding sections of this Act.

Section 4. Necessary funds for the purposes of this Act shall be provided for in the annual
appropriations for public works and disbursements shall be made by the National Planning
Commission under such rules and regulations as the Auditor General may prescribe.

Section 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Limasawa
Limasawa, small island of historic importance near the island of Leyte, east-central Philippines.
Located about 4 miles (6 km) off the southern tip of the island of Leyte just outside the mouth of
Sogod Bay, Limasawa rises to about 700 feet (200 m). On this island, Ferdinand Magellan first
made extended contact with Filipino natives on March 28, 1521. There also the first Roman
Catholic mass was celebrated (March 31, 1521) in the Philippines. The island is inhabited by
Visayan peoples who practice subsistence agriculture and fishing.

OPINION SHIFT TO LIMASAWA

Opinion shifts to Limasawa

How did the shift in opinion from Butuan to Limasawa come about?

Blame was at first laid on the Americans Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, who
authored the 55-volume collection of documents on the Philippines Island that was published in
Cleveland from 1903 to 1909.

The cause of the shift in opinion was the publication in 1894 of Pigafetta’s account, as contained
in the Ambrosian Codex.

Pigafetta was the chronicler of the Magellan expedition in 1521 that brought Europeans for the
first time to the archipelago.

Pigafetta’s narrative was reproduced with English translation, notes, bibliography and index in
Blair and Robertson’s The Philippine Islands, volumes 33 and 34.