Site of the First Mass, After 488 years Controversy Continues (Amazing butuan) april 1

2009
A Tridentine mass was held early morning of march 31 to commemorate (respect) the
488th First Mass Celebration officiated by Father Joesello Amalia at Bood Promontory in
Pinamanculan.

The mass is in pure latin re-enacting (act out) the first Mass officiated by Fr. Pedro
Valderrama, chaplain ( a member of the clergy attached to a private chapel,
institution)of the Spanish expedition(journey) team headed by Portuguese navigator
Ferdinand Magellan, on March 31, 1521.

In his homily, Father Amalla explained that Bood Promontory (eco park butuan) is not
the exact site where the First Mass was held but rather it is the site of commemoration
of the thanksgiving mass happened in Mazzua.

488 years ago Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan "rediscovered" archipelago in

March 1521 and made history. Little did he know that more than 400 years later(Hindi
niya alam na higit sa 400 taon na ang lumipas), two places will contest the site of the
recorded First Mass in the Philippines, whether it was held in Limasawa Island in
southern Leyte or in Mazzua or Masao in Butuan.

The controversy makes a mockery (teasing and contemptuous language or behavior

directed at a particular person or thing.) of the Philippine history when Limasawa and
Masao both commemorated the anniversary of the recorded First Mass in respective
places.
The issue sparks when Dr. Gregorio Zaide and his daughter, Sonia, in several editions
during the 1980s of their widely-disseminated history textbook, insisted that the
recorded First Mass was held in Masao, Butuan and in the process, (Ang isyu ay
nagmula nang si Dr. Gregorio Zaide at ang kanyang anak na si Sonia, sa maraming mga
edisyon noong 1980s ng kanilang malawakang nagkalat na aklat sa kasaysayan, ay
iginiit na ang naitala na Unang Misa ay ginanap sa Masao, Butuan at sa proseso,)
dismissed the Limasawa claim as erroneous (incorrect/wrong).

The First Mass controversy continues and historian experts have been called to
intervene in its hope to settle the dispute (disagreement/argument/debate). Over the
years, it came to a point when the National Historical Institute, in a decision handed out
a few years back, had ruled that the recorded First Mass in the Philippines was indeed
held in Limasawa Island.

However, the Butuan Cultural and Historical Foundation Incorporated would not rest
the case without putting up a good fight. Mr. Greg Hontiveros, a local historian who
authored two books, “Butuan in Thousand Years” and “A Fire on the Island” stressed,
that it is only here in the Philippines who legislates history that makes (binigyang diin,
na dito lamang sa Pilipinas ang nagbabatas ng kasaysayan na gumagawa) Republic Act
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 a mistake committed by the
government.

Mr. Hontiveros added, they may have been failed in their effort to pave way in the
amendment of the law, but they were victorious in convincing majority of the historians
that indeed, the First Mass was held in Masao, Butuan, 488 years ago today. (Dagdag pa
ni G. Hontiveros, maaaring nabigo sila sa kanilang pagsisikap na magbukas ng daan sa
pagbabago ng batas, ngunit nagtagumpay sila sa pagkumbinsi sa karamihan ng mga
mananalaysay na sa katunayan, ang Unang Misa ay ginanap sa Masao, Butuan, 488
taon na ang nakakaraan ngayon .)