COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
disposition of cases. Justice Pedro
July 10, 1934
• draft the constitution of the Philippines
in the Constitutional Convention;
• inaugurated at the Legislative building
in Manila
• Claro M. Recto – president of the
convention.
➢ September 17, 1935 – 1st national election
for the President and the members of the
national assembly.
Three Parties:
• Coalition Party (Quezon & Osmena)
• Nacionalista Party ( Aguinaldo &
Raymundo Melliza)
• Republican Party (Bishop Gregorio
Aglipay & Norberto Nabong)
November 15, 1935 – inaugurated the
Commonwealth of the Philippines.
National Defense – the prime duty of the
government.
Departments established on 1941
• Finance department
• National economic council – promotion
of industries crop production,
enterprises, tariffs and taxation.
• National development company – mass
production of staples like rice and corn.
• Agricultural & Industrial Bank – to help
small farmers with convenient loans on
easy terms.
• National Council of Education – Rafael
Palma – Chairman.
• Court of Appeals – aid in the speedy
Concepcion – 1st presiding justice.
• Institute of National Language –
November 13, 1936.
• Joint Preparatory Commission on
Philippine Affairs (JPCPA) – mutual trade
between the two countries.
• Commonwealth Plebescite – Filipino
women were allowed to vote.
POLITICAL CARICATURE:
What is Caricature?
• A picture, description, or imitation of
a person in which certain striking
characteristic are exaggerated in
order tocreate a comic or ridiculous
effect.
• Can be insulting or complementary
and canbe serve a political purpose to
be drawn solely for entertainment.
• Caricature of politician- editorial
cartoons
• Caricature of Movie star- magazines,
• Political caricature of the American
era (1900-1941)
➢ Philippine political cartoons gain full
expressionduring the American era Filipino
Artist recordednational attitudes toward
the coming of the Americans as well as the
changing mores and times.
➢ While the 377 cartoons compiled in this
books speak for themselves, Historian
Alfred Mccoy provides a comprehensive
background not onlyto the cartoons but to
the turbulent period as well.
➢ Artist-writer Alfredo Roces, who designed
the book, contributes an essay on
Philippine graphicsatire of the period.
PHILIPPINE CARTOON ACHIEVEMENTS:
➢ When Filipinos began
winning civil service
appointments after
1913, theyfound
themselves facing
serious discrimination
in both wags and
positions.
➢ Francis B. Harrison,
the liberal Governor
General reed the pro;
American hiring
policies of the Taft Era
(1900 – 1912) and
began the
“’FIlipinization” of the
civil service.

American Worker- Filipino Worker

• refers not to a ten-fold difference in

Filipino and American manual wages
within the colony, but to a more
fundamental inequality - the difference
in wages and working conditions
between the two countries

• PHILIPPINE CARTOONS (1985)

• Philippine Catholic Mass Media Award
• Best Books of the Year for 2985
• Philippine National Books Award for
History 1986
• Gintong Aklat award (Manila)
• Special Citation For History 1987

DEFINITION OF TERMS
➢
 Treaty of Paris of 1898
(Tratado de Paris de 1898;Kasunduan sa Paris
ng 1898)

Treaty of Peace between the United States of

America and the Kingdom of Spain

• Type: Peace Treaty

• Signed: 10th of December, 1898
• Location: Paris, France
• Condition: Exchange of Ratifications
• Language used: English and Spanish
• Countries involved: Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Mariana Islands and Philippines

15th of February 1898

 • USS Maine, a United States Navy ship
that sank in Havana Harbor in February
1898, contributing to the outbreak of
the Spanish American War in April.
• US Consul E. Spencer Pratt met with
Aguinaldo during his visit and promised
him the independence of the
Philippines in exchange for his
assistance in the war against Spain.
George Dewey
• Hero of Manila
• Best known for his victory at the Battle
of Manila Bay on 1st of May 1898
during the Spanish-American War, with
the loss of only a single crewman on the
American side.
Mock Battle of Manila
• On 13th of August 1898, the local
Spanish and American generals, who
were legally still at war, secretly and
jointly planned the battle to transfer
control of the city center from the
Spanish to the Americans while keeping
the Philippine Revolutionary Army out
of the city center.
Treaty of Paris
• Treaty of Paris in 1898 was an
agreement between United States and
Spain that officially ended the Spanish-
American War.
• Conference opened on 1st of October
1898
• Signed on 10th of December 1898
• Decision of the future of Cuba,
Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and
Marianas Island.
➢ The first Philippine Republic tried to send a
Filipino delegation to participate and
observe the negotiation but it was denied.
Felipe Agoncillo
• A Filipino lawyer and diplomat who
denied in participation despite in his
petitions, he was not allowed to join.
➢ The demand was ultimately accepted with
great reluctance by Spain, with the
stipulation that the United States should
pay Spain $20 million nominally for public
buildings and public works in the
Philippines.
➢ The treaty was vigorously opposed in the
U.S. Senate as inaugurating a policy of
“imperialism” in the Philippines and was
approved on Feb. 6, 1899, by only a single
vote. (57-27)
Philippine-American War
• Two days earlier, hostilities had begun
at Manila between U.S. troops and
insurgents led by Emilio Aguinaldo. For
more than three years the Filipinos
 carried on guerrilla warfare against U.S.
rule.
THE PHILIPPINES UNDER AMERICAN TUTELAGE
➢ August 1898 – the Americans
established military government in the
country.
➢ Gen. Wesley Merritt – 1st military
governor in the country.
➢ Gen. Elwell Otis – 2nd military governor
in the country replacing Gen. Merritt. -
made declaration of war.
Malolos Batallion
1. Major Donato Teodoro
2. Gen. Antonio Luna
➢ New York Times - an American journal
First Philippine Commission
• January 20, 1899
• Schurman Commission
• Dr. Jacob Schurman
➢ Bates Agreement – settlement of Sulu as a
protectorate of the US.
➢ Januario Galut – Filipino spy for the
Americans.
➢ Gen. Frederic Funston – learned of the
whereabouts of Aguinaldo.
➢ Gen. Vicente Lukban – gave the Americans
the most humiliating defeat. “Massacre of
Balanginga”
➢ Gen. Miguel Malvar – last general to
surrender to the Americans.
➢ September 11, 1902 – Philippine-American
war had finally ended. (3 years and 7 mos.)
The Second Philippine Commission
• March 16, 1900
• Taft Commission
• chaired by William Howard Taft
The Establishment of American Civil
Government
• March 2, 1901
• Army Appropriation Act
• It create Civil Government in the
Philippines.
• Spooner Amendment (Sen. John
Spooner of Wiscousin)
➢ July 4, 1901 – inauguration of the Civil
Government.
➢ June 3, 1900 – the right to exercise
legislative functions in the Philippines.
Judge William Howard Taft
• 1st Civil Government in the Philippines
• He was a well-loved governor.
➢ Sen. John Spooner – a man responsible for
the ending of the Military Administration in
the Philippines.
➢ Cayetano Arellano – Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court.
➢ Philippine Bill of 1902 / Philippine Organic
Act of 1902 – 1st stage in the development
of the Civil Government.
➢ Luke E. Wright – replaced Taft as Civil
Governor.
New Nationalist Political Parties
• Pedro Paterno’s Independence Party
• Pascual Poblete’s National Party
➢ Henry C. Ide – replaced Wright on April 2,
1906.
✓ Lifting the ban on independence
parties.
➢ James F. Smith – replaced Ide on
September 20, 1906.
➢ Gabaldon Law – the first law that passed
the Philippine Assembly.
➢ Sergio Osmena – the 1st leaders of the
Philippine Assembly.
Manuel L. Quezon
• Majority Floor Leader
• Resident Commissioner 1909
• Outstanding Performance
➢ William Cameron Forbes – new governor
replacing Smith on November 11.
The Republicans
1. Pres. William McKinley (1897-1901)
2. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
3. Pres. William H. Taft (1909-1912)
Accomplishments of Harrison Administration:
• Giving the Filipinos the majority in the
Upper House (5/9).
• Harrison replaced American employees
with Filipinos in government office
(89%).
• The Jones Bill of 1912.
➢ Jones Law / Philippine Autonomy Law – an
American Law
First Independence Mission
• Composed of 40 members
• Leader: Manuel L. Quezon
• Stable government already exist.
➢ Newton Baker (War Secretary) – Philippine
Independence symphatizer.
➢ Warren G. Harding – Republican President
✓ In his desire to know the true state of
thePhilippines, he sent the Wood
Forbes Mission.
✓ The special commission was constituted
by Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood & William
C. Forbes.
Philippine Congress 1922 – 2nd Independence
Mission to the U.S.
• it came out the recommendation of
deferring the granting of Philippine
Independence.
• due to poor financial state, bankruptcy
of the PNB and the instability of the
government.
Administration of Leonard Wood
• he replaced F. Harrison as the country’s
governor-general.
• antagonized the Philippine Legislature
owing to his disapproval of 16 bills.
• Cabinet Crisis 1923 – to show their
dissatisfaction with Wood’s
administration.
 • Wood died on August 7, 1927.
Restoration of Filipino Cooperation
• A good working relationship between
the Governor-general and the
Philippine Legislature was restored.
Republican Governor-Generals
• Henry I. Stimson (1928-29)
• Dwight F. Davis (1929-32)
• Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1932-33)
Educational Developments
• Americans started opening schools in
Manila
• Act 74 – The Philippine public school
system enacted by the Taft Commission
in January 1901.
• The compulsory teaching of English in
school.
• Recruitment of trained teachers in the
U.S.
• Abolition of compulsory religious
instruction.
➢ Thomasites – 1st American teachers arrived
in Manila on August 23, 1901.
➢ Act 1870 – created the University of the
Philippines in 1908 enacted by Philippine
Commission and Philippine Assembly.
Private Higher Education Institutions during
American Regime
• Siliman University in 1901 (Negros
Oriental)
• Centro Escolar University founded by
Librada Avelino in 1907.
• Philippine Women’s University founded
by Francisca T. Benitez in 1919.
➢ Pensionados – Hundreds of Filipino scholars
were sent to the US on free government.
Religious Developments
• The Introduction of Protestantism
• The Rise of the Philippine Independent
Church was the establishment of
Aglipayan Church on August 3, 1902
➢ 1923 – 3rd Independence Mission likewise
failed.
➢ 1924-1930 - 4th–8th Independence Mission
➢ OX-ROS Mission 1931 – 9th Independence
Mission
Hare-Hawes Cutting Act
• Representative Hare
• Senator Harry Hawes
• Senator Cutting
➢ 10th – 11th Independence Mission
➢ Tyding-McDuffie Law – a new
independence measure.
➢ May 1, 1934 – accepted the Tydings-
McDuffie Law by the Philippine Legislature.
RAIDERS OF THE SULU SEA
➢ Based on the documentary about the
pirates of the Sulu Seas from Mindanao.
➢ The documentary demonstrates how these
raiders were actually plying their trade
before and during the Spanish Colonization.
The Port Pilar
• Located on the Southern tip of
Mindanao in Zamboanga.
• Established by Spaniards.
• Constructed with 10 high meter wall
fortification all around.
• Used as base of the Spaniards to
facilitate their trade.
• Requested by Jesuit Priest and Bishop
Fray Pedro of Cebu upon the approvalof
the Spanish Governor of the Philippines
Juan Cerezo de Salamanca.
Three Different Tribes of Seafaring Filipino
Muslims
• Tawi-Tawi and Sulu group of islands and
the Maguindanao area is where the
three tribes sails.
The three tribes were known as the;
1. Samal Balangingi
2. Ilanuns or Iranuns
3. Sultanate of Sulu or Tausug.
The Three Tribes
1. Samal Balanguigui
• One of the Samal Communities, that
originally inhabited The Tongkil Island
Group.
• They were relocated to Zamboanga
Peninsula coast and Islands as a resultof
the 1848 military campaign.
2. Ilanuns or Iranuns
• Known as merciless
• Inhabited the Ilana bay area in southern
Mindanao
• They were a fierce marine force of the
Sultanate of Sulu.
3. Tausug
• People “Tau” Current “Sug”
• Constituted the people of Sultanate of
Sulu or Lupah Sug.
• Speaks in Tausug Language that is
related to the Butuan Dialect.
➢ The Three Tribes are not really pirates
during the times, instead they were plying
their tradeof capturing people and selling
them as slaves.
➢ They land in different shores posing as
fishermen and without any warning they
draw their 1-meter long swords and take
many slavesas they can.
➢ Once captured, the slaves palms are
puncturedand tied to each other, then they
are loaded ina 25-27 meter by 6 meter
boats that has 30 to 34 oarsmen and sails.
The Three Boats that the Raiders of the Sulu
Sea Used
• LANONG – the biggest boat that is used
by the slave raiders.
• GARAY – the fastest among the boats
and can carry 60 – 80 men.
• SALISIPAN – the smallest of all the boats
and is used to monitor the sea shores
and carry men who pretend to be
fishermen.
➢ The History Documentary was actually
focusingon how the tribes were able to
 organize a FLOTILLA with of a hundred ships
or more withmore than 3,000 men.
➢ This happened when the three tribes
connivedto Fort Pilar.
How the tribes gathered?
➢ The three tribes had some sort of a pacton
how to go about their business and
employing Tausugs as their warriors.
➢ One tribe could set out to sea with afew
boats then drop-by each of the several
bases of the tribes along theshores.
➢ They would call upon all availableseafarers
to join the expedition.
The Slavery Trade Ended
➢ When the Spaniards ordered three
steamboats from England.
➢ Steamboats were faster, easier to navigate
and has various armament totake on the
tribes.
➢ Spaniards were now able to chase and
follow the boats to their bases and conduct
raids.
The Documentary of Raiders of the Sulu Sea
➢ The documentary addresses Moro
resistance versus Spanish and American
rules in Southern Philippines.
➢ Moro raids on coastal areas demonstrated
resistance versus SpanishRule.
➢ The much-feared Dalasi attack inDecember
1720 failed, although Zamboanga was
under siege.
➢ These raids were sanctioned by theSultan
for Political and economic motives.
➢ Spanish policy was to stop raids, participate
and monopolize trade andpropagate
Christianity.
➢ Slave raiding was part of the bigger regional
trade in Islands Southeast Asia.
➢ Moro defiance against America imposition
dramatized resistance versusAmerican Rule.
➢ Colonial rule and armed conflicts in this
region cause the impoverishment of Muslim
Areas.
Sulu in Spanish Times
➢ Jolo was a “slave market” in the 18th to19th
Century.
➢ Panglima Taupan, from BalanguinguiTribe
was a notorious Slave Raider.
➢ Spain wanted to control maritime tradein
Sulu Sea in addition to its goal of
Christianizing the population
➢ “Money and Mission can go together”
➢ they believed.
Weapons used by the Raiders
➢ Kalis – used by Tausug and Balanguingui
Tribe. Cherished for its symbolic connection
and continuity with ancestors struggle.
➢ Barong – also used by Tausug and
Balanguingui Tribe. It is valued for itssteely
cutting strength in cutting intohalves
modern riffles.
➢ Kampilan – used by Ilanuns. Describedas
long and sharp, used to decapitate his
opponent and cut the opponent’s head.
The Reason behind Raiders of the Sulu Sea
Attacking
➢ The Three Tribes which are the
Balanguingui Samal, Ilanun, Tausugsstarted
to attack the Fort Pilar to opposed the
changes that Spaniardswant them to follow.
➢ The three tribes didn’t like the idea ofthe
Spaniards forcing them to convertinto
Christianity.
➢ They want to fight for their identity,
traditions, and religion.
 Filipino Grievances Against Governor Wood
(PETITION LETTER)
Approved by the Commission on
Independence on
November 17
1921
GREGORIO ZAIDE
• Internationally known as Filipino historian,
author and politician from Pagsanjan,
Laguna
• Authored 67 books, that are used in schools
both secondary and Colleges
• He has also written beyond 500 articles
about History that has been published both
in national and international.
• He compiled and annotated the petition
letter for the constitutional representatives
of the Filipinos.
GEN. LEONARD WOOD
• Sent to the Philippines as Governor-
General.
• 1923, he came to the Philippines after
hisministration in Cuba.
• Authorized governor of the Moro
province,
• comprising Southern Island and
Mindanao.
Filipino Grievances Against Governor Wood
• The period of American colonization of
the Philippines lasted 48 years, from
cession of the Philippines to the U.S. by
Spain in 1898 to U.S. recognition of
Philippine independence in 1946.
• Philippines under American flag.
- Symbol of freedom and altruism, not
subjugation and selfishness or greed.
• Avowed purpose is to train us in the art of
self-government and granting us
independence.
• Promised that our country would be
conserved and developed for the benefit of
people.
• The first 20 years of civil government were
marked by mutual understanding and loyal
cooperation between American and
Filipinos.
• The president of US sent General Wood to
the Philippines to fulfill his promise.
CALVIN COOLIDGE
American politician and lawyer who served as
the 30th president of the United States from
1923 to 1929.
EXPECTATION
Filipinos expected that spirit of cooperation
would be maintained.
Political emancipation would be complete.
REALITY
There was a train of arbitrary acts Resulted in
curtailment of our autonomy & destruction of
our constitutional system Reversal of America's
Philippine Policy.
ARBITARY ACTS OF GENERAL WOOD
• He has refused his assent to laws which
were the most wholesome & necessary
heads of department.
• He has set at naught both the legal
authority and responsibility for the
Philippine heads of departments.
• He has substituted his constitutional
advisers for a group of military attaches
without legal standing in the government
and not responsible to the people.
• He has reversed the policy of Filipinizing the THE BATTLE OF BATAAN AND CORREGIDOR
service of the government by appointing
BATTLE OF BATAAN (January 7 – April 9, 1942)
Americans even when Filipinos of proven
capacity were available. Location: Bataan Peninsula near Manila Bay in
• He has obstructed the carrying out of Luzon Island, Philippines
national economic policies duty adopted by
- United States and Philippine
the Legislature, merely because they are in
Commonwealth against Japan during World
conflict with his personal views.
War II
• He has unduly interfered in the
- The battle represented the most intense
administration of justice.
phase of the Japanese invasion of the
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 37 Philippines
- Ended on April 9, 1942
Based on an opinion rendered by the Judge
- 76,000 soldiers surrendered
Advocate General of the United States and the
- Japanese victory
confirmatory opinion of the acting Advocate
- Beginning of Bataan Death March
General on November 17.

GENERAL DOUGLAS MCARTHUR

• was a career American army officer and the

Commander of Allied forces in the
Philippines at the time of their surrender to
the Empire of Japan during the World War
II.
• Consolidated all of his Luzon-based units on
the Bataan Peninsula to fight against the
Japanese army.
• In Australia, he made his famous speech in
which he declared “I shall return”.

GENERAL EDWARD P. KING

• Commander of the Bataan forces

• He was forced to surrender together with
his men when the Filipino and American
soldiers could no longer defend the Bataan
peninsula from the invasion of Japanese
troops.
 GENERAL MASAHARU HOMMA IMPORTANT DATES

• Lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese
Army during World War II.
• After the war, Homma was convicted of war
crimes relating to the actions of troops
under his direct command.
• He was executed by firing squad.
May 5, 1942 - Japanese finally secured a
beachhead on the island of the Corregidor and
landed tanks.
May 6, 1942 - The remaining US troops on
Corregidor in the Philippines surrender to the
Japanese. Japanese troops scream, “Banzai”.

1945 – End of war and the liberation of Luzon to

BATAAN DEATH MARCH Japanese colonization.

Forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army

of 60,000-80,000 American and Filipino
prisoners of war from Saysayin Point, Bagac,
Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O’Donnell,
Capas, Tarlac via San Fernando, Pampanga.

Forced to March 65 miles in 6 days. The march

was characterized by severe physical abuse and
wanton killings, and was later judged by an
Allied military commission to be a Japanese war
crime.

Hundreds of Americans and Filipinos had died.

BATTLE OF CORREGIDOR

CULMINATION OF THE JAPANESE CAMPAIGN

ON COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES

FOUR FORTIFIED ISLANDS PROTECTING

MOUTH OF MANILA BAY

Fort Mills - General Samuel Meyers Mills Jr.

Fort Hughes - Major General Robert P. Hughes

Fort Drum - General Richard C. Drum

Fort Frank - Brigadier General Royal T. Frank

 BUTUAN OR LIMASAWA?
THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS IN THE
PHILIPPINES
A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE
By: Miguel A. Bernad
March 31, 1521 - The first Catholic Mass in the
Philippines an Easter Sunday on an island called
“Mazaua”.
There are two conflicting claims as to its identity:
1. One school of thought points to the little
island south of Leyte which in the map is
called “Limasawa”.
2. The other school rejects the claim and points
instead to the beach called “Masao”.
I. THE BUTUAN TRADITION
 Claims rests upon a tradition that was almost
unanimous and unbroken for three
centuries, namely the 17th, 18th, and the 19th
centuries.
 The monument was erected in 1872 near the
mouth of the Agusan River at a spot within
the municipal boundaries of Butuan. But
which today belongs to the separately
municipality of Magellans, named after
Ferdinand Magellan.
17th Century
o Butuan tradition was already in possession,
it was accepted without question by Jesuit-
historian who were quite careful of their
facts.
o Father Francisco Colin S.J. (1592-1660)
whose Labor Evangelista was first published
in Madrid in 1663, three years after his
death.
o The work was re-issued 240years later in a
magnificent three volume edition annotated
by Father Pablo Pastells S.J (Madrid, 1903).
o On Easter Day, in the territory of Butuan, the
first mass ever offered in these parts was
celebrated and a cross planted.
o Father Francisco Combes S.J. (1620-1665)
had lived and worked as a missionary in the
Philippines, and whose Historia de
Mindanao y Jolo was printed in Madrid in
1667.
o History of Mindanao was also re-issued 230
years afterwards in a handsome edition
edited by Wenceslao Retana assisted by
Father Pablo Pastells.
18th Century
✓ The first province that faces the sea from
across New Spain is that of Caraga, which
begins at the Cape of San Agustin.
✓ One of the major historians who made this
error was the Augustinian: Fray Juan dela
Concepcion (1724-1787) whose 14-volume
History of the Philippines was published in
Manila shortly after his death.
✓ The general left the islands which he called
Las Velas Latinas of the Archipelago of San
Lazaro a name which they still retain.
✓ They have also added the name of Marianas
Islands.
✓ They sailed 300 leagues westward,
discovered many islands with abundant
supplies.
19th Century
• Joaquin Martinez de Zuniga (1760-1818),
whose Historia de Filipinas was published in
Sampaloc in 1803.
II. THE SHIFT IN OPINION
• Some recent defenders of the Butuan
tradition have blamed the shift of opinion of
two Americans, namely: Emma Blair and
James Alexander Robertson whose 55
volume collection of documents on the
Philippine Islands was published in Cleveland
from 1903-1909.
Father Pablo Pastells
Born in 1846 in Figueras
He entered the Jesuit novitiate in Spain and
later did further studies in France. He was
ordained as a priest in 1871.
 He collected an enormous amount of
document from the Archivo de Indias in
Seville and from other sources.
Pastell’s published works included (A) his
three volume edition of Colin (B) his three
volume History of the Jesuit Missions in the
Philippines in the 19th century (C) his History
of the Jesuits in Paraguay.
Pastels had collaborated with Retana in a
new edition of Combes.
Retana had accepted the Butuan Tradition in
his edition of Martinez de Zuniga in 1893.
THE 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 natives kings;
d. The seven days at “Mazaua”;
e. An argument from omission.
3. Summary of the evidence of Albo and
Pigafetta.
4. Confirmatory evidence from Legazpi
expedition.
FINAL NOTE:
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
The country's first Catholic mass was officiated
by Fr. Pedro Valderrama on March 31, 1521,
upon orders of Portugese explorer Ferdinand
Magellan. The Limasawa mass marked the birth
of Roman Catholicism in the country, which
remains as the nation's dominant religion in the
country up to present
The National Historical Commission of the
Philippines (NHCP) sustained findings that the
Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte as the site of
the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass, the first Catholic
mass in the country.
The NHCP Board of Commissioners signed
Resolution No. 2 last July 15 adopting the report
submitted by the investigating panel on the issue
surrounding the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the
Philippines.
The panel was formed in November 2018 after
several institutions, such as the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of the Philippines, made requests in
authenticating the site of the 1521 Easter
Sunday Mass.
The requests were made in time for the 500th
anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in
the country in 2021.
"The panel recommended that Limasawa Island,
Southern Leyte, be sustained as the site of the
1521 Easter Sunday Mass," the commission
concluded on their findings.
Some proponents insisted Butuan City in Agusan
del Norte as the real site of the first Catholic
mass in the country, as evidenced by a
monument erected in 1872 in Magallanes town
commemorating the said religious event that
happened there.
After making trips in Butuan and Limasawa as
part of their research, the NHCP panel found no
sufficient evidence that the capital of Agusan del
Norte hosted the first Catholic mass in the
country.
"The panel unanimously agreed that the
evidences and arguments presented by the pro-
Butuan advocates are not sufficient and
convincing enough to warrant the repeal or
reversal of the ruling on the case by the NHI
(National Historical Institute)," the NHCP panel
said, citing the previous rulings made by the
commission's forerunner National Historical
Institute in 1995 and 2008 affirming Limasawa as
the true site of the first Catholic mass in the
country.
The NHCP panel examined the Italian and French
version of Italian chronicler Antonio Pigafetta’s
accounts in the Magellan-Elcano expedition,
which showed the coordinates of the 1521
Easter Sunday Mass are closer to Limasawa.
The national historical commission also studied
the 1895 journal articles of historians Trinidad
Pardo de Tavera and Pablo Pastells, SJ, which
revisited Pigafetta’s accounts and emphasized
that Limasawa, not Butuan, as the site of the first
Catholic mass in the country.
FIRST MASS
• According to Pigafetta, the first mass
happened on March 31, 1521 which is
Eastern Sunday on Southern Leyte.
• Father Pedro de Valderrama held the
mass and The Rajah of Mazaua and
Rajah of Butuan were present.
• After the mass party, a cross was planted
on a summit of a little hill. The First
Mass marked the birth of Roman
Catholicism in the Philippines.
WHY IN BUTUAN:
Butuan Tradition: the 3 century tradition
The monument erected near the mouth of
Agusan River which has an inscription:
To the Immortal Magellan: the People of Butuan
with their Parish Priest and the Spaniards
resident therein, to commemorate his arrival
and the celebration of the First Mass on this site
on the 8th of April 1521. Erected in 1872, under
the District Governor Jose Ma. Carvallo.
• The date of the First Mass may be an error
due to the use of Gregorian Calendar in the
translation of the original date
• Labor Evangelista (Father Francisco Colin)-
The First Mass, Solemn planting of the cross
and the formal taking possession of the
Islands in the name of the Crown of Castile
happened in Butuan on Easter Sunday of
1521.
• Historia de Mindanao y Jolo (Father
Francsico Combes)- Magellan landed on
Butuan and planted the cross in a solemn
ceremony. Information about the First Mass
is not mentioned.
• Colin and Combes both pictured that
Magellan visited Butuan and Limasawa.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCES
• Name of the Place
• The expedition traveled 20 to 25
leagues from Homonhon, the first
landing point
• The latitude position
• The geographical feature
• Bonfire
• Balanghai
• House
• Abundance of Gold
• Developed settlement
POSSIBLE WITNESS:
• Gines de Mafra- Ambrosiana Codex
 RECENT EVIDENCES
• 1976-BCHFI’s 28 new gathered evidences
and 10 newly discovered balanghai boats in
Masao River
• Statement of Gregorio Zaide
• Archaeologist examining the coordinates
• Yale Codex
CONCLUSION
• Mazaua is located 9 and 1/3 latitude, south
of Seylani which is 10 latitude. This could
mean that it can be nearly located Butuan
City or in the municipality of Agusan del
Norte.
WHY IN LIMASAWA:
• Limasawa is a small island now occupied by
the province of Leyte
• Historically important because Ferdinand
Magellan left after first landing and resting
in Homonhon in March 1521
IMPORTANT EVENTS TOOK IN LIMASAWA
ISLAND:
• Ferdinand Magellan’s alliance with Raha
Kulambu
• The First Mass
• According to Francisco Albo’s
account, he didn’t mention the First
Mass in the Philippines but only the
planting of the cross.
WITNESS:
Antonio Pigafetta wrote Mazaua as the name
of the island.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCES
• The evidence of Albo’s Logbook
• The evidence of Pigafetta
• Summary of Evidence of Albo and
Pigafetta
• Confirmatory evidence from Legazpi
Expedition
• Monograph by Fr.Bernard in 1981
• Study of William Henry Scott in 1982
RECENT EVIDENCES
❑ RA 2733
CONCLUSION
• Limasawa is the original site of the First
Catholic Mass in the Philippines, according
to a 2 year study of National Historical
Commission in the Philippines (NHCP}.
(August 24,2019. ABS CBN News)
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
The NHCP Board of Commissioners signed
Resolution No. 2 last July 15 adopting the
report submitted by the investigating panel on
the issue surrounding the 1521 Easter Sunday
Mass in the Philippines
The national historical commission also studied
the 1895 journal articles of historians Trinidad
Pardo de Tavera and Pablo Pastells, SJ, which
revisited Pigafetta’s accounts and emphasized
that Limasawa, not Butuan, as the site of the
first Catholic mass in the country.
 The Two Faces of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny
By Chris Antonette Piedad-Pugay
“GOMBURZA”
The Martyrdom of the three martyr priests in
the person of Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose
Burgos and Jacinto Zamora (GOMBURZA)
All Filipino must know the different sides of the
story since this event led to another tragic yet
meaningful part of our history.
1872 Cavite Mutiny:
SPANISH PERSPECTIVE
- Jose y Montero, a Spanish historian
documented the event and highlighted it as
an attempt of indios to overthrow the
Spanish government in the Philippines.
- Gen. Rafael Izquierdo’s official report
magnified the event and made use of it to
implicate the native clergy.
- Izquierdo and Montero scored out that the
main reason of the revolution are the
abolition of privileges of the worked of
Cavite.
- Izquierdo reported to the King of Spain that
the ‘rebels’ wanted to overthrow the
Spanish government to install a new ‘hari’
in the likes of Father Gomez, Burgos and
Zamora.
January 20, 1872
- The district of Sampaloc celebrated the
feast of the Virgin of Loreto.
- The participant celebrated it with the
fireworks display.
- Those in Cavite mistook it as the sign for
the attack.
- The 200 men contingent headed by
Seargent La madrid launched an attack
targeting Spanish officers at sight and
seized the arsenal.
- Attempt of the Spanish government and
Frailocracia to instill fear among Filipinos so
that they may never commit such daring act
again, the GOMBURZA were executed.
- The execution of the Gomburza is one of
the moving forces that shaped Filipino
Nationalism.
A Response to Injustice:
The Filipino Version of the Incident
- Dr. Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de
Tavera, a Filipino scholar and researcher,
wrote the Filipino version of the Filipino
incident in Cavite.
- In his point of view, the incident was a mere
mutiny by the native Filipino soldiers and
laborers.
- On January 20, 1872, about 200 men
comprised of soldiers, laborers of the
arsenal and residents of Cavite headed by
Sergeant La madrid rose in arms and
assassinated the commanding officers and
Spanish officers in sight.
- Tavera believed that the Spanish friars and
Gen. Izquierdo used Cavite Mutiny as a
powerful lever by magnifying it as a full
blown Conspiracy.
- Central Government of Spain welcomed an
educational degree authored by
Segismundo Moret promoted the fusion of
sectarian schools run by the friars into a
schools called “Philippine Institute”.
- Convicted educated men who participated
in the mutiny were sentenced life
imprisonment while members of the native
clergy headed by the GOMBURZA were
executed by garrote.
- This leads to the awakening of Nationalism
and eventually to the outbreak of Philippine
Revolution.
UNRAVELLING THE TRUTH
Considering the four accounts of the 1872
Mutiny, there were some basic facts that
remained unvarying:
1. There was a dissatisfaction among the
workers of the arsenal; their privileges was
drawn back by Gen. Izquierdo.
2. Gen. Izquierdo introduced rigid and strict
policies that made Filipinos move turn away
from Spanish Government in disgust.
3. The Central Government failed to conduct
an investigation on what truly happened.
4. Filipino clergy members actively
participated in the secularization movement
in order to allow Filipino priest to take hold
of the parishes in the country making them
prey to the to rage of the friars.
5. Filipino was active participant and
responded to what they deemed injustice.
6. The execution of GOMBURZA was a blunder
on the part of Spanish government.
“Not forget those who fell during the night”
-Elias (Noli Me tangere)
DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE “CRY“
Pío Valenzuela’s “Cry of Pugad Lawin”
❑ August 23, 1896
❑ “Cry of Balintawak” as the staging point of
the Philippine Revolution.
❑ He surrendered to General Ramon Blanco
on September 3, 1896 and was imprisoned
in Fort Santiago, where upon investigation,
he told Francisco Olive, the Spanish
investigator that the “Cry” was staged at
Balintawak on Wednesday, August 26,
1896.
❑ On August 22, 1896 in the house of
Apolonio Samson at Kangkong.
❑ It was at Pugad Lawin, in the house of Juan
Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino where over
1000 of katipuneros met and carried out
debate on August 23 whether or not the
revolution start on August 29, 1896.
❑ Only Teodoro Plata protested.
❑ After the meeting, the katipuneros tore
their cedulas and shouted “Long Live the
Philippines!”
Gregoria de Jesus’s Version of the First “Cry”
❑ August 25, 1896
❑ “Lakambini of the Katipunan”
❑ Custodian of the secret documents, seal,
and weapons of the Katipunan.
❑ While Bonifacio and his men gathered in
the hills of Balintawak for the war, the
Spanish authorities were coming to arrest
her so she fled to manila and later joined
his husband.
 ❑ When the Katipunan had been Guillermo Masangkay’s
discovered and some of the members
The “Cry of Balintawak”
were arrested, she immediately
returned to Caloocan. ❑ August 26, 1896
❑ Through her friend, she learned that the ❑ The historic first rally of the Philippine
Spanish were coming to arrest her so at 11 Revolution occurred at the rustic barrio of
o’clock at night, secretly going through the Balintawak, a few kilometers north of the
rice fields in La Loma with intention of city of Manila.
returning to Manila.
❑ At about 9 o’clock in the morning of August
Santiago Alvarez’s 26, 1896, a big meeting was held in
Balintawak by Bonifacio
The “Cry of Bahay Toro”
❑ Teodora Plata, Briccio Pantas and Pio
❑ August 24, 1896
Valenzuela opposed to start the uprising
❑ Son of Mariano Alvarez and relative of early.
Gregoria de Jesus.
❑ The people then agreed to Bonifacio and
❑ Unlike Masangkay, Samson and screamed “Revolt!”
Valenzuela, Alvarez was not an
❑ Bonifacio then asked the people to give
eyewitness of the historic event. Hence,
pledge by destroying their cedulas as it is
His version cannot be accepted as equal
the sign of slavery of the Filipinos by the
in weight to that given by actual
Spaniards.
participants of the event.
❑ At about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, while
❑ Sunday, August 23, 1896 at 10 o’clock in
the gathering of Balintawak was celebrating
the morning at the barn of Kabesang
the decision of the Katipuneros to start the
Melchora, about 500 of the katipuneros
uprising, the guards outside gave warning
met together and were ready and eager
that the Spaniards were coming. Shot were
to join Bonifacio and his men.
exhanged between the Katipuneros and
❑ Monday, August 24, 1896, Bonifacio Spaniards thus the start of the Revolution.
hold a meeting inside a big barn began
at 9 o’clock in the morning were about
1000 katipuneros present.

❑ 12 o’clock of the same day when the

meeting adjourned, the loud cries of
“Long Live Sons of the Country!”
(Mabuhay ang mga Anak ng Bayan!)
were heard.