CARAGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

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Subject/Day/Time: HIST101 READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY/MTWTH/ 07:30-

09:00 am
Teacher: Charito U. Saure |cit.saure@citkitcharao.edu.ph | 096669949466

Lesson 2 One Past Man Histories

LEARNING COMPETENCIES:
At the end of this chapter, learners are expected to:
1. Demonstrate the ability to use primary sources to argue in favor or against a
particular issue.
2. Demonstrate the ability to formulate arguments in favor or against a particular
issue using primary issue.

CONTENT

Making sense of the Past:

Historical Interpretation of the past vary according to who read the primary source,
when it was read, and how it was read. Historians utilize facts collected from primary
sources of history and then draw their own reading so that their intended audience may
understand historical event, a process that is essence” makes sense of the past” Many
of the things we accept as “true” about the past might not be true anymore, just
because these were taught to us as ‘FACTS” when we were younger does not mean
that it is set in stone history is, after all a construct. As a construct, it is open for
interpretations. There might be conflicting and competing accounts of the past that
need one’s attention and can affect the way we our country’s history and identity. It is,
therefore important to subject to evaluation not only primary source, but also the
historical interpretation of the same to ensure that the current interpretation is reliable
to support our acceptance of events to the past

Some of the controversies that have continuously been subjects of discussions,

conflicts:
 The site of the first mass in the Philippines.
 The Cavite Mutiny
 The retraction of Rizal
 The cry of Pugad Lawin
 Controversies on the battle of Mactan

THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES: MASAU OR LIMASAWA?

For decades, children have been taught that Limasawa was the site of the first mass in
the Philippines. As chronicled by Pigafetta, the historian of the Magellan expedition, the
first mass in the Philippines archipelago was celebrated on March 31, 1521 along the
shores of what was referred to by him as Mazaua. Mazaua was believed to be
Limasawa, an island located at the tip of Southern Leyte. According to his accounts,
Magellan ordered the planting of a large wooden cross on the top of a hill overlooking
the sea Antonio Pigafetta - was a Venetian scholar and explorer. He served as the
chronicler of the Magellan expedition and was one of the men of Magellan who was
able to return to Spain on board the Victoria, the only ship which survived the
expedition, He gave a copy of his diary to the king of Spain, Charles V. Two years after
arriving in Spain, he wrote a book, The Navigation and Discovery of Upper India, based
on his diary. The book was first published in French. In 1905, its Italian version was
translated into English by James Robertson which he titled Magellan's Voyage Round
the World. Pigafetta wrote of this first mass: "After the cross was erected in position,
each of us repeated the Pater Noster and an Ave Maria and adored the cross; and the
kings Colambu and Siagu did the same”.

J.Mallat wrote of Magellan's expedition: "The expedition went towards the southwest,
where it was not long before it discovered a tip of land to which was given the name
Cape of St. Augustine. This cape formed the southwest extremity of the island of
Mindanao. From there, the expedition went up towards the North, coasting along a
gold-rich province. It entered the strait of Surigao and cast anchor near the little island
of Limasagua”. Upon being informed that the gulf and river of Butuan which is in the
northern coast of the island of Mindanao and south of Limasagua, Magellan dispatched
an armed craft with an interpreter. He instructed his men to ask some food from the
natives of Butuan in exchange for some objects which he told his men to bring with
them. They were given several goats and pigs and rice. Writing on the first Mass in the
Philippines, Mallat continued:

"On Palm Sunday, Magellan went in person to the village of Butuan, erected an altar
decorated with leaves and flowers and had the crew of his three vessels go ashore to
hear the first Mass ever celebrated in those far away regions, in which he was so
anxious to have said in order to give thanks to the God of the seas for the protection
which He had given to the expedition.
The natives attended the ceremony peacefully, and Magellan treated them with the
greatest kindness; he planted on top of a hillock the sacred emblem of Christianity, and
by a solemn act, took possession of the island of Mindanao for the crown of Castille, in
the name of the emperor and king. In commemoration of the birth of Christianity in the
Philippines, RA No. 2733 was enacted on June 19, 1960. Known as the Limasawa
Law, it declared the site in Magallanes, Limasawa Island in Leyte as a national shrine,
the place having been the site of the first Mass in the Philippines. However, it was not
signed by the President.

Sonia Zaide - a historian.

She identified Masao in Butuan as the location of the first Christian Mass. She based
her claim on the diary of Pigafetta. In view of this claim of Zaide, Congresswoman
Ching Plaza of Agusan del Norte filed a bill in Congress in 1995 contesting the
Limasawa claim, asserting that Butuan was the site of the first Mass.

Evidence presented by Sonia Zaide:

1.The name of the place. In all the primary sources, including the diary of Antonio
Pigaffeta, the chronicler of Magellan’s voyage, the name of the place was three
syllables – “Masao” or something close to it. Limasawa has four syllables and begins
with another letter.
2. The route from Homonhon. According to the primary records, again, the expedition
travelled 20 to 25 leagues from Homonhon, their first landing point, to the site of the
first mass, taking a west-southwest course. If they had been at Limasawa Island, the
distance is only about 14.6 leagues, or one half of that length. Moreover, the island of
Limasawa is blocked from Homonhon by the tip of Southern Leyte.
3. The latitude position. Some of the primary sources locate the place at 90 North
latitude, and others at 9 2/3 degrees. The latitude position eliminates Limasawa,
because it is closer by ten degrees, and strengthens the claim of Masao, Butuan
because it is exactly at nine degrees.
4.The route to Cebu. The route to Cebu taken by the explorers is almost exactly
similar to the one now taken by motor vessels from Cebu to Butuan. The King of
Masao (Kolambu) even guided the explorers to Cebu and acted as their interpreter and
intermediary when they met the Cebu king. On the contrary, there is no sea traffic from
Limasawa to Cebu, then or now. And the distance to Cebu, according to Pigaffeta, was
35 leagues (140 miles). If it were Limasawa that they came, the distance would only be
80 miles, or only half of the alleged distance travelled.
5. The geographical features. The following physical features of the first kingdom
point to Butuan, rather than Limasawa, as follows:
a. The bonfire: the explorers were attracted to the light present the night before they
came to shore. Now, the name “Masao”, in Butuanon precisely means “bright”, which
could refer to the local custom of celebrating a harvest by cooking rice flakes in open
fires. By contrast, there are no ricefields in Limasawa.
b. The balanghai: which was a prominent feature of the story of their stay in the first
kingdom. It was said that the king came to their ship in a “balanghai”, and Pigaffeta and
his companion attended a party in a ritual “balanghai”, with the local king. Butuan is
now the site of at least nine excavated “balanghai” relics; by contrast, Limasawa has
no significant archaeological relics or “balanghai” tradition.
c. Abundance of gold: the Western explorers got excited at the abundance of gold in
Masao and Butuan, for that was the main currency at that time. Both archaeological
relics (e.g. the“Gold Image of Agusan”) and gold mines today attested to the
abundance of gold in the Agusan valley. However, there is no gold in Limasawa.

Primary source: Pigafetta’s Testimony on the route of Magellan Expedition Source:

Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, The Philippine Islands, Vol.33 and 34 as
cited in Miguel A. Bernad “Butuan or Limasawa? The site of the First Mass in the
Philippines:
B. THE CAVITE MUTINY
Mutiny- is the rebellion against authority. - comes from an old verb “Mutine” which
means “Revolt”

Two faces or account on Cavity Mutiny:

 Spanish version
 Filipino version Spanish Version

1. Jose Montero y Vidal a prolific Spanish historian documented the event and
highlighted it as an attempt of the indios to overthrow the Spanish government in
the Philippines. The versions of Jose Montero y Vidal and Governor-General
Izquierdo were almost the same except that the Izquierdo version was more
biting. In his documentation of this event Montero referred to it as a "revolution,"
an attempt by the Indios to topple down the Spanish government in the
Philippines. Izquierdo on the other hand, used this event as a vehicle to implicate
the Filipino priests who were then active in their secularization of Philippine
parishes' campaign.

Secularization-movement encouraged the assignment of native Filipino priests to

head parishes. The movement was met with opposition from the Spanish friars who are
regulars due to its negative effects to their political authority and influence in the
Philippine islands. Both Montero and Izquierdo believed that the Cavite Mutiny of 1872
was planned earlier; that it was a conspiracy among the educated, the mestizos, the
native lawyers, citizens of Manila and Cavite and the Filipino priests The insinuated in
their reports that the conspirators of Manila and Cavite planned to liquidate the top
Spanish officials and to be followed by the murder of the friars. They stated that the
signal of the "revolution" would be the explosion which would come from Intramuros
and that since that date January 20,1872 coincided with the feast of the Our Lady of
Loreto, which the district of Sampaloc was observing, the rebels mistook the explosion
coming from the fireworks for the signal they were waiting for to start the "revolution".
Thus, the 200 contingents under the command of Sergeant Lamadrid started the
"revolution" by attacking the Spanish officials they saw and captured the arsenal.

The reports of Montero and Izquierdo further stated that when Izquierdo learned
of the uprising, he immediately dispatched reinforcement to Cavite which made
possible the quelling of the uprising. They also added that the reinforcement from
Manila which the rebels were waiting failed to come, thus those who instigated the
"revolution were killed including Sergeant Lamadrid; the Gomburza was subjected to
investigation through a court martial and were sentenced to death by garrote; Joaquin
Pardo de Tavera, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Jose and Pio Basa and other lawyers were
suspended from practicing their profession, were arrested and sentenced to life
imprisonment in the Marianas Islands.

Primary Source: Excerpts from Montero’s Account of the Cavite Mutiny Source: Jose
Montero y Vidal “Spanish Version of the Cavite Mutiny in 1872” in Gregorio Zaide and
Zonia Zaide

Filipino Version:

Dr. Trinidad Hermenegillo Pardo de Tavera a Filipino scholar and researcher, who
wrote a Filipno version of the bloody incident in Cavite. According to Pardo de Tavera’s
account of Cavite Mutiny According to this account, the incident was merely a mutiny
by Filipino soldiers and laborers of the Cavite Arsenal to the dissatisfaction arising from
the draconian policies of Izquierdo such as the abolition of privileges and the
prohibition of the founding of the school of arts and trades for Filipinos which the
General saw as a smokescreen to creating a political club. Tavera is of opinion that the
Spanish friars and Izquierdo used the Cavite mutiny as a way to address other issues
by blowing out proportion the isolated mutiny attempt. During this time, the Central
government in Madrid was planning to deprive the friars of all power’s intervention in
matters of civil government and direction and management of educational institutions.
The friars needed something to justify their continuing dominance in the country and
the mutiny provided such opportunity.
Primary Sources: Excerpts from Plauchut’s Account of the Cavite Mutiny Source:
Edmund Plauchut “The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and the Martyrdom of GOM-BUR-ZA in
Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide Documentary Sources of Philippine History, volume
7(Manila” National Book Store, 1990)

The Retraction of Rizal

Did Rizal retract?

Jose Rizal is identified as a hero of the revolution for his writings that center on ending
colonialism and liberating Filipino minds to contribute to creating the Filipino nation.
The great volume of Rizal’s lifeworks was committed to this end, particularly the more
influential one’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. His essays vilify not the
catholic religion, but the friars the main agents of injustice in the Philippine society. Any
piece of writing from Rizal that recants everything he wrote against the friars and the
Catholic Church in the Philippines could deal heavy damage to his image as a
prominent Filipino revolutionary.
The Balaguer Testimony

Doubts on the retraction document abound especially because only one eyewitness
account of the writing of the documents exists- that of the Jesuit Friar Fr. Vicente
Balaguer. According to his testimony, Rizal woke up several times, confessed four
times attended a Mass received communion, and prayed the rosary, all of which
seemed out character. But since it is the only testimony of allegedly a “primary
“account that Rizal ever wrote a retraction document, it has been used to argue the
authenticity of the document.

The Testimony of Cuerpo de Vigilancia

Another eyewitness account surfaced in 2016 through the research of Professor Rene
R. Escalante. Un his research documents of Cuerpo de Vigilancia included a report on
the last hours of Rizal written bu Federico Moreno. The report details the statement of
the Cuerpo de Vigilancia to Moreno.

Primary Sources: Eyewitness Account of the Last Hours of Rizal Source: Michael
Charleston Chua,” Retraction ni Jose Rizal: Mga Bagong Dokumento at Pananaw

Performance Task 2.

Directions:

Formulate or do research of what happen in the History and realize it in the form of
concept.

1. Is it true that history repeats itself?

2. What will be the result in the present if it happens?

3. Provide a solution for it, no to happen again.