 At dawn on Saturday,March 16, 1521, they saw Zamal (Samar)

 March 17, they landed on an uninhabited Island which is the Humunu (Homonhon)
 March 18, they were visited by the people of Zuluan (Suluan) o that island where they traded
goods. The natives were pleasant towards them. They stayed at Humunu for one week.
 Noon Friday, March 22, the men came back as they promised riding in 2 boats with coconuts,
sweet oranges, a jar of palm wine and a cock.
 Afternoon of Holy Monday, March 25 Pigafetta fell on the water. “That same day we shaped
our course toward the west southwest between four small islands, namely, Cenalo (Silago),
Hiunanghan, Ibusson, and Abarien. (which are all part of Southern Leyte as of the present)
 Thursday Morning, March 28, 1521

By the time Magellan’s fleet anchored in that place where they saw a fire the night before,
they were warmly welcomed by the king of that place riding in 2 Balanghais. They went
along well. They even had a feast and got drunk. Upon leaving, one of the King’s brothers
who is also the king of another Island joined them in their ship. There, the captain-general
and the other king had a trade of goods and had a friendly conversation. Some excerpt from
Pigafetta’s journal describing a part of the conversation they had was “All dishes of that king
are of gold and also some portion of his house, as we were told by that king himself.” It can
be implicitly claimed that the second King (Raia Siaui) was not in his land (Butuan) during
that time because they were at Mazaua (Limasawa) together with the first king, his brother,
Raia Colambu. It was described in Pigafetta’s writings that Raia Siaui is just visiting his
brother’s land that time. The conversation he had with the captain-general includes a
narration and description of the characteristics of his land (Butuan) which is far from
Mazaua(Limasawa).

 Pigafetta and the other man dined and got drunk on friday night (March 29)
 They left at Saturday dawn, March 30
 Early Morning Sunday, March 31, 1521. The day of the first mass.
Ferdinand Magellan didn’t leave Mazaua yet for he had planned to have a mass on that
place during that day. An excerpt from Pigafettas’s journal furtherly supports the claim:
“Early on the morning of Sunday, the last of March, and Easter-day, the captain-general
sent the priest with some men to prepare the place where mass was to be said;
together with the interpreter to tell the king that we were not going to land in order to
dine with him, but to say mass.” As the last part states, Pigafetta and the interpreter
didn’t come to shore to dine just like what they did the last time they visited the shore.
It only means that they came back to shore of Mazaua to conduct a mass that time.
 They stayed 7 days at Mazaua from March 28 to April 4. They passed five islands otw to Zubu
namely Ceylon, Bohol, Canighan, Baybai, and Gatighan. (20 leguas from Mazaua to Gatighan).
 April 7, they entered the port of Zubu.

Magellan's fleet took a route from Homonhon to Mazaua and from Mazaua to Cebu that did not at
any timetouch Butuan or any other part of Mindanao. The docking facilities at Limasawa did not
pose any problem for Magellan's fleet which anchored near or at some safe distance from the
island of the eastern shore.
 Limasawa as the Site of the First Mass
MAIN POINTS
FIRST PROOF (GEOGRAPHICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTIONS BY PIGAFETTA AND ALBO)

 West southwest of Leyte is Limasawa

 On the spot where the cross was erected, there were 3 islands that can be seen, the northern
one is Butuan, accdg to Albo.
 According to Pigafetta, the distance from Mazaua to Gatighan is 20 lenguas, and from Gatighan
to Zubu is 15 leguas. An approximate total of 35 leguas was covered by their fleet from Mazaua
to Zubu which happened in a span of 3 days from April 4 to April 7. A league is approximately
equal to 3 miles which when applied to the total distance covered by Magellan’s fleet from
Mazaua to Zubu will be equivalent to an approximation of 130 km. Currently, Limasawa in Leyte
is approximately 133 km from Cebu.

2ND PROOF (CLEAR DESCRIPTION OF ACTUAL EVENTS AND SETTING BEFORE AND AFTER THE MASS)

 The king of Butuan Raia Siaui who was the brother of the king of Mazaua Raia Colambu, was just
visiting the island of Mazaua during that time which was supported by Pigafetta’s record. There
were parts from Pigafetta’s account that implicitly narrates how Butuan is different from
Mazaua. From the excerpt “All dishes of that king are of gold and also some portion of his
house, as we were told by that king himself.” We can conclude that Magellan and his men didn’t
actually reach Butuan because almost all details of Butuan was just narrated by Raia Siaui in
order for them to get to know each other more.
 Magellan and his men stayed for 7 days in Mazaua from March 28 – April 4 and eventually left to
go to Zubu as accommodated by Raia Colambu. In a span of 3 days, they reached their
destination. Three days were just enough for them to travel 35 leagues given that ships during
that time were not fast enough.
 During their 7-day anchorage at Mazaua, they didn’t even leave or stay away from the shore or
that place because it was narrated in detail that on Thursday (March 28) they landed on Mazaua
and got along well with the king and the natives. They were even permitted to step on the shore
and had a feast and got drunk on holy Friday. They went back to their ship which was still
anchored at Mazaua on Saturday dawn and promised to be back to conduct mass on Sunday
(March 31).
Butuan as the Site of the First Mass
 Parliamentary Debate “First Mass”
“Site of first mass was at Limasawa’’
YT video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQAgTVZNjLI&t=8s

Proposition:
 From Antonio Pigafetta and Francisco Albo’s account, who are eyewitnesses of Magellan’s
Voyage: They both stated that the first mass took place on an island they called Mazava in Albo’s
account and Mazaua in Pigafetta’s account. They both asserted that from the island of
Homonhon they went westward towards the island of Leyte and turned to a southwest direction
to reach this island. Based on these geographical locations provided by Albo and Pigafetta, the
island of Limasawa in Southern Leyte is the counterpart.
 Ramusio’s version of Pigafetta’s manuscipts is not reliable. The transmission of text from
Pigafetta to Louise of Savoy to Simon de Colins is without documentary support. Pigafetta
himself didn’t mention that he gave a copy of his manuscript to Loiuse of Savoy but simply a gift
of certain thing. Based on Father Colin’s account, Magellan and his men went to Cebu on April 7,
1521 but in the monument’s inscription, the first mass was held on April 8, 1521 on Butuan.
How is it possible to go back to Butuan from Cebu in just one day wherein Butuan is 236
kilometers away from Cebu, and the ships of Magellan that time are not fast enough.
Furthermore, according to Francisco Albo, on the same day of the mass, a cross was erected on
the summit of a mountain. From it, you can see 3 islands from west and southwest wherein
Butuan can be seen on the Northern direction. Based on topographical details given by Albo and
Pigafetta, it describes the present Limasawa.
 Magellan didn’t go to Butuan to meet the King there. According to Pigafetta and Albo, while in
the island of Mazaua they met two chieftains. One is the chieftain of Mazaua and one is the
chieftain of Butuan who was said to be visiting the island. Therefore, the chieftain of Butuan is
not in Butuan but in Mazaua. So in conclusion Magellan didn’t go to Butuan.

Opposition:
 On the statement of Father Fernando Colins, a historian, in his work Labor Evangelica,he
asserted that Magellan went to Butuan and there he celebrated the first mass and erected a
cross. To dupport this, Antonio Pigafetta testified that he gave a gift of certain things to the
Queen Mother of France Louise of Savoy and mother of Francis the first. Gian Battista Ramusio
mentioned that a copy of Pigafetta’s account was given to Louise of Savoy whereas this
manuscript was translated to French by Jacques Fabre and imprinted by Simon de Colins. Then it
was translated back into an Italian version by Ramusio. And it was the basis of Colin’s account.
Thus, on the other way around, Colin’s account was considered reliable. And there was a
monument erected during 1872 to commemorate the first mass in Butuan on April 8, 1521.
 In Historia de Mindanaoy Jolo written by Francisco Combes S.J who worked as a missionary in
the Phillipines states that Magellan went to Butuan because they heard the King there was more
powerful, and they wanted to meet him. It was said that their expectations were satisfied by the
king. And there, they planted a cross on a hill in a solemn ceremony as a sign of future alliance.
In Francisco Colin’s work, the first mass occurred the same day they planted the cross. For that
reason, we believed that the first mass occurred in Butuan.

 The monument erected was a proof for it. In fact, there are artifacts that will prove that the first
mass occurred in the island. Those are the presence of balanghai in Butuan which they believed
that it was used for transportation during Magellan’s visit.
 It was mentioned that the king came to their ship in a balanghai. Butuan is now the site of at
least nine excavated balanghai relics; by contrast, Limasawa has no significant archeological
relics or balanghai tradition.