1.

Will you consider the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan a "failure" since he was killed in the
Battle of Mactan? Justify your answer.

For me, I would not consider Magellan's voyage as a failure because even if he died
during their journey, they have given essential evidence for the world to remember. The
expedition's primary focus is to find the spice island. Even though there were some
sacrifices in discovering the island, they found it in the archipelagos of Indonesia. The
voyage has also proven that the Earth is not entirely flat as they used to know. It is a planet
circulated of the vast sea of waters and in a shape of an Ellipsoid. Through the work of
Antonio Pigafetta, their exploration made it known to Filipinos and to the world that the
Philippines has a history of civilized people before we were colonized. Antonio has
illustrated the way of life of the pre-colonial Filipinos and explained to us that we were not
indios back then like the Spaniards thought we were.

2. What is the ceremony called "Sanduguan" by the early Filipinos? What does it signify?

Sanduguan is a Filipino translation for a blood-compact wherein members of a

particular party slit their wrist and pour their blood into a wine glass or just a simple
drinking glass and then drink it. It is a form of an official treaty in ancient times, and most
of the natives do this to agree to the terms of their blood compact. It also signifies respect
and trust between the two parties because it means that they have locked their bonds.
When Magellan came to the Philippines, he made a sanduguan with the Cebu chieftain
named Rajah Humabon. He is also the reason why Magellan was killed in the Battle of
Mactan since Humabon was the one who insisted the Spaniards on killing his opponent
Datu Lapu-Lapu as a form of appreciation for helping them. The second time the Spaniards
came to our country, the Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi also made a sanduguan
with the Bohol chieftain Datu Sikatuna to signify that they went to the country for peace
and not to fight with them since they are not Portuguese but Spaniards.