Name: Albano, Mark Ian A.

BSCS-1A

COMPARISON AND CONTRAST

To COMPARE is to tell how two or more things alike. To CONTRAST is to tell how two things are different. Clue
words such as like shows comparison. Clue words such as unlike and but show contrast. Often authors don't
use clue words.Readers must make comparison for themselves. Use the chart to compareand contrast the

Subject being compared : Butuan or Limasawa: A Reexamination of the Evidence

Reasons for comparison : To identify the site of the first mass in the Philippines

conflicting accounts of the site of the First Mass in the Philippines.

Limasawa

POINT 1 POINT 2
The evidence of Albo's log-book. Based on the testimony of The evidence from Pigafetta.
Francisco Albo who was one of the eighteenth survivors
A. Pigafetta's testimony regarding the route.
who returned with Sebastian Elcano. He keeps in his diary
or Log-book on the voyage out while they were sailing B. The evidence of Pigafetta's Maps a. First
southward in the Atlantic along the coast of the South map (Blair and Robertson) b. Second map
(BR 33) double map c. T hird
America. map(BR33)Island of Mazaua
According to him the island that he calls Gada seems to be C. The two Kings
the acquada of Pigafetta, namely the isaland of Homonhon With the help of two native kings presence confirmed
where they took supplies of wood and water. The large evidence at Mazaua during the Magellan visit. One was the
king of Mazaua and the second one was the king or Rajah
island of Seilani which they coasted in the island of Leyte. of Butuan.
Coasting southwards along with eastern coast of that
D. Seven Days at Mazaua
island, then turning southwest they came upon a small
island named, Mazava. That fits the location of a small 1. Thursday, 28 March-arrival of Magellan and
companion in an island.
island of Limasawa. It is to be noted that Albo does not
mention the first Mass, only the planting of cross upon the 2. Friday, 29 March-"Next day, Holy day" 3.
Saturday 30 March-spent previous evening feasting
mountain top from which could be seen the three islands and drinking with the king....................4. Sunday, 31
to the west and southwest. This also fits the southern end March-the last of March and Easter day, obtain foods in
Zebu port. 5. Monday 1 April-No
of Limasawa. It does not fit the the coast of Butuan from work
was done 6. Tuesday 2 April & Wednesday 3
which no islands could be seen to the southwest but only April-work on the harvest during "during the next two
towards the North. days" 7. Thursday 4 April - leave. Mazaua, bound
for Cebu.

E. An argument from Omission

Butuan
POINT 1 POINT 2
The Butuan Monument In 18th Century
A monument was erected on 1872 near the mouth of Based on Colin which seems to have been
 Agusan river at a spot of that was within the
municipal boundaries of Butuan.but which today
belongs to the municipality of Magallanes named
after Ferdinand Magellan. It is a brick pillar in which a
marble slab that contains an inscription: To
commemorate the arrival of Magellan and the
celebration of the first Mass on this site on the 8th of
April,1521
The evidence from Butuan tradition.
In the 17th century.
According to the Jesuit historian Father Francisco
Colin, Magellan went first to Butuan, then to
Limawasa and from thence to Cebu. However, Father
Francisco Combés mentioned two visits to Limawasa:
in his version, Magellan visits Limawasa first, from
there he goes to Butuan; then he returns to
Limawasa.
Both of them agree that it was from Limasawa and
with the help of Limasawa's chieftain that the
Magellan expedition went to Cebu.
They both also agree that Magellan arrived in Cebu on
the 7th of April 1521, that is to say, on the octave of
Easter or one week after first Mass which in this
traditionan-was supposed to have been cel at Butuan
Both were to exercise a strong influence over
subsequent writers of History of the Philippines.
Similarities and Differences: Both
misunderstood and may have misled some later
writers of his book in which he describes the island of
Mindanao. One of the major historian that made this
error was Augustinian:fray Juan de la Conception, he
says about Magellan's coming and about the first mass
in the Philippine Islands.
1. He seems to think that the islands called "Las
Velas" and the Marianos Islands and the archipelago
of San Lazaro were all one and the same thing.
2. He has misconstrued Magellan's route, depicting
high as sighting the southeastern tip of Mindanao
and sailing northwards along specific coast of this
island, and then entering by the Siargao Strait into
Limasawa which is at the entrance of the strait.
In the 19th Century
According to Augustinian, fray Joaquin Martinez de
Zuniga that the Butuan tradition was taken for
granted and we find it mentioned in writer after
writing each copying from the Previous and being in
turn copied by those who came after. But shorn of
these peripheral errors, the essence of the Butuan
tradition was accepted by even otherwise careful
scholars at the end of the 19th and the early decades
of 20th century.

Conclusion: I therefore conclude, that the site of the first Mass in the Philippines happened in Limasawa on the
Easter Sunday of March 1521. As you can see in the given evidences. However, one have explained well based on
the evidences, the chronology of events are accurate to the given evidences and it is on Limasawa. There is an
error occurred while studying the history of the site of the first mass in the Philippines. It must be remembered
that the Butuan tradition is based on second hand information.