Tittle

THE LOCATION OF THE FIRST MASS

Introduction of the controversy(Cyril&Fred)
This position paper is all about where the first mass really happened. The first mass in the
Philippines was held on March 31,1521 and it is Easter Sunday. Filipinos are arguing where the
first mass was actually held in the Philippines.The two sites or places that claimed that it
happened which are the Butuan Agusan Del Norte and Limasawa Island, Leyte.It is important
that we should know where it really takes place because it is the first Holly mass that marked
the birth of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.
There’s many inconsistent information in thistopic. First inconsistent information is:
“where did the first mass actually take place?”. There are two sites or place who claimed where
it really happened which is the Butuan and Limasawa. They have pieces of evidence to prove
that the first mass in the Philippines happened there
Second, “which direction did Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition go, is it towards Butuan and
Limasawa?”. In order to know where the first mass was actually held you need to know first
where did Ferdinand Magellan’sexpedition
landed because after they landed in an island, he ordered a mass which is the first mass in the
Philippines in order to celebrate.
Sides and/or evidences of the controversy
Pro-Butuan Evidences (John Carlo&Mark Anthony)
Strong evidence of Butuan is the 1,600-year-old 10 balanghai boats were found in 1976 near
Masao river which is located in Butuan City. In them this boat was used as a transportation of
the things that can use in the mass
-The monument in Butuan. They said that the monument is a testimonial to the tradition that
Magellan landed at Butuan and celebrated there the first mass.
3rd Father Francisco Albo mention the planting of the cross upon a mountain-top, and from
there they were shown three islands to the west and southwest, where they were told there
was much gold.
4th is the log kept by Francisco Albo, a pilot of one of Magellan’s ship, Trinidad. He was one of
the 18 survivors who returned with Sebastian Elcano on the ship Victoria after they
circumnavigated the world.
Limasawa Evidences (Jeff Curts& Shanrei)
One of the strong pieces of evidence of the Limasawa was the crosss, it was said that
Ferdinand Magellan erected this cross along with his men for the head couple of Limasawa, this
erected on the afternoon the same day of the mass.
Second, Antonio Pigaffeta’s testimony regarding the route of the expedition. He also has maps
and sketches that leads to Limasawa. Francisco Albo and Antonio Pigaffeta are credible
sources because they’re part of the Magellan expedition.
Third is the Legazpi Expedition. One of the destinations of the expedition leads to Limasawa.
Another information that supports the claim in Limasawa is the Republic Act 2733. The act
declares that the first mass in the Philippines actually held in Limasawa, Leyte.
-Last is the NHCP or National Historical Commission of the Philippines agreed that the first
mass happened in Limasawa because Butuan evidences are not sufficient.
Stand (John Paul)
There’s consistent information between the Limasawa and Butuan. They both have the same
date of the first mass which is March 31, 1521 and they both used Ferdinand Magellan
expedition as an evidence in their claims and by the evidences that been stated we will stand by
the Limasawa team because of the credibility of their evidences than to the Butuan team.
Positive Stand(Dexter)
Limasawa evidence was very similar to what Antonio Pigaffeta state in his document, so we
totally agree with their evidences especially to the cross and to the geographical location of
Limasawa that very similar to the geographical location of Mazaua that been state in Antonio
Pigafetta documents, so this is the reason why we agree with their evidences. And also, one of
the reasons why we agree with them because the’re using James Robertson English translation
of the original manuscript of Pigaffeta’s account that are most reliable for being “faithful” to the
original text as a duly certified by the University of the Philippines Department of European
Language.
Negative Stand(Ayo Jam)
Masao/Butuan evidence We oppose in them with a reason of, is that they using the Fabre
Ramusio text garbled and altered version of which Butuan propagandists based their research
and also about the riverine settlement and situated near Agusan River because in Antonio
account they never state the word river instead it’s a word sea.
Final Stand(James)
We agree with the pieces of evidence in Limasawa because it is more convincing and it has
many more credible sources than the Butuan. Also, according to the Republic Act 2733 and the
National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the first mass was held in Limasawa. And the
National Historical Commission of the Philippines panel adopted the recommendation and
unanimously agreed that the evidence 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 National Historical Institute.