RESOURCE NO.

I. Philippines to GO (n.d.). Revolvy (n.d.). St. James the great parish church in Bolinao,
Pangasinan. Retrieved from http://www.philippinestogo.com/st-james-the-great-church-
bolinao/

SUMMARIZATION

St. James the Great Parish Church in Bolinao, Pangasinan one of the oldest churches in
Pangasinan, St. James the Great Parish Church in Bolinao, Pangasinan was constructed in 1600s using
native materials that includes wood, ground coral stones, rocks, and eggs (probably as binding agent).
The church remains the center of catholic faith in Bolinao and served as shelter from pirate raids as well
as during the WW2.

The church survived multiple natural calamities including the 1788 earthquake that damaged
the church tower, the 1819 fire that burned the convent, and the 2009 typhoon that caused heavy
damage on the church structures.

 In front of the church is a marker stating that the first mass was celebrated in the Philippines in
1324. After being forced to land due to a stormy weather, Blessed Fr. Odorico held a thanksgiving mass.
He also baptized several locals before returning home in Italy.

The first religious friars in Bolinao were the Augustinians who stayed in the town from 1585 to
1587. The Dominicans took charge from 1588 to 1599. In 1600, the Augustinians returned and stayed
until 1607. The missionary work left by the Augustinians were taken over by the Augustinian
Recollects who administered the town from 1609 to 1679, up to 1712 when the Dominicans took over
again. When the Recollects returned in 1609, they transferred the town to the mainland because of the
troubles inflicted by the piratical raids. The Recollect fathers returned in 1749 and took charge until
1784. Since then, several priests administered the parish.

The church tower of Bolinao used to be the tallest in Pangasinan until an earthquake destroyed
half of the tower in 1788. The church convent was accidentally burned in 1819.

VIEWPOINT/ARGUMENT

 The controversy about the first Mass in the Philippines

EVIDENCE OF MY RESOURCE USED TO SUPPORT MY VIEWPOINT/ARGUMENT

Born in Pordinone (Italy) around 1275 A.D., Father ODORICO, a courageours and religious
Franciscan missionary pioneered the spread of the Gospel in Asia and China. He traveled always
barefooted among undescribable difficulties and dangers, exhausting his energies in the service of the
Kingdom of GOD.

In 1324, after landing and taking refuge in Bolinao Pangasinan during a stormy weather, Father
ODORICO celebrated a thanksgiving Mass in honor of their safe journey and his mission. He also
indoctrinated and baptized many of the Malay immigrants in Bolinao.

He returned home to Udine (Friuli) Italy after thirteen years mission. He died a holy death on
January 14, 1331. His precious remains are kept in an artistic tomb of the parish Church of our Lady of
Mount Carmel in Udine (Italy).

RESOURCE NO. 2
 I. Amazing Butuan (2009). Site of the first mass, after 488 years controversy continues.
Retrieved from http://amazingbutuan.blogspot.com/2009/04/site-of-first-mass-after-488-
years.html

SUMMARIZATION

Butuan, before its colonization, was known as the Rajahnate of Butuan, an Indianized kingdom
known for its metallurgic industry and sophisticated naval technology.

The rajahnate flourished at the 10th and 11th centuries CE, and had an extensive trade network
with the Champa Civilization and the Srivijayan Empire.
On 1001 CE, the rajahnate had established contact with the Song Dynasty of China. The annual
Song Shih recorded the appearance of a Butuan mission at the Chinese imperial court, and the rajahnate
was described as a small Hindu country with a Buddhist monarchy, which had a regular trade connection
with Champa.
The mission, under a rajah named Kiling, asked for equal status in court protocol with the
Champa envoy, but ultimately was denied by the imperial court. However, under the reign of Sri Bata
Shaja, the diplomatic equality was eventually granted to the Kingdom, and as a result the diplomatic
relations of the two nations reached its peak in the Yuan Dynasty.
Evidence of these trading links are in the discovery of 11 balangay boats around Ambangan in
barangay Libertad, which was described as the only concentration of archaeological, ancient, ocean-
going boats in Southeast Asia.
Other evidences of the post are the discovery of a village in Libertad that specializes in gold,
deformed skulls similar to reports in Sulawesi, and the discovery of many artifacts by locals and treasure
hunters.
On March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday, Ferdinand Magellan ordered a mass to be celebrated.
This was officiated by Friar Pedro Valderrama, the Andalusian chaplain of the fleet, the only priest
then. Another priest, the French Bernard Calmette (BernardoCalmeta) had been marooned at Patagonia
with Juan de Cartagena for being implicated in the mutiny at Puerto San Julián. 
 
Conducted near the shores of the island, the Holy First Mass marked the birth of Roman
Catholicism in the Philippines.
 
Rajah Colambu and Siaiu were said to be among the first natives of the soon-to-be Spanish
colony to attend the mass among other Mazaua inhabitants, together with visitors from Butuan who
came with the entourage of Colambu, king of Butuan.
 
A Tridentine mass was held early morning of march 31 to commemorate the 488th First Mass
Celebration officiated by Father Joesello Amalia at Bood Promontory in Pinamanculan. The mass is in
pure latin re-enacting the first Mass officiated by Fr. Pedro Valderrama, chaplain of the Spanish
expedition team headed by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, on March 31, 1521. In his homily,
Father Amalla explained that Bood Promontory is not the exact site where the First Mass was held but
rather it is the site of commemoration of the thanksgiving mass happened in Mazzua.
VIEWPOINT/ARGUMENT

 Site of the First Mass, After 488 years Controversy Continues;

 488 years ago Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan "rediscovered" archipelago in March
1521 and made history. Little did he know that more than 400 years later, two places will
contest the site of the recorded First Mass in the Philippines, whether it was held in Limasawa
Island in southern Leyte or in Mazzua or Masao in Butuan. The controversy makes a mockery of
the Philippine history when Limasawa and Masao both commemorated the anniversary of the
recorded First Mass in respective places. The issue sparks when Dr. Gregorio Zaide and his
daughter, Sonia, in several editions during the 1980s of their widely-disseminated history
textbook, insisted that the recorded First Mass was held in Masao, Butuan and in the process,
dismissed the Limasawa claim as erroneous.

The First Mass controversy continues and historian experts have been called to intervene in its
hope to settle the dispute. Over the years, it came to a point when the National Historical
Institute, in a decision handed out a few years back, had ruled that the recorded First Mass in
the Philippines was indeed held in Limasawa Island.

However, the Butuan Cultural and Historical Foundation Incorporated would not rest the case
without putting up a good fight. Mr. Greg Hontiveros, a local historian who authored two books,
“Butuan in Thousand Years” and “A Fire on the Island” stressed, that it is only here in the
Philippines who legislates history that makes Republic Act 2733, AN ACT TO DECLARE THE SITE
IN MAGALLANES, LIMASAWA ISLAND IN THE PROVINCE OF LEYTE, WHERE THE FIRST MASS IN
THE PHILIPPINES WAS HELD AS A NATIONAL SHRINE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF
HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS a mistake committed by the government.

 Controversy has been generated regarding the holding of the first mass—whether it was held in
Limasawa, Leyte in Masao, Butuan City, in the hidden isle made up of barangays Pinamanculan
and Bancasi inside Butuan, in the latest discovered site in between Agusan del Sur and Surigao
del Sur, the small barangay of Barobo, or elsewhere. It is sure, however, that Ferdinand
Magellan did not drop anchor by the mouth of Agusan River in 1521 and hold mass to
commemorate the event which was held at Mazaua, an island separate from 1521 Butuan
which, in the geographical conception of Europeans who wrote about it, was a larger entity than
what it is now. Antonio Pigafetta who wrote an eyewitness account of Magellan's voyage
described in text and in map a Butuan that stretched from today's Surigao up to the top edge of
Zamboanga del Norte.
EVIDENCE OF MY RESOURCE USED TO SUPPORT MY VIEWPOINT/ARGUMENT

 Both Colin and Combes pictured Magellan as visiting both Butuan and Limasawa. Both Colin and
Combes agree that it was from Limasawa and with the help of Limasawa's chieftain that the
Magellan expedition went to Cebu.