Antonio Pigafetta, chronicler of the Magellan expedition, identified the

place as “Mazaua”

Early accounts- mainly by friars relying on available writings and on

tradition- reported the First Mass as being held in Butuan, Agusan del
Norte, specifically on an island called Masao.
In 1872, a marker was raised in Agusan, at the place where the first
mass was then believed to have been held.

Cons of R.Q. No.2733 = president Carlos P. Garcia did not sign the law
because he was not sure of the fact that ‘Mazaua’ in the Pigafetta Code
is really Limasawa.

One of these historians was Father Francisco Colin S.J. (1592-1660)

whose Labor evangelica was first published in Madrid in 1663, three
years after his death. The work was reissued 240 years later in a
magnificent three-volume edition annotated by Father Pablo Pastells
S.J. (Madrid, 1903). Here is Colin's account of Magellan's arrival and of
the first Mass: The important thing in Colin's account as far as our
present purpose is concerned, is the fact that he represents the first
Mass, as well as the solemn planting, of the cross and the formal taking
possession of the Islands in the name 'of the Crown of Castile, as having
taken place at Butuan on Easter Sunday of 1521.

This oppose to the book written Historia de Mindanao y Jolo written by

FranciscoCombes S.J. who worked as a missionary in the Philippines. He
stated that Magellanwent to Butuan because they heard the king
in Butuan is more powerful that theywanted to meet him. It was said
that their expectations were satisfied by the king. As aresult, they
planted a cross on a hill in a solemn ceremony as sign of future alliance.
InFrancisco Colin’s Work, the first mass occurred the same day they
planted a cross.

It was the American historian Emma Helen Blair and John Alexander
Robertson who claimed in 1909 that the island of Mazaua is the present
island of Limasawa without giving any explanation for the identification.

According to BCHFI ( Butuan city cultural and historical foundation inc.)

there are 28 gathered new pieces of scientific evidences and
comparison between the two island (masao and limasawa) 10 recovery
of Balanghai boat in 1076 near masao river.
Historian gregrorio zaide, who originally supported the limasawa,
claimed that “it is high time for contemporary historians and the
Philippine government to correct their mistake and accept the first
Christian mass was celebrated in Masao, Butan, Agusan del Norte and
not in Limasawa, leyte, on Easter Sunday, March 31,1521.

As a conclusion, we formulated and gathered data that we can prove

that the first mass dated and happened on easter Sunday march 21,
1521 at masao, butu is clearly the site where the first mass was held. I
is because historians,archaeologist were able to find credible artifacts
or visible evidences in Butuan which the limasawa isand did not contain
and not in limasawa, southern leyte.