A.

Site of the First Mass in the Philippines

The site of the first mass in the Philippines is a long debated issue. Most of the sources are
arguing about the 2 possible places, from which they lay down their evidences.
One group of interpretations argues that it was first celebrated in the Limasawa Island which can
be found in the south of Leyte, and the other tells us that it was Masao in Butuan where the first
mass of the Philippines was performed. But one thing is for sure, that it was celebrated in the
Philippines in March 31, year 1521.
They were many sources or writers that have tried explaining the voyage of Magellan. There
were two main primary source for this topic, which are the accounts of Antonio Pigafetta, and
Francisco Albo. In summary, Albo’s account told us only about the location from where
Magellan and his crews put up a cross on top of a hill and it did not mention about the first mass
or a celebration of the mass. However, the location or the place of “Mazava” matches with the
location of the Limasawa Island at the Southern part of Leyte.
While, in Pigafetta’s day-by-day account, tells us that the first mass happened in “Mazaua” and
from where they planted a cross on top of the highest hill. However, Pigafetta’s account
mentioned about the presence of both the king of Mazaua and the king of Butuan in both events.
This presence of the king of Butuan however, were one of the reason why some believed that the
first mass was celebrated in Butuan.
Futhermore, there were missed information and/or misinterpretations of many historians such as
the accounts of Fr. Francisco Colin S.J(secondary source). from which he understood that it was
in Butuan, where the first mass was celebrated.
It was later concluded that Butuan cannot be the site of the first mass due to the lack of reasons,
due to the argument that the beach of Masao in Butuan is located in the delta of Agusan River,
which was the key feature of Butuan yet both primary accounts of Albo and Pigafetta did not
mention a river on that time. And so, in conclusion, the island of Limasawa was acknowledged
to be the site of the first mass celebrated in the Philippines.
The importance of this in the Philippine history is not so much, since in my opinion, the most
important contribution of this event was when it was celebrated, because it directly marks when
the Christianity started in the Philippines, and it contributed to the reimagining of what was it
like before the battle in Mactan occurred, and what were the few observable traits of early
Filipinos, other than that, it does not have any more essential facts but still, it holds a significant
value for the Philippine history.
Here is a secondary source of this summary:
"The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines: A Reexamination of Evidence"
Vol.5, No.36.1 (2002) Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture
Ateneo de Manila University
B. The Cavite Mutiny
It was a controversial event in the Philippines in the year 1872, it was a failed revolt against the
Spaniard, which resulted to the martyrdom of Fr. Gomez, Fr. Burgos, and Fr. Zamora, which was
later nicknamed GOMBURZA. The event started when the Cavitenos mistook a fireworks
display to be a signal to attack the arsenal, they successfully attacked the arsenal but General
Izquerdo called for Spaniard backups, but the Manilenos that were expected by the Cavitenos to
help them did not arrive, which led to the killing, imprisonment and exilation of many involved
Filipinos. This event has multiple claims for why this event happened, there are Spanish accounts
and Filipino accounts.
In the account of Jose Montero y Vidal (primary source), he deliberately told us that the cause of
the mutiny was because of the abolishment of Filipino laborer’s privileges of the Cavite arsenal
and that it was done to overthrow the whole Spanish government with the support of the native
clergy or the GOMBURZA. He also mentioned that the Filipinos are organizing meetings with
the curate of Bacoor, the soul of the movement, and that Padre Zamora would sometimes hold
the meeting in his house.
While the official report of General Izquerdo (primary source), reports that the native clergy,
native lawyers and mestizos are the ones who motivated and prepared the revolt. It was to carry
out a protest for the injustice of the government for not paying them in right amounts for their
tobacco crops and for the removal of the privileges of those in Cavite arsenal.
However, in Pardo de tavera’s account (primary source), the mutiny or the revolt was only
initiated by the laborers with the aim to set a protest for the suppression of certain privileges of
Filipinos and the unjust governance of General Izquerda. And that the event was used by the
Spaniards and friars to threat or to level the Filipinos in resisting their government. He
mentioned that the Filipino has no intention of seccesion from Spain, and only wanted to secure
the material and educational advancement of the country. Furthermore, there are many other
primary and secondary sources that were used in supporting both the Spanish and Filipino
accounts.
The significance of this event in the Philippine History in my opinion, was that it shows how
some Spaniards and friars can bully us, Filipinos, in that time and it also shows what early
Cavitenos can do to fight for their equal rights. It also serves as an essential fuel to the
condensing fire of independency of the Philippines.
Here is a secondary source of this summary:
Documentary sources of Philippine history vol. 7/ compiled, edited, and annotated by Gregorio
F. Zaide ; additional notes by Sonia M. Zaide
C. The retraction of Rizal
It was a controversial issue because there were claims that Jose Rizal withdrawn his attacks to
the friars and to the Catholic Church. And in 1935, 40 years after Rizal's death the original letter
of Jose Rizal before his death was published by Fr. Manuel Garcia (primary source). It was
mentioned that Rizal declared to be a catholic and he retract his doings contrary to being a
catholic with all his heart. He also told that he hates masonry and he asks that this letter be
release to the public as a form of apology to God and to the people.
However, before the original letter was found there were accounts of Fr. Vicente Balaguer
(primary source), that supported the retraction of Rizal, but it was inferred by some that it was
not authentic enough to be widely accepted because of the limited witness it mentioned. And it
was a very biased or one sided version of the letter of Rizal.
On the day before Rizal was killed there were also eye witnesses’ accounts (Chua, 2016)
(primary source) which narrates what happened before and after Rizal proceeded to death row. In
summary, it mentioned that Rizal was discussing religious matters to Fr. March and Fr.
Vilaclara, that seem to have prepared a retraction on his life and deeds. At 3 in the afternoon,
Rizal handed his letter to father March. The next day, at 5 of the morning it was mentioned that
the lover of Rizal arrived and performed their nuptials, afterwards her lover embraced him and
left with tears.
In my opinion, the relevance of this issue to the Philippine history is that it could probably leave
a stain to Rizal’s heroism because if this were true, it could mean that all his claims against the
Spaniards or Catholicism were not true, on the other hand it is much better to state that it will not
blemish his heroism because the work was already done, he already gave birth to the idea of
revolution to Filipinos which caused or initiated Filipinos like Bonifacio to take action against
Spaniard colonialism, which later resulted to the independence of the Philippines.
D. Cry of Balintawak
The Cry Balintawak or Pugad Lawin? It was a very momentous event in the Philippines, for it is
the start of the armed Philippine revolution against the Spaniard. It includes the famous event of
the tearing off the sedula/cedula of the Katipuneros and their shout for freedom.
There were many different versions of documents or accounts which supported the two claims,
which lead to a confusion, to where do the first cry of revolution started. According to the
account of Pio Valenzuela (primary source), one of the surviving of the Cry of Pugad Lawin, he
first said that the cry was held in Balintawak on August 26, 1896, but he later wrote and claimed
the cry was held at Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896.
Another account of Santiago Alvarez (primary source), which was not an eye witness wrote that
it happen in between August 23 and 24 at the barn of Kabesang Melchora located at
Sampalukan, Barrio of bahay Toro.
While, According to account of Gregoria de Jesus (primary source), founder and vice-president
of the women's chapter of the Katipunan. Her version told us that the first cry took place on
August 25, 1896 at a place near Caloocan.
But according to the account Guillermo Masangkay (primary source), a friend and adviser of
Andres Bonifacio. He told us that the first cry of revolution happened in Balintawak, at the house
of Apolonio Samson, on August 26, 1896. He also claimed that the cedulas were torn on both
August 24 and August 26.
In conclusion, there were different places and dates from which the first cry of revolution
happened, but there was only 2 set of main place and date, that were widely accepted, on August
23 at the Pugad Lawin and at the Balintawak in August 26, 1896
In my opinion, as my answer is influenced by different opinions to the question whether it
happened in Balintawak or in Pugad Lawin, regardless of the exact place or date, it is a very
essential phenomenon in the Philippine history as it marks the date and/or the place, and the
people who were behind the initiation of our fight for our independency. I was also persuaded by
the opinion I found on the internet that the exact date and place of the cry of revolution was
designed maybe to confuse the Spaniards of the Katipunero’s plan of revolt.

Submitted by: Hanreich Lowis V. Cheng