Controversies and Conflicting

Views in Philippine History

CHAPTER 3
Why do we need to Study this?
• Many years ago, an NFO Trends Survey showed that only 37 percent of the 1,420
respondents aged 7 to 21 years old, were able to sing the Philippine National Anthem and
only 28 percent could recite the old version of "Panatang Makabayan." Of the many Filipino
heroes, they could only name up to 2 heroes - and other matters.

• The conclusion is that the Filipino youth, in general, had a “very shallow knowledge and
appreciation” of the country's history and cultural heritage.

• Every student in Philippine history should therefore be able to know, understand and
critically analyze various controversies and conflicting views because these may affect their
lives as Filipinos and citizens of contemporary society.
 Controversies and Conflicting Views
It has been said that the Philippines had "one past but many histories" is true in this case.
Different authors and writers of Philippine history books vary in their description of the
Philippine's physical features, its location, number of islands, land area, river systems,
mountains, site of the first mass, cry of Balintawak among others. With these conflicting views
in certain events and situations, they are subject for debate.

• In this next slide we will show you the following controversial issues of Philippine History.
Number of islands and islets in the
Philippines
 Different authors of history books had different views on the nu of
islands and islets. Here are the conflicting views on the number of is
and islets.
a) Molina - 7,083 islands
b) Agoncillo and Alfonso -7,000
c) Alip - 7,100
d) Zaide -7,083
e) Ariola - 7,100
Number of Named Islands and Unnamed
Islands
a) Agoncillo and Alfonso -3,000 named islands and 4,000 unnamed
islam
b) Alip - 2,773 named islands, the rest are still unnamed islands
c) Zaide - different data in his own books
1. Philippine History for Catholic Schools and the Republic of Philippines,
1963 -2,773 (named islands?)
2. Philippine Political and Cultural History, 1957 - 2,782 (named island?)
d) Gagelonia, The Filipino Historian -2,000 islands have been named
e) Google, Wikipedia - 5,000 islands are yet to be named.
Location of the Philippines
a) Zafra - Philippines is located about 700 miles or 1126.54 kms. from
the mainland of China
b) Molina - Philippines is located southeast of the Asiatic Mainland
c) Alip - Philippines lies about 700 miles or 1126.54 km to the
southeast of the Asia Mainland
d) Zaide - Philippines is a sprawling archipelago fringing the
southeastern rim of the Asian continent
Location of the Philippine Deep or
sometimes called
Philippine Trench, Mindanao Trench or Mindanao Deep. This is the
third deepest in the world which is located on the east of the
Philippines. Its length is 1,320 km (820 miles) and a width of about 30
km (19 miles). This is located in Luzon trending southeast to the
northern Maluku Island of Haimahera Indonesia. Galathea Depth, its
deepest point has a depth of 10,540 meters (5,760 fathoms; 34,580
feet)
a. Molina - Philippine Deep or Philippine Trench which is found east of
Mindanao is the second lowest region of the earth
b. Zaide - It is the lowest region in the world, an ocean depth east of Mindanao
(cited in his book, Philippine History for Catholic High Schools)
Location of the Philippine Deep or
sometimes called
c) Zaide - It is the lowest part of the Earth situated about 15 miles
(24,1420kms) Northeast of Mindanao. It is 34,218 feet (10,429646 kms)
below sea level. (cited in his book Philippine Political and Cultural
History)
d) Zaide - It is the second lowest place in the world and is located 72.4205 kms
(45 miles) east of Northern Mindanao. It is 35,400 feet or 10,78992 kms
deep (cited in his book Philippine History)
e) Agoncillo - It is the second deepest sea in the world which is located east of
Mindanao and with a depth of 35,440 feet (10.802.122 kms)
f) Google - The Philippine Deep Sea has a depth of 34,580 feet or 10.539984
kilometers
Longest River in the World
Fact: The largest, longest, and widest river in the Philippines is the
Cagayan River or Rio Grande de Cagayan. It is located in the
Northeastern part of Luzon that traverses the provinces of Nueva
Vizcaya Quirino, Isabela and Cagayan. Small streams that originates
from Balete Pass, Cordillera, Caraballo and Sierra Mountains meet other
streams and rivers and flow to the Cagayan River.
The Rio Grande de Mindanao or Mindanao River is the second largest
river located on the southern part of Mindanao. It has a length of 373
kilometers (232 meters). Its headwaters are in the mountains of
Impasugong, Bukidnon, south of Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental,
what it is called the Pulangi River joining the Kabacan River where it
becomes the Mindanao River.
Longest River in the World
Disagreement Among the Authors of Philippine History
a) Alip - Cagayan River is the longest river in the Philippines
b) Molina - Rio Grande de Mindanao is the longest river in the Philippines
c) Benitez - Rio Grande de Mindanao is the longest river in our country
d) Zaide - The longest river is the Rio de Mindanao (cited in his book
Philippine History for Elementary Schools)
e) Zaide - The longest river is the Rio de Mindanao (cited in his book
Philippine History for High Schools)
f) Google - Rio Grande de Cagayan is the longest and widest river in the
Philippines whereas, Rio Grande de Mindanao or Mindanao River is the
country's second largest river system with a length of 373 kilometers 6.
Straits
It is a naturally formed, narrow but navigable waterway that connects
two larger bodies of water.
Disagreements among Authors in Philippine History as to the number of
straits in the Philippines
a) Molina - There are 8 landlock straits in the Philippines
b) Agoncillo - There are 20 landlock straits
c) Zaide - There are 8 landlock straits
d) Google - There are 22 straits
Coastline
It is also called seashore where land meets the sea or Ocean or a line
that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean, sea, or lake.
Disagreements among the Authors
a) Zaide - The Philippines coastline is thrice longer than the U.S. coastline
with 10,850 statute miles or 17, 461,382 statute kilometers
b) Molina - The Philippines coastline is 11,446 statute miles or 18,470,605
statute kilometers
c) Alip - The Philippines coastline is nearly 11,000 miles or 17,702,784
kilometers
d) Benitez - The Philippines coastline is 11,440 statute miles or 18,419,895
statute kilometers
Mountains
Mt. Apo is the highest mountain in the Philippines but historians
disagree or differ in their data on the height of Mt. Apo.
Agoncillo - Mount Apo is 9,600 feet or 2.92608 kilometers high
Alip - Mount Apo is 9,699 feet or 2.956 plus kilometers high
Zaide - Mount Apo is 9,690 feet or 2.9535 kilometers high
Google - Mount Apo is 2,954 kilometers high
Mount Pulag
or sometimes called as Mount Pulog is the third highest mountain in the
Philippines and Luzon's highest peak at 2.922 meters above sea level. It
borders between the province of Benguet, Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya:
a) Agoncillo - Mount Pulag is the second highest peak in Luzon with 8,481
b) feet (2.585009 kms) high
c) Alip - Mt. Pulag is 9,606 feet high (2.927 kms) high
d) Google - Mt. Pulag is 2.9222 kilometers high
- second highest mountain is Mt. Dulong-Dulong with a peak of
2,936 meters. The fourth is Mt. Kitanglad Ranges 2899
meters) with Mt. Piapayungan Range (2,890 meters)
 SITE OF THE FIRST MASS
• Decades after the debate on where the Catholic mass in the Philippines
took place has remained unsolved, local Butuan historians asked the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to resolve the
first mass controversy in the city's favor (Macarinas, 2012). Local
historians in Butuan believed that the first site of the Catholic mass
took place in Mazawa, a place in Butuan now called Masao not in
Limasawa Island in Leyte as stated in history books.
 SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

OR

Masao, Butuan
Limasawa, Leyte
 SITE OF THE FIRST MASS
• Local Historian and president of the Butuan City Heritage Society –
Greg Hontiveros said the “honor” belongs to the city of Butuan and
not in Leyte.
• In what proof?
a) March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday, Friar Pedro Valderrama celebrated mass
with Ferdinand Magellan
b) During the mass they harvested rice for 2 days, Limasawa is not an
agricultural area, not unlike Masao where they harvested the rice
c) Yale Codex that Pigafetta presented about Magellan’s voyage
d) First Catholic site was held somewhere in Butuan – Joelito Monzon Ramirez
Jr., historian and writer.
e) In 1667, the ‘Limasawa’ was named from Gatighan island, yet Magellan
never landed in Gatighan island.
 THE CRY OF BALINTAWAK
• Cry of Balintawak or Cry of Pugad Lawin, where did Andres
Bonifacio “Cry”? The Cry of Balintawak is a contrived controversy.
For nearly a century, The main focus of controversy the date and place
of Bonifacio Cry. There were five dates for the Cry - August
20,23,24,25, and 26 and five different venues for the first cry:
Balintawak, Pugadlawin Kangkong, Bahay-Toro and Pasong Tamo.
• Originally the term cry referred to the first clash between the
Katipuneros and the Civil Guards (Guardia Civil). The cry could also
refer to the tearing up of community tax certificates (cédulas
personales) in defiance of their allegiance to Spain.
 THE CRY OF BALINTAWAK
• Cry of Balintawak or Cry of Pugad Lawin, where did
Andres Bonifacio “Cry”? The Cry of Balintawak is a
contrived controversy. For nearly a century, The main focus
of controversy the date and place of Bonifacio Cry. There
were five dates for the Cry - August 20,23,24,25, and 26
and five different venues for the first cry: Balintawak,
Pugadlawin Kangkong, Bahay-Toro and Pasong Tamo.
• Originally the term cry referred to the first clash between
the Katipuneros and the Civil Guards (Guardia Civil). The
cry could also refer to the tearing up of community tax
certificates (cédulas personales) in defiance of their
allegiance to Spain.
 THE CAVITE MUTINY CONTROVERSY
• Jose Rizal dedicated his novel "El Filibusterismo" to the three priests, Mariano
Gomez, 85 years old, Jose Burgos, 30 and Jacinto Zamora, 35 who were executed at
Bagumbayan Field in the morning of February 17,1872 (Ariola, 2012; Agoncillo, 2010
and Zaide, 2004). The three priests were summarily tried and sentenced to death by
the garrote for being linked as instigators of the Cavite Arsenal Revolt of January
20,1872. The three priests were very active in the secularization (or nationalization)
of the clergy (Nuguid, 2012).
• On February 15, 1872, the Spanish colonial authorities sentenced three martyr
Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora to death by garrote at
Bagumbayan, Philippines and charged with treason and sedition, and subversion.
Two days after their verdict, they were executed. The charges against Fathers Gomez,
Burgos and Zamora was their alleged complicity in the uprising of workers at the
Cavite Naval Yard. It was believed by Governor Rafael Izquierdo that the Filipinos will
create its own government and allegedly, the three priests were nominated as the
leader of the planned government in order to break free of the Spanish government.
 THE CAVITE MUTINY CONTROVERSY
• Jose Rizal dedicated his novel "El Filibusterismo" to the three priests,
Mariano Gomez, 85 years old, Jose Burgos, 30 and Jacinto Zamora, 35
who were executed at Bagumbayan Field in the morning of February
17,1872 (Ariola, 2012; Agoncillo, 2010 and Zaide, 2004). The three
priests were summarily tried and sentenced to death by the garrote
for being linked as instigators of the Cavite Arsenal Revolt of January
20,1872. The three priests were very active in the secularization (or
nationalization) of the clergy (Nuguid, 2012).
• On February 15, 1872, the Spanish colonial authorities sentenced
three martyr Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora
to death by garrote at Bagumbayan, Philippines and charged with
treason and sedition, and subversion. Two days after their verdict,
they were executed. The charges against Fathers Gomez, Burgos and
Zamora was their alleged complicity in the uprising of workers at the
Cavite Naval Yard. It was believed by Governor Rafael Izquierdo that
the Filipinos will create its own government and allegedly, the three
priests were nominated as the leader of the planned government in
order to break free of the Spanish government.
 THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL FLAG
• Before the 1896 revolution, the Filipinos had no common flag. It was only on the height of
revolution that started to exist. The Katipunan generals designed different flags to signify the
unit or battalion where they belong. But, the flags that they created cannot be called as a
national flag.
 PHILIPPINE FLAG WAS BANNED
• When Americans took over the Philippines in 1898, mutual distrust among the Filipinos
and Americans started. This prompted the Philippine Commission to enact the Flag Law of
1907 that forbade the filipinos to use or display the Philippine Flag anywhere, even inside
Filipino homes.
• Several efforts were done by Filipino legislators to repeal the law, but to no avail. In 1919.
Senator Rafael Palma sponsored the Senate Bill No. 1, a bill repealing the Flag Law of
1907 following Gov. Gen. Francis Harrison's recommendation that the law should be
repealed since the distrust between the Filipinos and the Americans no longer exists. On
24 October 1919, Act No. 2871 was approved and signed by Gen. Harrison; thus, the
Flag Law of 1907 was repealed.
 INCLUSION OF A 9TH RAY OR
CRESCENT IN THE FLAG
• In the early part of 1970, appeals for the inclusion of an additional ray or a crescent
in the Philippine flag created another issue.
• House Bill No.7725 sponsored by Rep. Sultan Omar Dianalan of the 1st District of
Lanao del Sur petitioned for the addition of 9th ray in the rays of the sun in the
Philippine flag to symbolize the Moslems and the cultural minorities who fought the
Spaniards and waged war against them.
• Other groups proposed that a crescent be placed beside the sun as a form of tribute to
the pre-colonial past.
• However, historians, headed by Teodoro Agoncillo singled out that when Aguinaldo
himself designed the flag, he had in his mind the eight provinces which rise in arms
against Spain during the Philippine Revolution namely: Manila, Cavite, Bulacan,
Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna and Batangas. He also pointed out that one
of the three stars in the flag already represents the Moslem and the Moslem lands.
 THE BLUE COLOR OF THE FLAG
• In the interview, Aguinaldo specified that the blue the flag is "bughaw" neither azul
oscuro nor azul marino.
• Nonetheless, numerous personalities maintained that the color of the flag is navy
blue or dark blue. The daughter of the flag-maker also named Marcela Agoncillo
believed that it was not sky blue or light blue but dark blue.
• Meanwhile, Arturo Tolentino raised that the flag that was used and adopted by the
1935 and the 1973 Constitution, which was colored dark blue should be maintained
because it was the one which was "consecrated and honored by the people" and the
change of its color or shade is a violation of law.
• On 25 February 1985, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Executive Order No. 1010
which changed dark blue to a lighter shade, lighter than navy blue but darker than
sky blue or azure which is the basis of the true shade of blue in the Philippine flag.
 WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL FLAG?
• In his letter to Captain Baja dated 11 June 1925, Aguinaldo mentioned
that in their Northward retreat during the Filipino-American War, the
original flag was lost somewhere in Tayug, Pangasinan.
• Some people believed that the original flag that was hoisted during the
proclamation of independence on 12 June 1898 was the one stored in
the Aguinaldo Museum at Baguio City. It cannot be denied that the
said flag was authentic and a contemporary of the original flag but
experts found out that its materials was made of combined silk and
cotton fabric, not fine silk as stated by the flag-maker herself in
"Philippine Herald" published in October 1929.
• There were also reports that the first original flag of the Philippines
was returned in July 1957 by US Ambassador Charles E. Bohlen.
 WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL FLAG?
• Every year, the Filipino people celebrate the Flag Day to pay respect
to the existing Philippine Flag. Controversies concerning the
Philippine Flag in the past should not be a hindrance on how every
Filipino citizens should look up to the flag. No matter what happens to
this flag, the Philippine national flag is the unifying symbol of all
Filipinos and this is the same flag that the revolutionaries served in
war and in peace.
• In short, the Philippine flag symbolized the Filipinos as one nation and
as a people.
 WHO IS GENERAL LUNA?
• Antonio Narciso Luna de San Pedro y Novicio
Ancheta was a Filipino army general who fought
in the Spanish–American War, Philippine
Revolution, and Philippine–American War before
his assassination in 1899.
• Antonio Luna is known as one of the greatest, if
not the greatest, Filipino general.
• Because of his bravery, Luna was named director
of War on September 26, 1898. He became famous
for bravery, unusual style of fighting, and strict
discipline. At the age of 31, he was shot dead on
June 5, 1899 in Cabanatuan City in an attack led
by a disgruntled Filipino Sergeant.
 ANTONIO LUNA’S ASSASSINATION
• Who really ordered Luna's murder? Is Aguinaldo a hero or a traitor?
• History books blamed Aguinaldo as the mastermind in the death of General Antonio Luna. Luna suffered
over 30 wounds from bolos, bayonets, and bullets. Was the death of Luna under the command and order of
Aguinaldo?
1. General Antonio Luna was assassinated by the order of Aguinaldo. He was stabbed to death by a guard selected by
Aguinaldo to kill him. General Otis – the American Governor-General, has an authentic information about the
death of the “insurgent general.”
2. Another information that Ney, A guard of Aguinaldo purposely insulted Luna to forced a quarrel by the order of
Aguinaldo. Luna was shot before Ney stabbed him.
3. Pedro Paterno, one of the Filipino leaders believed that Aguinaldo ordered the killing of Luna. The assassination,
he recalled, was similar to the fate of Bonifacio in Cavite province. Both Luna and Bonifacio were rivals of
Aguinaldo for the leadership of the Filipinos.
 ANTONIO LUNA’S ASSASSINATION
4. General Luna was exceedingly unpopular among the Filipino troops on account of his stubborn and dictatorial
manners, and very little regret was expressed at his death. Luna and Aguinaldo were unable to agree as to the
manner of conducting the campaign against the Spanish authorities and it is said that Aguinaldo was afraid he would
be assassinated by Luna's orders.
On the other hand, those who believed that it was not Aguinaldo who ordered the death of Luna, but it was Luna's fault and
men who assassinated him expressed the following views:
a) Emilio “Jun” Abaya, great grandson of Aguinaldo defended his great grandfather that Aguinaldo didn’t order to
kill Antonio Luna.
b) Professor Xiao Chua of De La Salle University noted that there is no valid evidence to support the claims that
Aguinaldo had Luna killed. Pedro Janolino, Aguinaldo’s men from Kawit who was one of the people who killed
Luna.
c) Antonio Abad interviewed Pedro Janolino and said that he killed Luna by self-defense, and he said;
“When Antonio Luna was coming downstairs, Nakita nya na galit na galit si Luna. ‘Sino nagpaputok?’ asked Luna.”
According to the interview with Janolino, Janolino was afraid that Luna might kill him and his men that they had to kill him
first.
 IS AGUINALDO STILL BE CONSIDERED
A HERO OR A TRAITOR?
• It is not easy to dismiss Aguinaldo's role in Philippine history given the
controversies surrounding his leadership. If one looked at it, he has roles in the
making of the Philippine flag, the production of the national anthem, and his role
in the revolution against the Spaniards and Americans. But just like other men, he
had also some mistake, and the mistakes must be taught and analyzed by every
Filipino. Let us learn from the mistakes of Aguinaldo.
• It is dangerous to make conclusions based only on the movies. Every young
Filipinos must revisit the primary source to say that Aguinaldo is a hero or a
traitor after critically analyzing and evaluating the primary source of primary
document, instead of just basing the conclusions from the movies.
• Professor Chua finally explained that he does not personally consider Aguinaldo a
hero. "I consider him a great Filipino, not a hero“.
 RIZAL RETRACTION CONTROVERSY
• Rizal's retraction letter was discovered by Father Manuel Garcia, C.M
in 1935. The retraction letter dated December 29, 1896 was said to
have been signed by Rizal himself.
• The first version: “I declare myself a Catholic and in this religion in which I was born and
educated. I wish to live and die. I retract with all my heart whatever in my words, writings, publications,
and conduct has been contrary to my character as son of the Catholic Church."
• The second version: "I retract with all my heart whatsoever in my words, writings, publications,
and conduct have been contrary to my character as a son of the Catholic Church.”
CONCLUDING STATEMENT ON RIZAL'S
CONTROVERSIAL RETRACTION
• Whether Rizal signed a retraction or not, Rizal is still Rizal. It did not diminish his stature as a
great patriot, the hero who courted death "to prove to those who deny our patriotism that we
know how to die for our duty and our beliefs." (Jose Diokno's statement).
• Rizal's retraction or not did not change the fact that his works and writings began the “wheel of
change” in the Philippine colonial society - a change that led to the Philippine Independence.
The retraction is just one aspect of the life, works, and writings of Rizal (Jose Victor Torres).
• Torres noted that the controversy in Rizal’s retraction is irrelevant today. The way Rizal is taught
today, the retraction means nothing at all, Torres added.
By Shawn Fernandez, Rona Cendaña, and Sunshine Carreon
QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS