Readings in

Philippine History
 Controversies and
Conflicting Views in
Philippine
History
Prepared By:

Praxedes R. Barles, LPT

THE PHILIPPINE
PHYSICAL
FEATURES
Pepito M. Capito prepared a list of
controversial issues in Philippine
history. He got the information from
the book of Pedro A. Gugelonca who
happened to be the author's history
professor in FEU
 Number of islands and
islets in the Philippines

(a) Molina-7,083 islands

(b) Agoncillo and Alfonso-7,000
islands
(c) Alip-7,108 islands
(d.) Zaide-7,083 islands
 Number of named islands
and unnamed islands
Agoncillo and Filipino
Alfonso Histories

3,000 named ALIP 2,000 islands

4,000 have been
unnamed 2,773 named named.
the rest are
still
unnamed
 Number of named islands
and unnamed islands
zaide
o r y f o r Google,
Phil ipp i ne H is t
h e Wikipedia
c S c h o o ls a n d t
Catholi
t h e P h i li p p in e s ,
Republic of 5 islands are
1 9 6 3 -2 , yet to be
p i n e P o l it i c a l a n d
Philip named
lt u r a l H i s t o r y 1 9 5 7 -
Cu
2,782
 Location of the Philippines

MOLINA
ZAFRA

located about 700 located southeast

miles or 1126 km of its Asiatic
from the mainland mainland.
of Asia.
 Location of the Philippines

ZAIDE
ALIP

a sprawling
lies 700 miles or archipelago fringing
1126 km to the the southeastern rim
southeast of the Asian
of the Asia Continent.
mainland.
 Location of the Philippine Deep

 third deepest in the world which is

located on the coast of the Philippines
 Its length is 1,320 km (820 miles)
 width of about 30 km (19 miles)
 located in Luzon Trending southeast to
the northern Malubes Island of
Halmahera, Indonesia
 Galatea Depth, its deepest point, has a
depth of 10,540 meters (5 fathoms:
34,580 feet).
 Location of the Philippine Deep
formed east of Mindanao is the second
lowest MOLINA
region of the earth.
the second deepest sea in the world which is
Agoncillo located on the coast of Mindanao and with a
depth of 35,440 (10 km).

has a depth of 34,580 feet or 10 kilometers. Google

 Location of the Philippine Deep
lowest region in the world, an ocean depth east of
Mindanao (cited in his book Philippine History for
Z Catholic High Schools)
a It is the lowest part of the earth situated about
15 miles (24 km) northeast of Mindanao. It is
i 34,218 feet (10-46 km) below sea level (cited in
his book Philippine Political and Cultural
d History).
second lowest place in the world and is located 72
e km (45 miles) east of Northern Mindanao. It is
35,400 feet or 10 km deep (cited in his book
Philippine History)
 Longest river in the world

Cagayan River or
Rio Grande de Cagayan
 Longest river in the world
MOLINA Benitez
ALIP
Zaide
google

Cagayan River Rio Grande de

is the longest Mindanao is the
river in the longest river in the
Philippines. Philippines.
 Straits

It is naturally
formed, narrow but
navigable waterway
that connects two
larger bodies of
Molina – There are 8 land lock straits in the
Philippines water.
Agoncillo – There are 20 land lock straits.
Zaide – There are 8 land lock straits.
Google – There are 22 straits.
 Straits

It is naturally
formed, narrow but
navigable waterway
that connects two
larger bodies of
Molina – There are 8 land lock straits in the
Philippines water.
Agoncillo – There are 20 land lock straits.
Zaide – There are 8 land lock straits.
Google – There are 22 straits.
 Straits

It is naturally
formed, narrow but
navigable waterway
that connects two
larger bodies of
Molina – There are 8 land lock straits in the
Philippines water.
Agoncillo – There are 20 land lock straits.
Zaide – There are 8 land lock straits.
Google – There are 22 straits.
 Straits

It is naturally
formed, narrow but
navigable waterway
that connects two
larger bodies of
Molina – There are 8 land lock straits in the
Philippines water.
Agoncillo – There are 20 land lock straits.
Zaide – There are 8 land lock straits.
Google – There are 22 straits.
 Coastline
 also called seashore where land meets the sea or
ocean
 a line that forms the boundary between the
land and the ocean, sea, or lake
 coastline

zaide
molina
i ppi ne s c o a s t li ne
The Phil is
c o a s t li ne
is thrice longer The Phi l i pp ine s
n t he U . S. c o a s t li n e nearly
tha
with 10,850 statute 11,446 statute miles.
miles.
Mount Pulag or sometimes called Mount Pulog

 the third highest mountain in

the Philippines
 Luzon's highest peak at 2,922
meters above sea level
 It borders between the
province of Benguet, Ifugao
and Nueva Viscaya.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

an explanation or
establishment of the meaning
or significance of something
that happened in the past
 CONTEXT ANALYSIS
(a) the historical context of the
source
(b) the author’s background,
intent and
authority on the subject
(c) the source’s relevance and
SITE OF THE
FIRST MASS
Where did the first Catholic
Mass take place in the
Philippines?
March 31, 1521 (Easter
Sunday)
First Catholic mass in
the Philippines

Pedro de Valderrama
 PRIMARY SOURCE
The First Voyage Around the
World, translated from the
accounts of Antonio Pigafetta
accompanied by original
documents, with notes and an
introduction by Lord Stanley of
Alderley.
 ANTONIO PIGAFETTA
 the principal chronicler of the
Magellan-Elcano expedition that
became the first to circumnavigate
the globe in 1519–1522.
 An Italian scholar-turned explorer,
Pigafetta was among the 18 crew
members who survived the journey
and returned to Spain aboard the
nao Victoria, then led by Juan
Sebastián Elcano, on Sept. 6, 1522
(at Sanlúcar de Barrameda).
 ANTONIO PIGAFETTA
Pigafetta’s journal is the
source of most our knowledge
of the Magellan-Elcano
expedition, as well as the
discovery of the Strait of
Magellan, that first crossing
of the Pacific Ocean, and the
“discovery” of the
Philippines.
 MAIN ISSUE

The questions about where the

first mass happened in the
Philippines came from the
dichotomy of understanding of
“Mazaua” based on the accounts
of Pigafetta.
 Limasawa or
Masao, Butuan ?
 FR. JOSELO AMALLA

• curator of Butuan Diocesan

Liturgical Museum
• Butuan
• Yale Codex - Ambrosiana
Codex
• versions of Antonio
Pigafetta, Magellan's
voyage chronicles
 AMBROSIANA CODEX
 the first transcription by Carlo
Amoretti, 1800, is seen by scholars
as defective because of liberties
taken with Pigafetta’s text
 the most critical in the making of
Magellan’s port into Limasawa, the
isle believed to be Mazaua
 The Ambrosian is written in 16th
century chirography, certain
indecipherable words have caused
AMBROSIANA CODEX

=
Mazaua with a circumference of 3-4
leguas (9-12 nautical miles) has an
area of from 2,213 to 3,930 hectares
 AMBROSIANA CODEX
The Limasawa hypothesis asserts the Leyte isle
is the equal of Magellan’s port, Mazaua. That
is, they are identical: perfect, exact, total equal
of one another. In terms of size Limasawa’s 698
hectares ill fit Mazaua’s area of 2213 to 3930
hectares converted from Ginés de Mafra’s
estimate of its 3-4 leguas circumference, A list of
32 Mazaua properties shows in no instance do
the two coincide.
YALE CODEX
Map of “Cap. de Gatighan”
with Mazaua at top right hand
corner. Orientation is south-
north against today’s north-
south convention. Mazaua’s
location is southeast of Bohol.
Note isle sandwiched between
Ceilon (Panaón) and Bohol.
 YALE CODEX
In today’s map this isle is
identified as Limasawa. By
wrongly classifying Ceilon as
Leyte historians have
misappreciated the tracks
drawn by Pigafetta and Albo.
R.A. Skelton, Donald F. Lach,
and Theodore J. Cachey have
correctly identified it as Panaón.
This map is taken from the
Mario Pozzi edition of the
Ambrosiana.
 YALE CODEX

Pigafetta’s map of Mazaua

(upper right hand corner) in
the French Nancy-Libri-
Phillipps-Beinecke-Yale
codex, one of three French
extant manuscripts of
Antonio Pigafetta’s account
of the first circumnavigation.
 YALE CODEX
Mazaua (upper right hand corner) in
French MS. 24224, one of two extant
manuscripts in the possession of
Bibliotheque Nationale and the only one
unpublished still. Note houses on “stilts”
facing cove and cross west of Mazaua
indicating location where Magellan’s
fleet anchored. None of these features
are seen in Robertson’s and Bernad’s
maps.
The map shown here has not been
 YALE CODEX
. Map of Cap. de Gatighan with Mazaua
at top right hand corner. This black and
white facsimile map in Antonio
Pigafetta’s Ms. 5650 on page 112 of Jean
Denucé’s edition Relation du premier
voyage autour du monde par Magellan
1519-1522 corroborates map found in
the Nancy-Yale codex where a cross is
shown west of Mazaua. (Pigafetta's
maps
are oriented south-north) This cross
substantiates Ginés de Mafra’s
 DR. ANTONIO
SANCHEZ DE MORA
an expert on Spanish
medieval history and
head of the reference
service at the Archivo
General de Indias in
Seville, Spain
 Mora grouped his sources into four:

 documents written during Ferdinand

Magellan’s historic
expedition around the world;
 reports and testimonies of the survivors who
managed to
make it back to Europe; chronicles and other
primary
sources by authors who interviewed the
 Mora grouped his sources into four:

 secondary sources that years

later
interpreted the information
provided by
the primary sources
 the testimonies transmitted
 The commission concluded that the First Mass was
held in Limasawa after it found that:

 The most complete and reliable account of

the Magellan expedition into Philippine
shores in 1521 is that of Antonio Pigafetta
which is deemed as the only credible
primary source of reports on the
celebration of the first Christian Mass on
Philippine soil.
 James Robertson's English
translation of the original Italian
manuscript of Pigaffeta's account is
most reliable for being ''faithful'' to
the original text as duly certified by
the University of the Philippines'
Department of European
Language.
 The most complete and reliable
account of the Magellan
expedition into Philippine shores
in 1521 is that of Antonio Pigafetta
which is deemed as the only
credible primary source of reports
on the celebration of the first
Christian Mass on Philippine soil.
 Pigafetta's Mazaua, the site of the first
Christian Mass held on Philippine soil, is
an island lying off the southwestern tip of
Leyte while Masao in Butuan is not an
island but a barangay of Butuan City
located in a delta of the Agusan River
along the coast of Northern Mindanao.
The position of Mazaua, as plotted by
Pigafetta, matched that of Limasawa.
 The measurement of distances
between Homonhon and Limasawa
between Limasawa and Cebu, as
computed by the pro-Limasawa
group, matches or approximates the
delineations made by Pigafetta of the
distances between Homonhon and
Mazaua and between Mazaua and
Cebu.
 Magellan's fleet took a route from
Homonhon to Mazaua and from
Mazaua to Cebu that did not at any
time touch Butuan or any other part
of Mindanao. The docking facilities
at Limasawa did not pose any
problem for Magellan's fleet which
anchored near or at some safe
distance from the island of the
 The National Historical Commission of the
Philippines said it has adopted a report submitted
by a panel of scholars who reviewed the supposed
site of the celebration of the 1521 Easter Sunday
Mass.
 In a statement released on Aug. 19, the
commission declared that the celebration of the
Holy Eucharist was held on the island of
Limasawa in the present province of Southern
Leyte in the central Philippines.
 The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines has adopted a government study
identifying the island of Limasawa in the
central Philippines as the site of the first
Easter Sunday Mass in the country.

 In a resolution on Sept. 25, the bishops’

conference said it “stand(s) by the
proceedings and findings” of a panel of
historians affirming previous findings on the
historic event.
 CRY OF
BALINTAWAK
 THE CRY OF BALINTAWAK
• It is considered as a turning point of
Philippine History.
• Cry of Pugadlawin
• The main focus of the controversy is
the date and place of Bonifacio Cry.
 THE CRY OF BALINTAWAK
• five dates of the cry:
August 20, 23, 24, 25 and 26
• five different venues for the first
cry: Balintawak, Pugadlawin,
Kangkong, Bahay Toro and Pasong
Tamo.
 DEFINITION OF THE CRY
• The word “cry” comes from the Spanish el grito de
rebelion (cry of rebellion) or el grito for short. Thus
the Grito de Balintawak is similar to the Grito de
Dolores of Mexico (1810). But the “el grito de
rebelion” strictly refers to a decision or call to revolt.
It doesn’t necessarily mean shouting, unlike the
Filipino term Sigaw or Sigao.
• Originally the term “cry” referred to the first clash
between the members of Katipunan and the Civil
Guards (Guardia Civil).
 DEFINITION OF THE CRY

• The cry could also refer to the tearing up

of cedulas (community tax certificates) in
resistance to Spanish government.
• The cry can also be referred to in the
inscriptions of “Viva la Independencia
Filipina” which was literally accompanied
by patriotic shouts.
 THE CRY OF BALINTAWAK
THE FIRST ISSUE:
It has been widely accepted
and believed that the first cry
of the revolution took place in
Balintawak, Caloocan on
August 23, 1896.
 THE CRY OF BALINTAWAK

THE SECOND ISSUE:

The cry occurred towards the end of
August 1896 and that all the places
mentioned above are in Caloocan (now
a city) which in this time was a district
of Balintawak.
 THE CRY OF BALINTAWAK

THE THIRD ISSUE

The cry occurred towards the end
of August 1896 and that all the
places mentioned above are in
Caloocan which in those times was
a district of Balintawak.
 LT. OLEGARIO DIAZ

an officer of the Spanish

Guardia civil stated that
the Cry happened in
Balintawak on August
25, 1896.
 TEODORO KALAW

wrote in his 1925 book

entitled The Filipino
Revolution that the Cry
took place during the
final week of August
1896 at Kangkong,
Balintawak.
 SANTIAGO ALVAREZ
a Katipunero and son of
Mariano Alvarez who was
the leader of the
Magdiwang faction in
Cavite, stated in 1927 that
the cry happened at Bahay
Toro, now in Quezon City
on August 24, 1896.
 PIO VALENZUELA

Andrés Bonifacio’s close

associate, declared in
1948 that the event took
place on August 23, 1896,
in Pugad Lawin.
 TEODORO
AGONCILLO
He wrote in 1956 that it
took place in Pugad Lawin
on
August 23, 1896
(based on Pio Valenzuela’s
statement)
 However, from 1908 until 1963, this event was
officially recognized as having happened on August
26 in Balintawak. Ultimately, the Philippine
government declared in 1963 a change from
August 26 to August 23 in Pugad Lawin, Quezon
City.
the cavite mutiny
 brief uprising of 200 Filipino troops and
workers at the Cavite arsenal, which became
the excuse for Spanish repression of the
embryonic Philippine nationalist movement.
Ironically, the harsh reaction of the Spanish
authorities served ultimately to promote the
nationalist cause.
CAVITE MUTINY
 MAIN ISSUE ARGUMENTS
The accounts on
1) SPANISH
this particular PERSPECTIVE
history presents
conflicts on the real 2) FILIPINO
reasons of the PERSPECTIVE
mutiny.
 S F
P I Dr. Trinidad Hermenigildo
Jose Montero y Vidal A L Pardo de Tavera

N VS. I
I P
S I
H N
O

Governor Rafael Izquierdo Edmund Plauchut

 P The major sources of this past event are
R the
I documents by:
M (a) Spanish historian, Jose Montero y
A Vidal;
R (b) Official report of Gov. Gen. Rafael
Y
Izquierdo;
SOURCES
(c) Filipino researcher, Dr. Trinidad
Hermenigildo Pardo de Tavera
(d) French writer, Edmund Plauchut.
 SPANISH PERSPECTIVE
PRIMARY SOURCE: EXCERPT FROM MONTERO’S ACCOUNT OF THE CAVITE MUTINY
(Source: Jose Montero y Vidal )

“Spanish Version of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872” in Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide,
Documentary Sources of Philippine History, Volume 7 (Manila: NationalBook Store, 1990),
269-273.

The abolition of privileges enjoyed by the laborers of the Cavite arsenal of exemption from the
tribute was, according to some, the cause of the insurrection. There were, however, other
causes. The Spanish revolution which overthrew a secular throne; the propaganda carried on
by an unbridled press against monarchical principles, attentatory [sic] of the most sacred
respects towards the dethroned majesty; the democratic and republican books
and pamphlets; the speeches and preachings of the apostles of these new ideas
in Spain; the outbursts of the American publicists and the criminal policy of the senseless
Governor whom the Revolutionary government sent to govern the Philippines, and who
put into practice these ideas were the determining circumstances which gave rise, among
certain Filipinos, to the idea of attaining their independence. It was towards this goal
that they started to work, with the powerful assistance of a certain section of the
native clergy, who out of spite towards friars, made common cause with the enemies of the
mother country. At various times but especially in the beginning of year 1872, the authorities
received anonymous communication with the information that a great uprising would break out
against the Spaniards, the minute the fleet at Cavite left for the South, and that all would be
assassinated,conspiracy had been going on since the days of La Torre with utmost secrecy. At
times, theprincipal leaders met either in the house of Filipino Spaniard, D. Joaquin Pardo de
Tavera, or in that of the native curate of Bacoor, the soul of the movement, whose energetic
character and immense wealth enabled him to exercise a strong influence.
 SPANISH PERSPECTIVE
PRIMARY SOURCES: EXCERPTS FROM THE OFFICIAL REPOST OF GOVERNOR
IZQUIERDO ON THE CAVITE MUTINY OF 1872
( Source: Rafael Izquirdo )

“Official Report on the Cavite Mutiny,” in Gregorio Zaide and SoniaZaide, Documentary Sources
of Philippine History, Volume 7 (Manila: National Book Store,1990), 281-286.

It seems definite that the insurrection was motivated and prepared by the native clergy, by the
mestizos and native lawyers, and by those known here as abogadillos. The instigators, to
carry out their criminal project, protested against the injustice of the government
in not paying the provinces for their tobacco crop, and against the usury that some practice in
documents that the Finance department gives crop owners who have to sell them at aloss. They
encouraged the rebellion by pretesting what they called the injustice of having obliged the
workers in the Cavite arsenal to pay tribute starting January 1 and render personal service, from
which they were formerly exempted. Up to now it has not been clearly determined if they
planned to establish a monarchy or a republic, because the Indios have no word in their
language to describe this different form of government, whose head in Filipino would be called
hari; but it turns out that they would place at the head of the government a priest that the head
selected would be D. Jose Burgos, or D. Jacinto Zamora. Such is the plan of the rebels, those
who guided them, and the means they counted upon for its realization. It is apparent that the
accounts underscore the reason for the “revolution”: the abolition of privileges enjoyed by the
workers of the Cavite arsenal such as exemption from the payment oftribute and being
employed in polos y servicios, or force labor. They also identified other reasons which seemingly
made the issue a lot more serious, which include the presence of the native clergy, who, out
of spite against the Spanish friars, “conspired and supported” the rebels.
 FILIPINO PERSPECTIVE
Tavera is of the opinion that the Spanish friars and Izquierdo
used the Cavite Mutiny as a way to address other issues by
blowing out of proportion the isolated mutiny attempt (Charity,
2020). During this time, the Central Government in Madrid was
planning to deprive the friars of all the powers of intervention in
matters of civil government and direction and management of
educational institutions. The friars needed something to justify
their continuing dominance in the country, and the mutiny
provided such Opportunity. However, the Central Spanish
Government introduced an educational decree fusing sectarian
schools run by the friars into a school called the Philippine
Institute. The decree aimed to improve the standard of education
in the Philippines by requiring teaching positions in these schools
to be filled by competitive examinations, an improvement
welcomed by most Filipinos. Another account, this time by
French writer Edmund Plauchut complemented Tavera's account
and analyzed the motivations of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny
 FILIPINO PERSPECTIVE
PRIMARY SOURCE: EXCERPTS FROM PLAUCHUT’S ACCOUNT OF THE CAVITE MUTINY
(Source: Edmund Plauchut)

“The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and the Martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za,” in the Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide , Documentary
Sources of Philippine History, Volume 7 (Manila: National Book Store, 1990), 251-268.

General La Torre created a junta composed of high officials including some friars and six Spanish officials. At the same
time there was created by the government in Madrid a committee to investigate the same problems submitted to the
Manila committee. When the two finished work, it was found that they came to the same conclusions. Here is the
summary of the reforms they considered necessary to introduced:
 Changes in tariff rates at customs, and the methods of collection.
 Removal of surcharges on foreign importations.
 Reduction of export fees.
 Permission for foreigners to reside in the Philippines, buy real state, enjoy freedom of worship,
and operate commercial transports flying the Spanish flag.
 Establishment of an advisory council to inform the Minister of Overseas Affairs in Madrid on
 the necessary reforms to be implemented.
 Changes in primary and secondary education.
 Establishment of an Institute of Civil Administration in the Philippines, rendering unnecessary
the sending home of short-term civil officials every time there is a change of ministry.
 Study of direct-tax system.
 Abolition of the tobacco monopoly.
 In an article published by the National Historical Commission of
the Philippines in 2012, these four primary sources have been
considered and some basic suggested the following unvarying facts:

1) There was dissatisfaction among the workers of the arsenal as well

as the members of the native army after their privileges were
drawn back by Gen. Izquierdo;

2) Gen. Izquierdo introduced rigid and strict policies that made the
Filipinos move and turn away from Spanish government out of
disgust;

3) The Central Government failed to conduct an investigation on

what truly transpired but relied on reports of Izquierdo and the
friars and the opinion of the public;
4) The happy days of the friars were already numbered in 1872
when the Central Government in Spain decided to deprive
them of the power to intervene in government affairs as well
as in the direction and management of schools prompting
them to commit frantic moves to extend their stay and power;

5) The Filipino clergy members actively participated in the

secularization movement in order to allow Filipino priests to
take hold of the parishes in the country making them prey to
the rage of the friars;
6) Filipinos during the time were active participants,
and responded to what they deemed as injustices;

7) The execution of GOMBURZA was a blunder on the

part of the Spanish government, for the action
severed the ill-feelings of the Filipinos and the
event inspired Filipino patriots to call for reforms
and eventually independence.
 February 17, 1872

 GOMBURZA were
executed
 Spanish government
 Frailocracia
 El Filibusterismo
 THE
PHILIPPINE
NATIONAL
FLAG
GEN. EMILIO AGUINALDO
 made the sketch of the
flag
 aspired to establish a
new nation to be
signified by a flag and
an anthem during the
second phase of the
Philippine Revolution
 Senate Bill No. 1
 Flag Law of 1907
 Sen. Rafael Palma
 the one which was
"consecrated and
honored by the people"
and the change of its
color or shade is a
violation of law.
 Executive Order No. 1010
 On 25 February 1985
 President Ferdinand Marcos
 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 the blue in the Philippine
flag.
Inclusion of a 9th Ray or
Crescent in the Flag
 House Bill No. 7725
 Rep. Sultan Omar
Dianalan
 first District of Lanao del
Sur
 9th ray
 Muslims and the cultural
minorities who fought the
Spaniards and waged war
against them
 Teodoro
Agoncillo
 eight provinces
which rose in
arms against
Spain during the
Philippine
The Blue Color of the
Flag
 Aguinaldo
 neither azul oscuro
nor azul marino

"bughaw"
 Juan Luna
 "Monograph"
 May 21, 1899

CHINA BLUE