CISNEROS, Joyce Mariz E.

October 16, 2020

2 BS Accountancy B

TOPIC 4

Activity 1
Direction: To show how things become alike is being done by comparing. And, to show
how things become different is being done by differentiating. There are likeness and
differences in the accounts of the first Mass in the Philippines that pertain to Butuan and
Limasawa. Use the diagram below to compare and contrast the opposing views of the
site of the first Mass in the Philippines.

FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES REASONS FOR COMPARISON

Subjects (Events) Compared 1. The route taken by Magellan is different
1. Magellan’s route in the two accounts. As presented in the
2. The two Rajahs Butuan tradition, Magellan went to Butuan
3. The date of the first mass and baptism once. On the Limasawa tradition,
in Cebu Magellan went to Limasawa twice.
4. Geography and Spellings 2. These two accounts agreed that
5. The cross Magellan was assisted by the Limasawa
chieftain in his sojourn in Cebu.
3. The date of the first mass and the
baptism in Cebu were confusing in the
Butuan tradition but validated on the
Limasawa’s.
5. Places were mixed up and mispelled in
Butuan tradition. Geography was a flop.
4. There was mention of the cross in both
traditions but no sufficient supporting
details of the first mass in Butuan
Tradition.
LIMASAWA TRADITION
EVIDENCE 1 EVIDENCE 2
1. “Combes cites two visits to Limasawa: (4) Legaspi’s Expedition: “They rounded
Magellan visits first Limasawa; from “Panae” (Panaon), separated from Leyte
Limasawa to Butuan; then from Butuan to by a narrow strait, and anchored off
Limasawa again; then from Limasawa to “Mazaua”, but inhabitants were hostile. A
Cebu.” small contingent of Spaniards managed to
go to Butuan. It is clear: Mazaua was an
2. Pigafetta’s Account: “The “king” of island near Leyte and Panaon; Butuan
Mazaua guided Magellan expedition to was on the island Mindanao.”
Cebu”
(5) Pigafetta’s account: “Later that
3. Pigafetta’s Account: “Sunday 31 morning Magellan landed with fifty men
March – early in the morning of Sunday, and Mass was celebrated, after which a
the last of March and Easter day” cross was venerated.”
Magellan sent the priest ashore with some
men to prepare for Mass. Later that
morning Magellan landed with fifty men
and Mass was celebrated, after which a
cross was venerated.”

4. Pigafetta’s Account: “Thursday 4 April

– they leave Mazaua, bound for Cebu.
“We remained there seven days” says
Pigafetta. Everyday is accounted for. The
Mass on Easter Sunday was celebrated in
Mazaua, not in Butuan or elsewhere.”

5. Albo’s Log-Book:
Spaniards planted a cross upon mountain
top, from there shown three islands to the
west and southwest, where they were told
there was much gold
BUTUAN TRADITION
EVIDENCE 1 EVIDENCE 2
1. “In Colin’s account, from Butuan to (3) “Careri confused the dates: First Mass
Limasawa, then from Limasawa to Cebu.” in “WhitSunday” and baptism in Cebu took
place two weeks later.”
2. “Magellan’s expedition was assisted by
Limasawa chieftain in travel to Cebu.” (4) “Another priest Fr. Joaquin Martinez de
Zuniga was influenced by Fr. Combes.
3.“Meanwhile, Giovanni Francesco The former cited the latter that the Strait of
Gemelli Careri, influenced by Colin, had Siargao lies “between” Leyte and
made visit to Phil. and published Giro del Limasawa (“at the mouth” or “entrance” of
Mundo (A Voyage Around The World, that Strait. The map invalidates this.”
1698). He confused two distinct events:
the first Mass in Butuan, the other the (4) “Fr. Juan de la Concepcion who mixed
baptism of rajah of Cebu. up several things. One, he thinks that “Las
Velas” and Marianas Islands and
4. “Fray Valentin, a Dominican friar, who Archipelago of San Lazaro were all one
said an incredible notion in his publication and the same thing. Two, he misconstrued
that Magellan had sailed from Magellan’s route, depicting him as sighting
“Limasagua” to Cebu by coasting between southeastern tip of Mindanao, sailing
Samar and Leyte.” northwards along Pacific coast, entered
Siargao Strait to Limasawa “which is at the
5. “Magellan landed in Mactan, planted the entrance of that strait.”
cross but no mention of the First Mass.”

Give a summary of the evidence of Pigafetta and Albo

As we all know, Francisco Albo was a pilot in one of Magellan’s ships, the Trinidad.
He was also one of the 18 survivors who safely returned to the ship, Victoria, after
circumnavigating the world. The logbook he kept was a primary source in identifying the
Philippine’s first mass. On the other hand, the almost complete source was the diary of
Antonio Pigafetta. He was an eyewitness to Magellan’s expedition because he was also
a part of his crew. Thus, he was there when the first mass happened. Here is the summary
of the evidences in both their accounts.
 The two stated that they gathered supplies of water and wood in Gada (Albo) or
Acquada (Pigafetta), which both refer to the island of Homonhon.
  After Homonhon, the route they took was towards the west southwest, to the large
island of Ceilon (Pigafetta) or Seilani (Albo). That island where they coasted is
Leyte.
 Albo and Pigafetta both said that Magellan’s expedition lasted a week in an island
called Mazaua at 9 2/3 north latitude (Albo) which was described by Pigafetta as
a small island near the passage between Bohol and western coast of Ceilon.
 They stayed in Mazaua for a week. They did not leave the island until April 4 when
they traveled to Cebu.
 Albo failed to mention the first mass but included the planting of the cross on the
mountain top in Mazaua. In fact, he stated that from the summit, three islands could
be seen. Pigafetta, in contrast, clearly mentioned that the first mass is held in
Mazaua on Easter Sunday, March 31.

Why did the confusion on meeting the king of Butuan led to the controversy of the
place where the first Mass in the Philippines was said?

The confusion on the meeting of the King of Butuan sparked the controversy on
the first mass in the Philippines because two chieftains of different islands were in
attendance during the mass- one is the rajah in Mazaua where Magellan and his men
stayed for a week and the other was the rajah in Butuan and Calagan who was the brother
of the former. During Magellan’s stay to Mazaua, the king of Butuan happened to visit
there thus, creating the notion that the first mass was in Butuan because the king of that
island was there when the mass in Mazaua happened.
ASSESSMENT
Direction: Write the answer to each question before the number.

Antonio Pigafetta 1. Who was the chronicler of Magellan’s First Voyage believed
to have the most complete account of the expedition?

Island of Saint Lazarus 2. What was the name given by Magellan to the place where
the first Mass happened?

March 16, 1521 3. What date did the Spaniards first arrive to the Philippines?

March 31, 1521 4. What date did Easter Sunday in 1521 fall?

Limasawa Island 5. What place was referred to by Pigafetta as the place of the
(Mazaua) first Catholic Mass in the Philippines?

April 7, 1521 6. When did Magellan and his men arrive in Cebu?

18 men 7. How many survivors of Magellan’s Voyage came back to

Spain in 1522?

9 2/3 North Latitude 8. “Mazaua” was located in latitude ____________ from the
equator

Francisco Albo 9. Who was the other chronicler of Magellan’s voyage whose
accounts coincided with Pigafetta?

Fr. Pablo Pastells S.J 10. Who among the historians above initially started the
question on the site of the first Mass in the Philippines?
ENRICHMENT
Direction: Find monument in your place or neighborhood. Take a photo of it with you.
Paste the picture inside the box. Construct a short narrative why such monument was
erected in such location. If none, clip from google and cite the author.

There is no monument in our municipality, Arakan, however, I got this one. This
photo was taken 6 years ago in Iloilo. We went there because we visited our relatives
there. It happened that during our stay, we went to University of San Agustin because my
Tita wanted me to see the school that I was “supposedly” be attending in Senior High and
College. During the visit in the university, we found this statue and took a picture with it.
The statue is St. Augustine. The monument was built for us to be reminded of the
“Order of St. Augustine” which holds a stellar place in Philippine history. This is a reminder
of the oldest religious order in the country whose members were the first missionaries to
lead the highly successful evangelization of the Philippines (Zulueta, 2012).

Source: Zulueta, L. (2012).”Iloilo’s University of San Agustin marks heritage

milestone.”Retrieved from: www.inquirer.net