Butuan or Limasawa Flashcards
The mural depicts Fr. Pedro Valderrama officiating the mass in an improvised altar in the presence of Ferdinand Magellan, Pigafetta (chronicler of Magellan), Spanish soldiers, and the natives in awe.
First Mass at Limasawa by Carlos “Botong” Francisco
When was the First Mass at Limasawa by Carlos “Botong” Francisco published/released?
1960
Painting which was commissioned by the national government, was created to commemorate the 400 years of Philippine Christianization which was held in Cebu in 1965.
First Mass at Limasawa by Carlos “Botong” Francisco
“AN ACT TO DECLARE THE SITE IN MAGALLANES, LIMASAWA ISLAND IN THE PROVINCE OF LEYTE, WHERE THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES WAS HELD AS A NATIONAL SHRINE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS THEREAT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”
R.A. No. 2733
The mural “1960’s” by Carlos Botong Francisco depicts whom which have officiated the mass in an improvised altar in the presence o f Ferdinand Magellan, Pigafetta (chronicler of Magellan), Spanish soldiers, and the natives in awe.
Fr. Pedro Valderrama
When was RA 2733 enacted W/O executive approval?
June 19, 1960
T or F
RA 2733 was enacted with executive approval on June 19, 1960
F (enacted W/O executive approval)
What section in RA 2733 does this refer to:
The site in Magallanes, Limasawa Island in the Province of Leyte, where the first Mass in the Philippines was held is hereby declared a national shrine to commemorate the birth of Christianity in the Philippines.
Section 1
What section in RA 2733 does this refer to:
All historical monuments and landmarks in said site shall be preserved and/or reconstructed whenever necessary as much as possible in their original form and are hereby declared national historical monuments and landmarks.
Section 2
What section in RA 2733 does this refer to:
The National Planning Commission shall exercise supervision and control over the reconstruction and/or preservation of the aforesaid site and monuments, and shall issue rules and regulations to effectuate the preceding sections of this Act.
Section 3
What section in RA 2733 does this refer to:
Necessary funds for the purposes of this Act shall be provided for in the annual appropriations for public works and disbursements shall be made by the National Planning Commission under such rules and regulations as the Auditor General may prescribe.
Section 4
What section in RA 2733 does this refer to:
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Section 5
Choose the appropriate answer:
RA 2733
a. Evidence that the first mass happened Magallanes, Limasawa Island (Province of leyte)
b. Declared a national shrine to commemorate the birth of Christianity in the Philippines.
c. All historical monuments and landmarks in said site shall be preserved and/or reconstructed
e. All of the above
d. NOTA
E.
shall exercise supervision and control over the reconstruction and/or preservation of the aforesaid site and monuments, and shall issue rules and regulations to effectuate the preceding sections of RA 2733
National Planning Commission
→ chronicled the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan
→ ONLY credible primary source that yields best evidence of the celebration of the first Christian Mass on Philippine soil
Antonio Pigafetta
→ After a 2 year study in 1996, it reaffirmed the popular belief propelled by Republic Act 2733 that the first Holy Mass was celebrated in Limasawa Island on March 31, 1521.
National Historical Institute
When was the first mass celebrated?
March 31, 1521
Identify if evidence for Limasawa or Masao (Butuan):
The evidence of Albo’s Log-Book
Evidence for Limasawa
Identify if evidence for Limasawa or Masao (Butuan):
The evidence of Pigafetta (his testimony, map, the 2 native kings, 7 days at “mazaua”, argument from omission)
Evidence for Limasawa
Identify if evidence for Limasawa or Masao (Butuan):
Summary of the evidence of Albo and Pigafetta.
Evidence for Limasawa
Identify if evidence for Limasawa or Masao (Butuan):
Confirmatory evidence from the Legazpi expedition
Evidence for Limasawa
Identify if evidence for Limasawa or Masao (Butuan):
The name of the place
Evidence for Masao (Butuan)
Identify if evidence for Limasawa or Masao (Butuan):
Route from Homonhon
Evidence for Masao (Butuan)
Identify if evidence for Limasawa or Masao (Butuan):
The latitude position
Evidence for Masao (Butuan)
Identify if evidence for Limasawa or Masao (Butuan):
Geographical features (Bonfire, balanghai, house, abundance of gold, developed settlement)
Evidence for Masao (Butuan)
T or F
Butuan claim rests upon a tradition for three centuries; 17, 18 and 19 century.
T
To whom leadership was the monument erected?
District Governor Jose M. Carvallo.
→ ‘Labor evangelica’ first published in Madrid in 1663, 3 years after his death
→ his work was reissued 240 years later in a 3-volume edition annotated by Father Pablo Pastells S.J.
Father Francisco Colin S. J.
→ missionary in the Ph and whose Historia de Mindanao y Jolo was printed in Madrid in 1667, 2 years after his death and 5 years after Colin’s work
→ his book was also reissued 230 years afterwards in a handsome edition edited by Wenceslao Retana assisted by father Pastells
→ one of those who cite him by name is the 18th century Augustinian scholar, fray Joaquin Martinez de Zuñiga (1760-1818)
Father Francisco Combes S.J.
→ Augustinian scholar who wrote a history of the Philippines which was promptly translated into English, and whose other work, the Estadismo, we shall quote below
→ important writer who accepted the Butuan tradition
→ Historia de Filipinas was published in Sampaloc in 1803
→ Retana brought his manuscript out in a 2 volume edition in 1893
fray Joaquin Martinez de Zuñiga
→ Augustinian; whose 14-volume History of the Philippines was published in Manila shortly after his death
→ a historian that made an error because he misunderstood Colin’s description of eastern Mindanao coupled with Combes statements, this mistake became quite widespread in the 18th and 19th centuries
fray Juan de la Concepcion
→ 5-volume collection of documents on the Philippine Islands was published ni Cleveland from 1903 to 1909
→ contributed enormously to the shift in opinion
→ Butuan tradition have blamed the shift of opinion on this two Americans
Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson
→ Spanish Jesuit scholar, contributed to the shift in opinion – from Butuan to Limasawa
Father Pablo Pastells S.J.
→ shift in opinion from Butuan to Limasawa was due to a rediscovery and a more attentive study of two primary sources
Pigafetta ‘s account and Albo’s log
→ mouth of the Agusan River in northern Mindanao
MAZZUA, BUTUAN
Whose 17th century account is this?
→ Strait of Siargao → Limasawa → Butuan → Limasawa → Cebu
→ Magellan was in Limasawa when he first heard about the powerful chieftain in Butuan which was nearby
Combes
T or F
Both Colin and Combés agree that it was with the assistance of the chieftain of Limasawa that the Magellan expedition managed to reach Cebu
T
T or F
Both colin and combes also agree on the date of Magellan’s arrival in Cebu, which was on the 8th of April 1521. This date coincides with the Octave of Easter, which is one week after Easter Sunday.
F (7th of april)
Whose 17th century account is this?
→ Giro del Mondo (A Voyage Around the World)
→ First Mass–Whit Sunday, a cross erected and possession taken in the name of the most invincible Charles 5th
→ Before the mass, Lord and King of Cebu were baptized; 500 men and 300 more after dinner
Calabrian, Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri
Whose 17th century account is this?
→ Giro del Mondo (A Voyage Around the World)
→ First Mass–Whit Sunday, a cross erected and possession taken in the name of the most invincible Charles 5th
→ Before the mass, Lord and King of Cebu were baptized; 500 men and 300 more after dinner
→ confused 2 events: first Mass and baptism of rajah of Cebu
→ also confused regarding dates; neither event took place on “whitsunday” because the first Mass occurred in Easter Sunday and the baptism in Cebu took place two weeks later
Calabrian, Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri
19th century:
→ one of the historians which were cited to be mentioning the first mass in Butuan without checking their sources
fray Juan de la Concepcion
What are the evidences for limasawa?
- Albo’s logbook (who joined expedition)
- Pigafetta’s account (testimony, map, presence of 2 native kings, 7 days at island of “Mazaua”
- Argument from omission
- Legazpi expedition
- Geography of Mazaua
Identify what evidence of limasawa:
→ joined the Magellan expedition as a pilot (contra maestre) in Trinidad
→ does not mention the first Mass, but only the planting of the cross upon a mountain-top, southern end of Limasawa
Albo’s Log-Book
Identify what evidence of limasawa:
→ most complete account of the Magellan expedition “Primo viaggio intomo al mondo (First Voy- age Around the World).
Pigafetta’s Account
Identify what evidence of limasawa:
→ sailed into Philippine waters in 1565, forty-four years after Magellan
→ as pilots of the Legazpi expedition understood it, Mazaua was an island near Leyte and Panaon; Butuan was on the island of Mindanao. The two were entirely different places and in no wise identical
The Legazpi Expedition
Identify what evidence of limasawa:
→ shaped like a tadpole, running north to south
→ northern portion is almost all hills, with the slopes dropping steeply to the sea, leaving only a narrow coastal strip
→ the southern portion of the island is almost all level land with a few hills
→ has a good harbor, protected on the west by Panaon Island and on the east by Limasawa; fields in this portion of the island are fertile
→ on one of the hills, the cross could be planted which everyone could see from the plain. And from the top of that hill could be seen the islands to the south, to the west and to the east.
→ still referred to by the fisher- folk as “Masaoa”, not Limasawa.
Geography of Mazaua
T or F
the Butuan tradition may not have started in Butuan but in Europe
T
→ erected in 1872 at Magallanes, near the river-edge and after a few decades that site went under water; saved by the local population, who dragged it to higher ground and left it lying on its side
Butuan Monument
18th century:
→ mixed up Las Velas and the Marianas Islands and the Archipelago of San Lazaro as the same thing
→ misconstrued Magellan’s route
fray Juan de la Concepcion
T or F
In 18th century there was fake news circulatiing that magellan had entered philippines waters through Siargao strait, jumped to the conclusion that Magellan must have come by the western route as later explorers did
F (jumped to cconlusion that magellan must have come by SOUTHERN ROUTE)
→ (1) tradition si based on second-hand information–one author making a mistake could easily start a tradition that could last three centuries
→ (2) as suggested by Pastells, Magellan and his men got to know the rajah of Butuan at Masaua
→ (3) Magellan’s expedition had visited Butuan according to the Legazpi expedition
Butuan Tradition
T or F
whoever started the tradition that the first Mass was celebrated at Butuan, it was certainly Pigafetta nor Albo, nor Maximilian of Transylvania.
F (NEITHER Pigafetta nor Albo, nor Maximilian of Transylvania; kasi they said na sa limasawa nga)
→ important trading port for interisland (and possibly for foreign) commerce
→ first place in Mindanao where a Christian mission was established
→ first by the Jesuits and later by the Augustinian Recollects
→ no way dependent upon its claim to have been the site of the first Mass in the Philippines.
Butuan
Chieftain of Cebu
Rajah Humabon,
Chieftain of Limasawa
Rajah Colambu/Kulambo,
Chieftain of Butuan
Rajah Siagu/Siawi
