The Battle of Mactan didn't happen on April 27th

Our special presentation tonight on our Straight from the Sky talkshow, we bring you a media personality who is at the same time a man of the cloth, Fr. Dan Domingo de los Angeles, who appears on ABS-CBN, GMA Channel 7 and on Bantay Radio spreading the Gospel or the Word of God using mass communication as his pulpit. We’ve asked Fr. Dan to be with us on this show as part of our honoring the 75th anniversary of the Cebu Archdiocese and the opening of Holy Door and what it should mean for us Catholics.

Last week, we wrote that the Catholic Church is the body of Christ and therefore, it is not made of stone and mortar but of divine and human flesh because we are called the “Body of Christ”. The 75th Anniversary of the Cebu Archdiocese is not only significant for our clergy, but to all Catholics as well because in the past, Cebu was under the Mexican Archdiocese.

Perhaps now is a good time to check how we fared as Catholics in all these 75 years. Have we been good and honest Catholics? Have we evangelized our faith as Asia’s first Christians? I’m sure many people would like to know. So watch this very interesting show on SkyCable’s channel 15 at 8:00pm tonight.

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Today is supposed to be the 488th Anniversary of the legendary Battle of Mactan where Portuguese born Spanish Captain Ferdinand Magellan met his fate in the hands of a native Chieftain named Lapu-Lapu. This was legendary because while this battle was written and recorded by Antonio Pigafetta (obviously a one-sided account) as an historic event, but as far as the people of Mactan are concerned, nothing is written about this account but the story that was handed down through oral tradition.

I also say that today is supposedly the 488th anniversary simply because when the remnants of the Armada de Moluccas returned to San Lucar de Barrameda and (thus they were the first to have circumnavigated the world) they realized that the ship’s log that they never failed to record every single day was off by a few days in the three years they since they left Spain. 

That’s because they did not realize that they had crossed what we now call the International Dateline. That means, the First Mass in Limasawa and the Battle of Mactan did not happen on the exact dates that were recorded. Remember Magellan stayed in South America for at least a year before arriving in Cebu. I’m not asking you guys to change the date of your celebration. I’m only stating a historical fact where I’m 110 percent sure that the Battle of Mactan did not happen on April 27, 1521.

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Still on Mactan. Last March 24, Manila Standard columnist Emil Jurado wrote a very nasty article in his column entitled, “Insulted Twice Over in Cebu.” The Manila Standard is rarely sent to Cebu. I actually never read the Jurado article. But my friends from Manila who know me as a “Watchdog” for Cebu emailed me a copy of that offending article so I could comment on it. 

My faithful readers know too well that when we started writing columns, we were targeted by another columnist. We never backed down from those attacks, which in fact raised me to unexpected prominence, because now the readers of that columnist got to know that I was one of the few who dared give a tit-for-tat against that very controversial columnist, who in the end, made up with me. May he now rest in peace.

I was prepared to fire two barrels against Mr. Jurado; however true to our profession, before we go on the roll, we should first find out what really happened in Shangri-La. Call it a coincidence that I had a meeting at the Shang at that same time so I was able to talk to the waiter involved in that incident. Armed with the right information, I was prepared to do a column in The Philippine Star; after all, Manila Standard is published there. But then the Shang’s General Manager Mr. Raymond Bragg requested me to hold my horses as they will do it the “Shang Way”. In the end, the “Shang Way” worked. It appeased Mr. Jurado who then wrote apologetic articles in his column after his very offensive Mar.24 article. Again, I never got to read the apologetic articles as we don’t have a Manila Standard here.

However, this article has now been circulated in the Internet. Lately I heard it’s been used by a radio commentator who obviously just wanted to lambaste Shangri-La without even knowing the facts surrounding this already finished controversy. But how can it be finished when people keep forwarding only the emails of that first article? I’m writing it here to set the record straight. Shangri-La didn’t do anything wrong. It was the over-inflated ego of Mr. Jurado that caused all this faux pas!