Let the Limasawa debate roll

The National Historical Institute (NHI) and Congress, through RA 2733 enacted in 1960 declared that the “First Mass” in the Philippines was held at Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte.

Last month, 200 participants signed a declaration urging the continuation of the debate on the exact site of the first mass – Limasawa; Mazaua, between Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur; the island of Baug in Magallanes, Agusan del Norte, or in other places?

Sr. Marie Rosanne Mallillin, SPC, PhD, chancellor, St. Paul University system in Surigao City, wrote friends and colleagues that the Surigao Declaration on the first Easter mass was the result of the collective wisdom of the participants in the symposium on the “Flat World Notion versus Open Mind: A Symposium on the Birth of Christianity in the Philippines.”

The participants, she wrote, are committed to “pursue the historic truth regarding the topic on the birth of Christianity in the Philippines based on honesty, independent mindedness, critical truth and truth only wherever the search leads and whatever its finding. … Truth for us is a matter of conscience and ultimately the truth we pursue with regard to the first Easter mass in the Philippines in God’s truth, and once we find this historic truth, it is our solemn duty to proclaim it in the public interest of the Filipino people.”

The symposium was held on June 21, 2018, at St. Paul University Surigao Basic Education campus in Surigao City.

The first Easter mass, Sr. Mallillin reminds us, was held by the Portuguese explorer and navigator Ferdinand Magellan and crew members of his “Armada deMolucca,” sponsored by King Charles I of Spain, and officiated by Spanish priest Fr. Pedro de Valderrama on March 31, 1521 in Mazzawa, thereby giving birth to permanently influential Christianity in the Philippines.

The controversy on the site of the first mass has produced three versions. The “Butuan” proponents maintain that Antonio Pigafetta, official chronicler of the Magellan voyage, simply named the historic place as “Mazaua, Mazzaua, Macangor, Mazaba” (depending on the version of the manuscript), has a set of descriptions that fit the topography of Butuan in 1521 up to the present.

The latest claim is for the island of Baug in the municipality of Magallanes, Agusan del Norte (the location of the 1872 Magellan Memorial) which then was the Spanish settlement of Butuan) as distinguished from the native Butuan settlements) during the Spanish period. This argues that the place that Pigafetta referred to as “the island where we were,” where they finally anchored in the evening of Thursday of March 28, 1521 Julian, the hunting grounds and meeting place of the two brothers, Raia Calambu and Raisa Siaiu, is the site of the first Easter Day mass.

The eminent Hawaii-based Filipino anthropologist Dr. Eric Casino concludes that Siaiu and Calambu were Higaonon/Manobo chieftains rather than Waray rulers.

In view of the approaching celebration of 500 years of the Christianization of the Philippines, Sr. Mallillin and the Surigaonon Heritage Center (SHC) under Dr. Fernando Almeda Jr., and in cooperation with retired University of the Philippines history professor Dr. Leslie Bauzon, organized the symposium in an attempt to establish the historical truth, preceded by a two-day field visit to Limasawa Island, Baug Island, the island of barangay Masao and other places – Suatan and the Bood Promontory, all of which are within Butuan City, to look at the sites claimed to be where the first mass was held.

The 200 symposium participants consisting of selected historians, academics, scholars, priests, nuns, teachers and other avid students of history who joined the field trips urged that the “Limasawa Island vs. Masao-Suatan-Bood vs. Baug Island” debate should be reopened immediately instead of being closed permanently.

According to the Surigao Declaration, based on the ocular inspections made and the papers presented at the symposium there are numerous, undeniable, compelling reasons for believing that it is highly possible for the first mass to have been celebrated in locations rather than in Limasawa.

Among these are the long historical tradition of over 400 years observed by the people of Butuan, especially in the present municipality of Magallanes, Agusan del Norte; a commemorate marker erected in the island of Buag, Magallanes, in 1972 by Gov. Jose Maria Carvallo of the district/province of Surigao of which Butuan and Agusan were then under its jurisdiction; vast archeological artifacts displayed in museums and in private collections, consisting of porcelain, ceramics and Chinaware in three areas of Agusan del Norte; the abundance, up to today, of gold “some as big as chicken’s eggs) and mined in the coastal towns of Malimono and its barangay Masgad on the western coast of Surigao del Norte, the presence of Balanghai or Butuan boats in Butuan remnants of which have been found in the vicinity of Masao-Suatan; the Pigafetta map showing Mazzaua as a big island at the south of the islands of Bohol and Leyte, with details showing indication of the three settlements of Butuan, Calaghan, and Mazzaua along the same coastline, and at the same time showing the approximate site of the Easter Day mass.

Finally, the Declaration cites as a compelling reason the admission later by Dr. Gregorio Zaide, noted Filipino historian, that he made a mistake in choosing Limasawa. His mistake was confirmed by his daughter Dr. Sonia Zaide.

Dr. Rolando Borrinaga, a staunch Limasawa proponent, also admitted later that he made a mistake saying the site should be in Barangay Triana instead of Magallanes in Limasawa where the shrine is located and the cross planted on a promontory there.

In view of the foregoing facts, the signers of the Surigao Declaration on the First Easter Mass firmly resolve to request the NHI/NHCP to reopen the Limasawa vs. Butuan discourse and revisit the whole historical narrative on the matter.

The Declaration finishes with an uncomely statement: “Only a fool does not change his/her mind. Only a bigger fool does not change his/her mind when confronted with compelling and convincing facts.”

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I’m in Gingoog, my beloved hometown in Misamis Oriental, for a long vacation. In case you didn’t know, Gingoog is pronounced He-ngo-og. The city has become livelier, with construction activities going on nearly everywhere. I love the fresh air, love a little unexpected rains, wonder where many of the young people populating the city are from. Front yards are abloom with flowers, the streets are clean, though some canals are not. There is a flurry of eateries serving home-cooked meals. The wonderment increases with the festive celebration of the birthday of city mayor, Marie de Lara Guingona, with almost 100 percent of her administration’s top executives filling the second floor of the de Lara ancestral house to partake of a very filling feast. The vice-mayor, former Mayor Ruth de Lara, was on hand to receive her daughter’s guests. Our favorite city councilor, former Mayor Mike Paderanga, welcomed us with open arms.

This trip is a sad one, as we went to the wake of a former schoolmate, Florie Lambatan Alegado. Florie and Rita, and another kabarkada, and myself were the famous singing trio at Gingoog Institute.

Condolences to Florie’s children, Maryflor “Tata” Morales, Zilpah “Daday” Vicente, Lalain Ruth “Lalyn” Cezar, Juliet Joy “Joy” Yap, Shiela Princesita “Sexy” Alegado, Veronica “Bong” Alegado, and Frederick “Cocoy” Alegado. The whole town, it seems, paid their respects to the well-loved Florie.

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