Lesson 5

• Lesson 5. Week 5 “One past but many histories.” Controversies and conflicting views in Philippine history
• Site of the First Mass


  This Learning Activity will give you a clear insight about the controversies and conflicting views in Philippine history
• Site of the First Mass


  • The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) settled the controversy over the official site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the country by favoring Limasawa in Southern Leyte instead of Masao in Butuan City
• Dr. Rene Escalante, chairman of NHCP and executive director of the National Quincentennial Committee, revisited the issue surrounding the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the Philippines as part of its mandate to resolve historical controversies
• Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler of the Magellan-Elcano expedition, wrote that the first mass happened on March 31, 1521 in a place he identified as Mazaua
• NHCP signed on July 15, 2020 Resolution No. 2, adopting the report submitted by the six-man panel of scholars led by historian and National Artist for Literature Dr. Resil Mojares who reviewed the issue surrounding the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the Philippines
• Dr. Rolando Borrinaga advocated for Limasawa as the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass
• Dr. Rolando Borrinaga's research and advocacy led to the return of the historic Bells of Balangiga to the Philippines in December 2018
• Dr. Rolando Borrinaga: '“Finally got this info that has been withheld from me for long”'
• Monsignor Oscar Cadayona: '“We are so happy that our proofs - of the veracity of our claims that our Limasawa is really the site - were not dismantled by those who supported other sites”'
• Monsignor Oscar Cadayona expressed his elation over the official government pronouncement regarding the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass
• Escalante disclosed that the issue as to the exact location of the First Catholic Mass was resolved by the National Historical Institute (NHI) through two panels of experts
• The reopening of the historical controversy happened in 2018 when NHCP “received a number of requests from various institutions, including the CBCP, to reexamine the earlier decisions of the NHI”
• The reopening of the historical controversy happened

  2018
• NHCP received requests from various institutions, including the CBCP, to reexamine earlier decisions of the NHI
• Claims were made that there were new primary sources and evidence that surfaced recently which were not taken into consideration by the previous panels
• NHCP saw the necessity of reopening a new inquiry because of the forthcoming commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines in 2021
• Creation of a new panel of experts in November 2018


  The panel reexamined the historical controversy and reviewed the findings of the previous panels for a year
• Members of the Mojares panel

  • Dr. Danilo Gerona (Partido State University)
  • Dr. Francis Navarro (Ateneo de Manila University)
  • Dr. Carlos Madrid Álvarez-Piñer (University of Guam)
  • Fr. Antonio Francisco de Castro, SJ (Loyola School of Theology, representing CBCP)
  • Dr. Jose Victor Torres (De La Salle University)
• Observers of the panel's proceedings

  • Fr. Milan Ted Torralba (CBCP Episcopal Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church)
  • Fr. Emil Quilatan, OAR (Archivist, Augustinian Recollect Archives)
  • Fr. Amado Tumbali, SJ (Archivist, Archives of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus)
  • Fr. Antolin Uy, SVD (historian)
  • Fr. Albert Flores (Archivist, Manila Archdiocesan Archives and Museum)
• The panel unanimously agreed that the evidence and arguments presented by the pro-Butuan advocates are not sufficient and convincing enough to warrant the repeal or reversal of the ruling on the case by the NHI
• The panel recommended that Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte, be sustained as the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass
• The panel's report was reviewed by the history department in different universities, professional organizations, historical associations, along with experts in geology and cartography, who agreed on their findings and found it acceptable and scholarly done following the rigors of the discipline
• Members of the commission

  • Abraham Sakili
  • Emmanuel Calairo
  • Earl June Paul Cleope
  • Lino Dizon
  • Cesar Gilbert Adriano
  • Victorino Mapa Manalo
  • Jeremy Barns
  • Restituto Aguilar
• Several activities related to the 500th year anniversary were canceled due to the coronavirus disease pandemic
• Cadayona: '“Let us not allow this fear of the pandemic dim the light of faith we received in Limasawa”'
• NHCP is mandated to actively engage in the settlement or resolution of controversies or issues relative to historical personages, places, dates, and events based on Republic Act No. 10086 or Strengthening People’s Nationalism Act of 2009