First Mass of the Philippines - Butuan or Limasawa?

• Butuan had been known as the home of the first Catholic Mass in our country. In fact, in 1872 there erected a monument near the Agusan River which celebrates Magellan's arrival and first Catholic Mass in the country on April 8, 1521
• Blair and Roberston "The Philippine Islands" from 1903 to 1909
• Mazaua led them to the coordinate near Leyte and Panaon while Butuan is situated in Mindanao
• Pigafetta clearly stated that the mass was held at "Mazaua"
• The little island south of Leyte called Limasawa
• "Butuan tradition" depended on oral traditions and chronicles, with the absence of primary documents about Magellan's voyage
• In 1906, James Alexander Robertson provided an English translation in which the second group of historians relied "heavily and almost exclusively on."
• The origin of Limasawa's claim
• "It (Mazaua) is now called the island of Limasawa, and has an area of about ten and one-half square miles."
• "Arbitrarily and without explanation" identified Mazaua with the island of Limasawa.
• Celedonio Resurrecion's findings as reflected in his work: "The Rules of Evidence to the True Identity of Pigafetta's Mazaua," published in 1990.
• He pointed out that scholars like Schumacher, Bernad, and Scott were "uncritical historians" who tried to discredit the "Butuan historiographic tradition" with Robertson's translation as the standpoint.
• "Where was Mazaua?" In doing so, he applied the rules of evidence emanating in the Rules of Court of the Philippines.
• Pigafetta wrote in his account: "nouve gradi et duo tersi" or nine degrees and two-third (Lat. 9 deg 00 min North) toward the Arctic. The location, as confirmed by the Nancy Manuscript, is the islet of Butuan.
• Strong oral tradition, called the Oral Mazaua (Masao) Tradition, which tells that Magellan went to the Islet of Masao, a delta located at the mouth of the Agusan River.
• Gold was abundant in Mazaua and Butuan
• The Map of Mindanao, as presented in Volume 33 of Blair and Robertson's, exhibits the regions of Beaniam, Calagan, Butuan, Maguindanao, and Chipp. Mazaua was not indicated.
• The abundance of anime trees in Mazaua, Butuan.
• The abundance of sago palm in Mazaua, Butuan, which is endemic in Mindanao
• Albo's account, in his logbook, as a pilot or "contra-maestre" in one of Magellan's flagship, Trinidad. Based on his careful analysis of Albo and Pigafetta's accounts, Bernad arrived.
• According to Albo, their expedition entered south of the Samar Island and dropped their anchor at Homonhon where they stayed for seven days.
• The latitude of Mazaua, on South of Leyte, is at nine and two-thirds degrees north which correspond to the position and latitude of Limasawa Island
• He expedition, "at no point," did not sail to Butuan or any place near the Mindanao coast, which they only did after the death of Magellan.
• The Legazpi Expedition of in 1565 was added as "confirmatory evidence." Accordingly, they were anxious to visit Mazaua, and so they asked for directions from the natives Cabalian. They anchored off Mazaua. But, the natives were hostile so they went to Camiguing, still visible from Mazaua.
• Bernad evaluated that: "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 geographical situation of Limasawa Island fits Pigafetta's description: the island's tadpole shape running from north to south. Magellan's ships would find themselves to Limasawa if they sailed west or southwest.
• Of the pieces of evidence mentioned in the account, one weakened Butuan's claim–Pigafetta never mentioned a river. Butuan is a riverine settlement l situated on the Agusan River. Masao was positioned in the delta of that river.
• Hence, with the absence of such geographical characteristics, Butuan's claim is truly hard to justify. Also, it must be pointed out that after the Battle of Mactan, the survivors went to Mindanao, and apparently went to Butuan.
• This was vividly narrated by Pigafetta on his account as he stated that they had a trip on a river. However, it traversed the river after Magellan's death.
• In August 19, 2020, after decades-long debate, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines sustained its findings that Limasawa in Southern Leyte is the home of the first Catholic Mass in the country.
• "The Final Report of the Mojares Panel on the Butuan-Limasawa Controversy on the Location of the 1521 First Easter Sunday Mass in the Philippines"
• Not equate to erasing Butuan's cultural and historical importance in the pre-colonial history of our country.
• Butuan was already a flourishing and established kingdom even before the first mass took place.