The First Holy Mass in Limasawa as the Embodiment

of our Faith and Reaffirmation of History

(A Privilege Speech delivered on the Floor of the House of
Representatives during its Plenary Session on March 22, 1999)

Mr. Speaker, we are about to mark the coming of the Holy Week, a very
important period in the life of a great majority of our people for it
represents what Christianity is all about.
It is in the context of the Holy Week and in anticipation of Easter
Sunday that, with your indulgence Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak of a
historic event that happened in the Philippines 478 years ago.
Mr. Speaker, on March 31, 1521, which was an Easter Sunday,
Christianity came to the Philippines. On that day in the ISLAND OF LIMASAWA, a
part of the Province of Southern Leyte which I am privileged to represent
in this equally historic chamber, the FIRST HOLY MASS WAS CELEBRATED in
our archipelago.

That first Holy Mass in our blessed land was not an ordinary event that
could simply be ignored or overlooked as a mere footnote in a history
book. To any Catholic, the Holy Mass is the embodiment of his faith. It
is during the offering of the Holy Mass, Catholics believe, that Christ
gives His body and His blood sacramentally to His people.

It is not my intent, Mr. Speaker, to dwell on the theology of the
Catholic faith. My purpose is to stress the significance of the FIRST HOLY
MASS IN LIMASAWA on March 31, 1521. Mr. Speaker, what transpired in the
Island of Limasawa 478 years ago marked the beginning of Christianity
in our land and the start of our introduction to the value taught by
this religion. Of course there are those who may argue that the HOLY MASS
AT LIMASAWA was purely incidental to the intention of Spain to colonize
our islands. Whatever were the motives of the Spanish monarch in whose
name Magellan sailed to the East, whether it was to look for spices or
silk or gold, one thing was certain: the seeds of Christianity were
planted in the Island of Limasawa on an Easter Sunday 478 years ago.
If I may sound belaboring the historical importance of the Island of
Limasawa as the entry point of Christianity in our corner of the world,
it is because there was an attempt in the House of Representatives to
rewrite history and, in the process, commit a gross historical error. I
refer in particular, Mr. Speaker, to a proposal to make the site of
Masao in Butuan City in the Province of Agusan del Norte as the site of the
first Holy Mass in the Philippines.

It was most unfortunate that the proponent of such an attempt has
misread the purpose of Republic Act 2733 which has declared Limasawa on
Southern Leyte a National Shrine. It did not legislate the historical fact
that the FIRST MASS WAS HELD IN THE ISLAND OF LIMASAWA on March 31,1521.

Mr. Speaker, I share the view of some of our colleagues who
participated in the hearings of the Committee of Education relative to House Bill
2550 which intended to relocate the site of the First Mass to Masao, in
the province of Butuan through a legislative fiat, to the effect that
one cannot legislate history. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, history is an
accumulation of facts, incidental circumstances relative to events in the
past, nurtured and given life in writings and oral testimonies of those who
participated in those happenings and handing them down from generations
to generations as credible proofs of such facts, incidents, and
circumstances.

Even assuming just for the sake of the argument of the few pro-Masao
advocates that a law must be passed saying that the first Holy Mass in
the Philippines did not take place at all in Limasawa but rather at a
location somewhere in Butuan City, may I ask Mr. Speaker, if any piece of
legislation or the collective will of the people's representatives
alter a historical fact ? When we state that the FIRST HOLY MASS WAS
CELBERATED IN LIMASAWA, we are not venturing an opinion. Whether that
historic event took place in Limasawa in Southern Leyte or in Butuan City in
Agusan del Norte is not a matter of conjecture. A historical reality
cannot be changed or modified by an act of the mind. What is subject to
open discussion is the meaning of an event.

What then is the historical basis for the declaration that it was in
LIMASAWA WHERE THE FIRST HOLY MASS was offered in the Philippines? Who
else could be the best source of information except a direct witness of
the event itself, the official chronicler of the first Spanish
expedition lead by Magellan? Antonio Pigafetta who meticulously recorded the
trans-Pacific voyage of Magellan came out with a complete narrative
entitled Primo viaggio intorno al mondo in the original Italian text. The
English translation of this title is First Voyage Around the World.
Shortly after the publication in 1894 of the original text of
Pigafetta's account two well-known scholars categorically declared the grave
error of the Butuan claim. Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera on March 31, 1895
clearly pointed out: "Nothing, however, could be farther from the
truth, because not only was Butuan not the piece of Philippine soil on which
the first mass was celebrated but it was not even visited by that bold
navigator (Magellan) in his memorable expedition." The other scholar,
Fr. Pablo Pastells concurred: "Magellan did not go to Butuan. Rather
from the Island of Limasawa he proceeded directly to Cebu . . . "
According to the diary of Pigafetta, Magellan's expedition anchored off
an island in the morning of March 28, 1521 which was a Holy Thursday.
This island, wrote Pigafetta, "lies in a latitude of nine and two-thirds
towards the Arctic Pole and in a longitude of one hundred and sixty-two
degrees from the line of demarcation ... and is called Mazaua." They
were on Mazaua Island for seven days. It should be pointed out that the
geographical coordinates mentioned by Pigafetta for the island of Mazaua
using present modern navigational instruments accurately correspond to
the actual position of Limasawa as of today !

Pigafetta further recorded that on March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday,
Magellan early in the morning sent the priest ashore in the company of some
of his men to prepare for the Mass. Later that morning, Magellan
followed with fifty men and Mass was celebrated. Immediately after, there was
a veneration of the Cross. In the afternoon, the Cross was planted on
top of the highest hill. Both the king of Mazaua and the king of Butuan
were also present.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to invite attention to the fact that in recording
the site of the first Mass in the Philippines Pigafetta explicitly and
emphatically mentioned an island. As Fr. Peter Schreurs, put it:
"Pigafetta knew an island when he saw one! Significantly, even the pro-Masao
adherents agreed that indeed Pigafetta referred to as an island where
the first mass was held. All other sources, primary and secondary alike
uniformly and consistently refer to Limasawa as an island.

This point is very important, Mr. Speaker, because Masao, in Butuan is
not an island. At best it is a riverine delta near Butuan. Fr. Manuel
Bernard, S.J. observed: " If Mazaua were Butuan ... there is a curious
omission in Pigafetta's account which would be difficult to explain.
Butuan is a riverine settlement. It is situated on the Agusan River. The
beach called Masao is in the delta of that river. If the Magellan
expedition were at that delta, and if the Mass were celebrated there, why is
there no mention of the river ... We must therefore take him literally:
Mazaua or as an island surrounded by sea, not a river delta!"
Finally, Mr. Speaker, the National Historical Institute, in order to
end once and for all the controversy, created the Gancayco Commission
which was precisely tasked to conduct hearings and received evidences to
end the controversy as to where the first mass in the Philippines was
actually held. The Commission was composed of retired Justice of the
Supreme Court Emilio A. Gancayco as Chairman, Atty. Bartolome C. Fernandez
and Dr. Maria T. Camagay as members.

After exhaustive hearings and by way of summation, upon a rigorous
evaluative analysis and appraisal of primary sources and the evidence
culled therefrom, the Commission found and concluded decisively that:
1. The most complete and reliable account of the Magellan expedition in
the Philippine shores in1521 is that of Antonio Pigafetta which is thus
deemed as the only credible primary source that yields the best
evidence of the celebration of the Christian Mass on Philippine soil.
2. James Robertson's English translation of the original Italian
manuscript of Pigafetta's account is most reliable for being "faithful" to
the original text as duly certified by the U.P. Department of European
Languages.

3. Pigafetta's Mazaua, the site of the first Christian mass held on
Philippine soil, is an island lying off the southwestern tip of Leyte,
while Masao in Butuan is not an island but a barangay of Butuan situated
at the delta of the Agusan River along the coast of northern Mindanao.
4. The latitude and position of Mazaua, as plotted by Pigafettas,
correspond substantially to that of Limasawa.

5. The measurement of distances between Homonhon and Limasawa and
between Limasawa and Cebu, as computed by the pro - Limasawa group, checks
with or approximates the delineations made by Pigafetta of the distances
between Homonhon and Mazaua and between Mazaua and Cebu, respectively.
6. Magellan's fleet took a route from Homonhon to Mazaua and from
Mazaua to Cebu that did not at any time touch at Butuan or any other part of
Mindanao.

7. The anchoring facilities at Limasawa did not pose any problem for
Magellan's fleet which anchored "near" or at some safe distance from the
island off the eastern shore.
To the people of Agusan del Norte and to our friends in Butuan City, it
is not my wish to claim that the honor of being the site of the first
Holy Mass in the Philippines belongs to Southern Leyte alone. This gift
from God, this grace that brought the spirit of Christianity to the
Island of Limasawa is a precious legacy that belongs to all of us.
And yet much as the meaning and importance of the celebration of the
first Mass in the Philippines transcends ethnic and provincial
boundaries, we cannot, therefore, say that the place where the event actually
took place does not really matter anymore. We cannot assume that it is
immaterial whether it was in Limasawa or in Masao where the bread and wine
became the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist.

If the place and date of a historic event were to be taken as
inconsequential, then what is history for? Historical accuracy is necessary for
true history is not premised on conjectures and whims but on
incontrovertible and verifiable facts.Mr. Speaker, history has to be truthful or 
it would not be history at all. Without history, we have no national memory.