BUTUAN; SITE OF THE FIRST MASS

In the year 1521 the Philippines was just another young country that began to establish
its identity when Ferdenad Magellan, an invader from Portugal, arrived. During the mercenary
and competition against the spies he sailed with some men for the expedition to search for
raw ingredients. There is a controversy regarding the site of the first mass ever celebrated on
Philippine soil. Pigafetta tells us that it was held Easter Sunday, the 31st of March 1521, on an
island called “Mazaua.” Two native chieftains were in attendance: the rajah of Mazaua and
the rajah of Butuan. After the Mass the party went up a little hill and planted a wooden cross
upon its summit. The subject of controversy is the identity of this place which Pigafetta calls
“Mazaua.” There are two conflicting claims as to its identity: one school of thoughts points to
the little island south of Leyte which in the maps is called Limasawa; the other scjool rejects
that claim and points instead to the beach called Masao at the mouth of Agusan River in
northern Mindanao, near what was then the village (now the city) of Butuan.

Other school pointed that in reality, Magellan’s route never included Butuan as one of
its destinations. From the eastern part of the Philippines, reaching the island of Homonhon,
Magellan proceeded to Limasawa and thereupon met two kings, namely the datu of Limasawa
and the datu of Butuan. After celebrating the first mass in that same island, the explorer and
his men set out for Cebu in search for greater resources.So this suggested that the mass
never happened Butuan but on Limasawa island instead.

On June 19, 1960, Republic Act No. 2733, called the Limasawa Law, was enacted
without Executive approval on June 19, 1960. The legislative fiat declared The site in
Magallanes, Limasawa Island in the Province of Leyte, where the first Mass in the Philippines
was held is hereby declared a national shrine to commemorate the birth of Christianity in the
Philippines.

President Carlos P. Garcia did not sign the law because he was not sure of the fact
that the 'Mazaua' in the Pigafetta Codex is really Limasawa. It was the American historian
Emma Helen Blair and John Alexander Robertson who claimed in 1909 that the island of
Mazaua is the present island of Limasawa without giving any explanation for the identification.
 Local executives and Church officials as well as historians here said they have new
scientific evidence to substantiate the re-filing of a petition before the National Historical
Institute (NHI) asserting that Butuan City — particularly Mazzaua Island, now Barangay
Pinamangculan — was the official site of the first Mass on Easter Sunday in 1521.

Among the pieces of evidence are ten(10) 1,600-year-old Balahanghai boats believed
to have been used for trade and to transport people for worship services.

"We waited for more scientific evidences to strongly substantiate the Mazzaua claim
until geomorphologists and archeologists came up with official reports that indeed Mazzaua
Island was the site of the first Mass," Fr. Joesilo Amalia, trustee of the Butuan City Cultural
and Historical Foundation Inc. and curator of the Butuan Diocese Museum..

When the Republic Act No. 2733 was passed, the Butuan City Cultural and Historical
Foundation Inc., (BCHFI) with the backing of the Butuan City government in the early 1980s
up to the ’90s, contested the declaration. This prompted the government in 1994 to form the
Gancayco Commission headed by then Supreme Court Associate Justice Emilio Gancayco.

Mafra, one of the voyagers, which bolsters the Butuan claim. He would also claim that
some parts of the Ambrosiana Codex, on which the Limasawa claim was founded, was largely
mistranslated. Because the shape of the isle is almost circular, 3-4 leagues translate to an
area of from 2,214 up to 3,930 hectares. In contrast, Limasawa is only 698 hectares.

Historians stated that they have new evidences that the first mass belongs to Butuan
City. Butuan City Heritage society president Greg Hontiveros said that they are confident in
their new data and evidence that the mass was held on their City. It pointed out that one
important evidence is the yale codex which according to Magellan’s scholar is more impressive
that the Ambrosiana Codex.

Therefore, it is high time for contemporary historians and the Philippine government to
correct their mistake and accept that the first Christian mass was celebrated in Masao, Butuan,
Agusandel Norte and not in Limasawa, Leyte, on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521.
REFERENCES:

"A short Philippine History before the 1898 Revolution". Newsletter of the District of Asia.
Sspxasia.com. 2001. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
Bernad, Miguel. "Butuan or Limasawa: The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines: A
Reexaminationof the Evidence". First Site of Mass in the Philippines. 5: 146–154 – via BUDHI:
A journal of ideas and culture.
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1962). Philippine History. Manila, Philippines: Inang Wika Publishing
Co.
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1974). Introduction to Filipino History. Quezon City,

Submitted by:

Ayon, Jecko Mart I,

Alconaba, Gaspar Jr.
Apura, Mario
Catudio, Aljames
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