By: Neil Urian Secretaria Mabulay
(written
on August 1, 2022)
501 years ago, Magellan went on a
journey to circumnavigate the earth which eventually led to the discovery of
the Philippines and his demise at the hands of Lapu-lapu in the decisive battle
of Mactan. Since I was a kid, I have always been fascinated by the story of his
great voyage. Although in my country, The Philippines, Lapu-lapu’s victory is
seen as a story about defending one’s freedom from foreign invaders. As a
native Cebuano myself, and perhaps a progeny of Lapu-lapu, I can’t help but
admire Ferdinand Magellan for his stellar accomplishments.
To celebrate the quincentennial
anniversary of the Battle of Mactan and Magellan’s circumnavigation, my family
and I decided to visit those places in Cebu to which Ferdinand Magellan and his
crew had explored before his imminent death in Mactan. Unfortunately, we
weren’t able to do so because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, we decided to delay
our tour and made it in the following year.
Our first stop was the Magellan’s
Cross located in the heart of Cebu City. This place plays a significant part in
the history of Cebu and in the Philippines itself, for it was planted by
Ferdinand Magellan himself upon their arrival 501 years ago, in 1521. They were
welcomed by the locals and their native chieftain Rajah Humabon. Hundreds of
native Cebuanos were baptized upon their arrival including Humabon and his wife
as they agreed to accept Christianity as their new religion after Magellan
cured a sick elderly native – Humabon’s brother.
“The captain told
them to burn their idols and to believe in Christ, and that if the sick man
were baptized, he would immediately recover; and if that did not happen, they
could behead the captain.”
--Antonio Pigafetta (1521)
Right after we visited Magellan’s
Cross, we headed directly to the Basilica Minore Del Santo Niño where the image of a
child Jesus is housed. This image of the Child Jesus, known as the "Santo Niño", was
Ferdinand Magellan’s gift to the chief consort of Rajah Humabon on the occasion
of their royal Baptism to Roman Catholicism on 14 April 1521. Unfortunately, we
were not allowed to take pictures of the said image.
“While the priest was dressing, I showed her an image of Our Lady, a very beautiful child Jesus made of wood, and a cross; thereupon, she was seized with contrition, and, weeping, asked for baptism. We named her Juana, after the emperor’s mother. She asked us to give her the little child Jesus to keep in place of her idols. The captain, knowing that the queen was very much pleased with the child Jesus, gave it to her, telling her to keep it in place of her idols, for it was in memory of the son of God”
--Antonio Pigafetta (1521)
(Paintings donated
by various artists are hung on the walls of Basilica Minore Del Santo Niño.)
Next, we went to the statue of Rajah
Humabon in Parian, Cebu City. Before the Spaniards came, Cebu was ruled by a Chieftain
named Rajah Humabon. During his reign, the region had since become an important
trading center where agricultural products were bartered. The harbors of Cebu became
known colloquially as “sinibuayang hingpit” which means "the place for
trading", shortened to “sibu” which means "to trade", from
which the modern Castilian name "Cebú" originates.
“When
he asked them which was the best port in which to get provisions. They replied
that there were three, namely, Ceylon, Cebu, and Caraga. But that Cebu was the
largest and the one with most trade, and they offered of their own accord to
give us pilots to show us the way.”
--Antonio
Pigafetta (1521)
(Behind us is the
Statue of Rajah Humabon, son of Sri Bantug, decendant of the Chola Dynasty, and
Chieftain of Cebu)
Next, we went to Camotes and visited Mactang. From Cebu City we took a 2-hour drive to Danao City, and then another hour of travel via ship from Danao to Camotes. From the port of San Francisco, Pacijan Island, we drove for an hour to reach Mactang, Poro Island, where a lot of Mabulays reside. According to our elders there, as to what was passed down to them by their forefathers, this is where the battle of Mactan actually took place 501 years ago.
Then, I suddenly remembered that my grandmother used to tell me this tale when I was little, but during that time I did not take it seriously. That Lapu-lapu was a native of Poro, Camotes. That Mactan’s original name was not "Mactan" but “Opon”, and Camotes’ original name was “Camotes y Matan” which means “He who killed and he who is killed”, and some of our neighbors there, or perhaps even we ourselves, are indirect descendants of Lapu-lapu and his men. And that in the early 70’s an excavation was made on the beaches of Mactang and my grandmother was there along with my father who was still a child at the time, and they discovered artifacts of war, like swords, lance, spears, pierced skulls indicating that a battle occurred sometime in the past, and bones that were too large for an Asian height. She further added that some artifacts that were discovered are kept in the Camotes museum, but unfortunately, most of them were sold to collectors by the excavators and lost.
My father had also told me that one evening, amid the
excavation, he buried my grandfather’s jar of “tuba” and dug it up the
next morning when the excavators came back and tried to sell it to them, but the
excavators did not believe him.
My grandmother’s tale holds a strong point on the matter but, for now, let’s stick to what the historians taught us and Pigafetta’s written accounts of their voyage. In Pigafetta’s journal, he mentioned the three islands of Camotes. According to his journal, they had to stop on the shores of Camotes to wait for Rajah Kulambu’s boat to catch up.
“There is a
distance of twenty leguas from Mazaua to Gatighan. we set out westward from
Gatighan, but the king of Mazaua could not keep up with us and consequently we
awaited him near three Islands, namely Polo (Poro), Ticobon (Pacijan), and
Pozon (Ponson). When he caught up with us, he was greatly astonished at the
rapidity with which we sailed. The captain-general had him come into his ship
with several of his chiefs, at which they were pleased; thus did we go to Cebu."
--Antonio
Pigafetta
We stayed in Poro for three days before we went back to Cebu. Upon arrival in Cebu, we directly travelled to Mactan Shrine in Lapu-lapu City to visit the monument of Lapu-lapu. As for me, despite the claims of my ancestors, I personally think that the battle of Mactan actually took place here in Punta Engaño, Lapu-lapu City. The reason simply being that according to Pigafetta’s journal, they burned a village named ”Buaya” in the island of Mactan in the middle of the heated battle. There is no settlement in Poro that is named Buaya, or atleast none that I’m aware of.
There is, however, one settlement in Camotes named “Sonog” which means “Burnt”,
but that settlement is near the town of San Francisco on the Island of Pacijan,
not in Poro, and is too far away from Mactang. Had the battle of Mactan taken
place in Camotes, Lapu-lapu’s men would have had to cross the narrow sea
between Poro and Pacijan to stop Magellan’s men from burning that village.
In Lapu-lapu City, on the other hand,
Barangay Buaya is just a walking distance from Mactan Shrine in Punta, Engaño
where the battle of Mactan is believed to have taken place. I know this very well because
I spent four years in college in Lapu-lapu City, and I once had a friend who
lives there.
(quick disclaimer:
I could be wrong about this, but unless a time-machine is invented this is what I
personally think)
“Near
that island of Cebu was an island called Mactan, which formed the port where we
were anchored; the name of its village was Mactan, and its chiefs were Zula and
Cilapulapu. That village we burned was on that island and was called Bulaia
(Buaya).”
“The
captain-general sent some men to burn their houses in order to terrify them.
When they saw their houses burning, they were roused to greater fury. Two of
our men were killed near the houses, and we managed to burn twenty or thirty
houses.”
--Antonio
Pigafetta (1521)
(Behind
us is the statue of Lapu-lapu, Son of Datu Manggal and Chieftain of Mactan)
Lapu-lapu was one of the two Chieftains
of Mactan before the Spanish arrived in the archipelago, the other being Zula,
both of whom belong to the 'Maginoo' class. When Portuguese explorer Ferdinand
Magellan arrived in the Philippines in the service of Spain, Zula was one of
those who gave tribute to the Spanish king while Lapu-lapu refused.
Lapu-lapu's hostility may have been
the result of a mistaken assumption by Magellan. He believed that since Rajah
Humabon was the "king" of Cebu, he was the king of Mactan as
well. But the island of Mactan, the territory of Lapu-lapu and Zula, was in a
location that enabled them to intercept trade ships entering the harbor of
Cebu, Humabon's territory. Thus, it was more likely that Lapu-lapu was actually
more powerful than Humabon, or at least was the undisputed ruler of Mactan.
Humabon was married to Lapu-lapu's niece. When Magellan demanded that Lapu-lapu
submit as his "king" Humabon had done, Lapu-lapu purportedly
replied that "he was unwilling to come and do reverence to one whom he
had been commanding for so long a time".
“On
Friday, 26 April, Zula, a chief of the island of Mactan, sent one of his sons
to present two goats to the captain-general, and to say that he would send him
all that he had promised, but that he had not been able to send it to him because
of the other chief, Cilapulapu, who refused to obey the king of Spain.”
--Antonio
Pigafetta (1521)
This is the place where the battle of
Mactan took place 501 years ago. This monument behind us, known as the “Magellan
Marker”, was built by Spanish Governor-General Francisco Alcala in 1866 to
pay as tribute to the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan after the Spaniards
failed to retrieve his body from Lapu-lapu. According to Pigafetta’s journal,
the Spaniards tried to retrieve Magellan’s body through tributes of gold and
jewelries but Lapu-lapu and his men refused. The monument bears the inscription
"Glorias Españolas" or "Glory to the Spaniards"; and
on one side, Magellan's name is written in the original Portuguese language.
“When we reached
land, those men had formed in three divisions to the number of more than
fifteen hundred people. As soon as they became aware of us, they charged down
upon us with exceedingly loud cries, two divisions on our flanks and the other
on our front. When the captain saw that, he formed us into two divisions, and
thus did we begin to fight.”
--Antonio
Pigafetta (1521)
This mural painting depicts the
decisive battle of Mactan and how Lapu-lapu and his men overpowered the
Spaniards in 1521. Looking at this painting gave us a glimpse of the past on how
they repelled European aggression which delayed the Spanish occupation for 44
years, hence making Lapu-lapu the first Filipino Hero. In Pigafetta’s accounts
of the battle, Lapu-lapu appeared to be a master tactician and a great military
commander. A kind of ruler you don’t want to mess with.
“The
musketeers and crossbowmen shot from a distance for about a half-hour, but uselessly;
for they merely pierced their shields, which were made of thin wood, and their
arms. The captain cried to them, ‘Cease firing, cease firing!’ but his order
was not at all heeded. When the natives saw that we were shooting our muskets
to no purpose, crying out, they determined to stand firm, and they redoubled
their shouts when our muskets ran out of ammunition. The natives would never
stand still, but leaped here and there, covering themselves with their shields.
They shot very many arrows, bamboo spears (some of them tipped with iron); at
the captain-general they launched pointed stakes hardened with fire, stones,
and mud. We could scarcely defend ourselves.”
--Antonio
Pigafetta (1521)
On this very spot where we were
standing, Magellan died. From a crew of 270 men in 1519, only 18 of them had
successfully made it back to Spain in 1522. And Ferdinand Magellan, after
travelling more than half-way around the world, was not able to fulfill his
quest to circumnavigate the Earth and discover the unknown... Or did he?
“Recognizing
the captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his helmet off his head twice,
but he always stood firm like a good knight along with some others. We fought
thus for more than one hour, refusing to retreat farther; an Indian hurled a
bamboo spear into the captain’s face. The latter immediately killed him with
his lance, which he left in the Indian’s body. Then, trying to lay hand on
sword, he could draw it out only halfway, because he had been wounded in the
arm with a bamboo spear. When the natives saw that, they all hurled themselves
upon him. One of them wounded him on the left leg with a large ‘terciado’,
which resembles a scimitar, only being larger; that caused the captain to fall
face downward. Immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and
with their cutlasses, until they killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and
our true guide. When they wounded him, he turned back many times to see whether
we were all in the boats. Thereupon, beholding him dead, we, wounded, retreated
as best we could to the boats, which were already pulling off.”
--Antonio
Pigafetta (1521)
Let us wind our clocks back to 1511 –
1514 when Magellan was a young soldier serving under the King of Portugal. He
participated in a number of battles against the Muslim domination in the Indian
Ocean and Morocco where he was accused of illegally trading with the Moors. It
was during the siege of Malacca that he acquired his slave, Enrique. Magellan
later brought him to Europe, where he became a crew member of the
circumnavigation expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan in 1519, and served as the interpreter between them
and the natives of the Visayan Islands. Having known this, therefore, means
that by the time Magellan arrived in the Philippine archipelago in 1521, he
would’ve had already made his circumnavigation. He and his slave Enrique of
Malacca.
As for Lapu-lapu, there is no record
as to what happened to him after the battle of Mactan. But according to one
folk narrative “Aginid, Bayok sa Atong Tawarik” by Jovito Abellana,
Lapu-lapu travelled to Borneo along with his 11 children in fear that the
Spaniards would return in greater numbers and with superior firepower. However,
according to the urban legend here in Cebu, Lapu-lapu did not leave Mactan nor
did he die, but instead turned into stone, and has since then been guarding the
seas of Mactan.
If you would ask me, I like to think that
Lapu-lapu, after defeating the Spaniards, settled in Mactang, Poro, Camotes and
died there of old age. Because that would honor my ancestors’ claims that we,
the people of Poro, are his indirect descendants.
“I
hope through the efforts of your most illustrious Lordship that the fame of so
noble a captain will not become extinguished in our times. Among the other
virtues, he was more constant than anyone else in the greatest of storms; he
endured hunger better than all others; and more accurately than any man in the
world did he chart and navigate, and that this was the truth was seen openly,
for no other had had so much natural talent nor the boldness nor the knowledge
to sail around the world, as he had almost already accomplished.”
--Antonio Pigafetta (1521)
Lyra is a small constellation in the northern sky. It represents the lyre, a musical instrument with strings used in antiquity and later times. It was first catalogued by the astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. The constellation is home to Vega, the fifth brightest star in the sky and second brightest star in the northern hemisphere, and the famous variable star RR Lyrae.
Lyra contains two Messier objects – Messier 56 (M56, NGC 6779) and Messier 57 (M57, NGC 6720, Ring Nebula) – and has nine stars with known planets.
In Greek mythology, Lyra represents the lyre of Orpheus. Made by Hermes from a tortoise shell, given to Apollo as a bargain, it was said to be the first lyre ever produced. Orpheus's music was said to be so great that even inanimate objects such as trees, streams, and rocks could be charmed.
In Greek Mythology, Cygnus involves two Gods who were racing chariots in space. The two friends were so intent and focused on the race that they were not paying attention to where they were going. Suddenly, they found themselves too close to the sun, and their chariots started to melt. The two friends fell toward the Earth. One fell through some trees, which broke his fall. The other landed in a river and was knocked unconscious. The first friend wanted to rescue the other from the river but did not know how to swim. He asked Zeus to turn him into a swan, so that he could dive to the bottom of the river and save his friend.
Moved by the young man’s friendship, Zeus turned him into a swan. He dove to the bottom of the river and saved his friend’s life. Zeus was again moved by his bravery, so when the swan died, Zeus placed him in the sky to serve as a reminder of courage and friendship.
Centaurus is one of two constellations said to represent the Centaurs, mythical creatures with a human head and torso on top of a horse's body.
Centaurus was the name of the first Centaur. Centaurus is also associated with Chiron the Sagittarius. One legend says that Chiron was the first to identify the constellations and taught them to humans. As a demonstration, he placed an image of himself in the sky.
According to the Greek mythology, Orion was envied by his lover's brother Apollo for being the most handsome man alive. Apollo went to Mother Earth and asked her to create a giant scorpion, which then stung and killed Orion.
According to the Greek Mythology, Chiron was one of the many centaurs. However, he was different from all of the other centaurs for a number of reasons. One main reason was that Chiron was born half man and half horse, whereas the other centaurs were born of the sun and rain clouds.
One day Chiron was accidentally shot with a poisoned arrow by Hercules. Even though he was a great physician, Chiron could not heal himself. And because he was immortal, Chiron also could not die but he was suffering from the agonizing pain caused by the poisoned arrow.
In order to die, Chiron offered to replace Prometheus who was punished by the Gods for giving fire to man. As Chiron gave up his immortality to release Prometheus from his chains, Zeus king of the gods saw the kindness of Chiron and immortalized him in the stars.
Time: 07:00PM GMT+8
Location: 12.0719N 120.0602E
The constellation Gemini represents the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology. The children of Leda and Argonauts both. Pollux was the son of Zeus, who seduced Leda, while Castor was the son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta and Leda's husband. When Castor died, because he was mortal, Pollux begged his father Zeus to give Castor immortality, and he did, by uniting them together in the heavens.
Time: 09:47PM GMT+8
Location: 12.0489N 120.1519E
In Roman mythology, the Big Dipper is associated with the beautiful nymph Callisto who gave birth to the son of Jupiter (Zeus in Greek mythology). Juno (Greek Hera), the wife of Jupiter, turned Callisto into a bear out of jealousy as to punish Callisto and take away her beauty.
Time: 09:47PM GMT+8
Location: 12.0489N 120.1519E
The constellation Corvus represents the raven (or crow), Apollo's sacred bird in Greek mythology. According to the myth, the raven originally had white feathers. Apollo told the bird to watch over Coronis the Lapith, one of his lovers, who was pregnant at the time. Coronis had been unfaithful to Apollo; when he learned this information from a pure white crow, he turned its feathers black in a fit of rage.
Time: 9:47PM GMT+8
Location: 12.0489N 120.1519E
The constellation Virgo is usually depicted with angel-like wings holding an ear of wheat in her left hand, marked by the bright star Spica. It is often said to personify Persephone the Goddess of spring season, daughter of Demeter the Goddess of harvest.
According to the Greek mythology, eternal spring once reigned upon the Earth until Persephone was abducted by the God of the underworld Hades. Her mother Demeter was so overcome with grief over the loss of her beloved daughter that she ruined the harvest in her despair. The Earth would not bear fruit again until Demeter is reunited with her daughter Persephone.
Humanity would have died altogether had Zeus not intervened. He insisted that the God of the underworld Hades return Persephone to her mother Demeter. Persephone was then given back to her mother, but she has to return to the underworld for four months in every year.
As I get older, I realize that it's not good for you to
compare your achievements to other people. Because there are people who have
just been born, yet their parents have already been in a high life state. There
are also others who were born in a state that is more pitiful than you. It
shouldn't be a pity to lift others up, and you also shouldn't brag about
your own upliftment. Because no matter how hard you try, there will always be some who
are more lucky and more unlucky than you. Some are married to a rich family,
and some are also struggling because they are fighting against a serious illness.
There are people who are surrounded by the right connections and environment,
the right education and money, and some who are surrounded with grave the
problems.
All we can probably do is work hard and wait for the rain of
grace to be upon us. If someday we will be able to get together properly, we should realize that we are all but mere farmers and we do not hold the rain.
A Conjunction happens when two or more planets align, and in our perspective here on Earth, they appear next to each other in the same horizon. In my experience as an Amateur Astronomer, conjunctions occur quite often. Almost every year, I see planets appear to pass each other in the night sky whenever I look up. I myself admit that I don’t look up very often. This is due to the fact that I have a job and a family to spend time with. But on average, I see about one or two conjunctions in a year.
But this time, this conjunction is different from the common ones. Because this time, the two gas giants – Jupiter and Saturn, will appear closest to each other in 800 years! They will appear very close to each other that they will seem to intersect or to almost collide when viewed from the Earth. This rare type of conjunction is called as ”the Great Conjunction” and it only occurs once in every 800 years.
Thinking about the great conjunction and its rarity, I could not help but compare and discern the difference between our timescale and astronomical timescale. 800 years ago, Genghis Khan was just about to conquer Europe; and the Philippines was not yet colonized by Spain. 800 years ago, even our great-great grandparents were not yet born. It is bizarre yet amazing to think that the last time this great conjunction happened, the people who witnessed it were barbarians and uncivilized. I bet that they didn’t even know what it was.
Time has changed since then and a lot of things happened in our history. But in astronomical timescale? Not that much. 800 years may be long for us, but in astronomical timescale it is just a mere blink of an eye. It makes me realize how lucky I am to be alive at this point in time. Because the next time that this great conjunction occurs, I will have been long dead.
Photo Credits: NASA via Starry Night
