18 March 2023, Magellan Landing Site, Pagbabangnan, Homonhon Is., Guiuan, Eastern Samar
On behalf of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), please accept my warm greetings to the people of the Municipality of Guiuan and the Province of Eastern Samar.
It’s been two years since we marked the 500th anniversary of the Philippine part in the first circumnavigation of the world here in Guiuan. Your town is uniquely historic owing to its strategic location in the Pacific. Guiuan, particularly Suluan and Homonhon, was the initial territories of our ancestors the first circumnavigators of the planet had sighted on 16 March 1521. Previously called “the discovery of the Philippines,” the said event has been corrected by the now-defunct National Quincentennial Committee (NQC). As the inheritor of the NQC, the NHCP reiterates that we were not discovered by Magellan. Rather, it was a mutual contact between two peoples and cultures. And that contact was a cordial one. Our ancestors from Suluan showed the world our culture of compassion and magnanimity by saving the crew of Magellan from hunger, thirst, undernourishment, and hopelessness who had no decent food and drinks for almost four months. our ancestors did not attack nor harass Magellan. They did not kick out Magellan who sought refuge in an apparently sacred island to our ancestors called Homonhon on 17 March 1521. Instead, on this day, March 18, five hundred-two years ago, our ancestors from the nearby island of Suluan checked the condition of Magellan and his crew in Homonhon. Upon learning they were dying of hunger and thirst; our magnanimous ancestors offered them food and drinks. This cordiality was maintained by our ancestors for the next seven days before the Magellan-Elcano expedition continued its journey to Moluccas in present-day Indonesia.
Our quincentennial commemoration two years ago was not about Magellan’s arrival nor jubilation that Spain arrived. Once again, I reiterate: our commemoration is about the mutual contact between two peoples and cultures. Although completely alien to one another, history recorded a heartwarming contact with our ancestors emerging dignified, magnanimous, and noble. My personal key takeaway from the quincentennial commemoration is this: the quincentennial taught us to see ourselves in history always. We need to highlight our own selves whenever we reminisce or study our shared past. Gone were the days when our ancestors were portrayed as barbaric, uncivilized, and exotic. Our job now is to continue the best practices we learned from the quincentennial. And one of these is to reset our mindset that here in Guiuan, especially Suluan and Homomhon, we were not discovered. rather, it was a mutual contact, as I repeatedly say.
I am grateful that the municipality of Guiuan still continues in upholding the branding the NQC had fostered. the event we are having now is entitled “502nd Anniversary of Philippine-Spanish Contact and the Humanity in Homonhon.” The said name of the event is proudly formulated by the NHCP. I hope this title will last as this represents a Filipino viewpoint of what seemed to be a history of Spain in the Philippines. Our interest in this history is our own ancestors. They are the ones we need to save from oblivion and be raised to their rightful place in Philippine history.
Whenever a Filipino is losing his spirit to be a Filipino, the monuments we erected in Calicoan, Suluan, and Homonhon must serve as beacons of pride in our hearts and minds. That our ancestors were good people and noble and our past is great. I congratulate the municipality of Guiuan led by Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan for leading the Filipino people in continuing the legacy of the quincentennial to think Filipino as always. We must protect our ancestors from being maligned and ridiculed again.
Thank you and good morning.