One in a million Meridian

I remembered in one of our discussion in my classes in Masters regarding the contention of the 1^st mass in the Philippines. There are 2 camps regarding this contention. One is the Masao, Butuan and the other is the Limasawa, Leyte. The Pro-Masao argue that Limasawa cannot be the site of the 1^st mass because Limasawa’s population at the time of Magellan’s arrival is not that sufficient and inhabitants are spread all over the island. But the Pro-Limasawa countered that the name of Limasawa and its pronunciation was corrupted by the explorers from “Limasawa” to “Mazaua” thus sounding like “Masao”.

But in 1998, during the Philippine Centennial Commission Reading, a surprise came when the original logbook of the Magellan voyage was presented. There in the logbook was a complete log of coordinates of the voyage. And as it seems to put the issue to rest, the coordinates fit exactly at Limasawa! Problem solved…not.

How can we be sure it was really Limasawa and not Masao? We forgot one thing that cartography is also in contention before…the Prime Meridian.

The Prime Meridian we know and use today is the Greenwich Prime Meridian. But during the Exploration Age, this is non-existent and in fact each European country had Prime Meridian different from one another. Perhaps the most famous of these Prime Meridians is the Paris Meridian. It was used in France and its territory from its foundation in 1667 up to 1914!

As a historian, we had to consider these small details especially regarding cartography since there are many maps and coordinates that are not creating in uniforms. The question now is, if we were to plot the said coordinates USING the Greenwich Meridian, this might not be the actual coordinates of the 1^st mass in the Philippines. With this we come to a question on what Meridian did the Magellan Expedition used to plot their coordinates

For sure the Paris and the Greenwich Meridian is out of the question. The Paris Meridian will only come during the 1667 while the Greenwich Meridian will only be adapted in 1884. Was it the Seville Meridian? It is possible because Seville is an important city in Spain during the Magellan Expedition and the Primate of all Spain. Another possible Meridian used by the Expedition was either the Pisa or Rome Meridian. This is also possible because sophisticated cartography centers are in Italy and Magellan’s chronicler is an Italian, Antonio Pigafetta. So, what Meridian did Magellan use? Can this solve the on-going contention of Masao and Limasawa debate?

(Blogger’s note: Images are taken from www.wikipedia.org)

Finally...they will be remembered

Better late than never but I am happy to know that our brave Muslim brothers will finally get the much needed recognition for their bravery and freedom loving thanks to Senator Aquilino Pimentel. Although I am not a big fan of him, but with the bill he written for the recognition of the brave men, women and children of Jolo, I’ll give a plus credit for that.

So what is this bill all about? The bill proposes that March 6 will be called “Bud Dajo Day” in his Senate Resolution No. 70. The resolution was co-authored by then enate President Franklin Drilon and Senators Juan Flavier, Francis Pangilinan, Edgardo Angara, Rodolfo Biazon, Pia Cayetano, Loi Ejercito-Estrada, Jinggoy Estrada, Richard Gordon, Panfilo Lacson, Alfredo Lim, Jamby Madrigal, Sergio Osmeña III, Ralph Recto and Ramon Revilla, Jr.

Citing an account of the Battle of Dajo in the book “Swish of the Kris,” written by historian Vic Hurley, Sen. Pimentel said an examination of the dead showed that many of the Moros had up to 50 wounds. Of the 1,000 Tausugs who fought the invaders, only six men escaped the carnage.

Pimentel said the bravery and martyrdom of the defenders of Bud Dajo can be compared to the legendary feat of Jewish Zealots who fought the Roman colonizers in the year 72 of the Christian Era at the top of the mountain fortress called Masada. Rather than surrender to the Roman invaders, the Jewish people all committed suicide.

Pimentel said the ne’er-say-die spirit of the Tausugs at Bud Dajo was also replicated by the Japanese Kamikaze pilots who crashed their planes on American warships in the battle over Okinawa towards the end of World War II in the Pacific.

“Bud Dajo stands proud in the annals of bravery of people fighting for the freedom of their homeland that was certainly on the level of Masada and higher than those of Okinawa and Saipan,” he said.

(Blogger’s note: some portions are taken from the Philippine Senate website dated March 8, 2006 entitled 1,000 TAUSUG WARRIORS WHO FOUGHT AND DIED AT BUD DAJO BATTLE DECLARED AS “MARTYRS OF FREEDOM”)

Fun with Alibata

It is rather shameful for my part that I don’t know how to write the ancient alphabet of our ancestors: The Baybayin or in a more popular term – Alibata. I know it is a shame because if Egyptians can read the Ancient Hieroglyphics of their ancestors, should we Filipinos, especially historians, can read it too?

When I look into the Alibata whether it is hard to understand, it wasn’t that hard. In fact, it is like reciting our abakada. To show how easy it is, refer to the picture on the side.

As noticed, there is only 3 vowels in the old alphabet namely; A, I, U. The vowels E and O will only be introduced after the arrival of the Spaniards. This addition was necessary for the Spaniards, especially the friars, in Romanizing the Alibata easier. However, E and O’s Alibata is similar to I and U’s Alibata. Another interesting fact is D and R are of same Alibata. There were no mistake on this nor is one of the Alibata missing. This is due to the fact that both D and R are interchangeable.

Like their alphabet counterparts, vowels can stand alone but consonants cannot. In the Alibata, there is a kudlit (’) on top or bottom of a consonant Alibata. If the kudlit is on top, it is with the vowel E/I and if the kudlit is under, it is with the vowel O/U. If there is no kudlit at all, it means the vowel A is with it. To clearly see this kudlit in an Alibata, take a look on the photo beside.

Another problem posed by the Spaniards in the lack of a stand-alone consonant. At this point, the Spaniards made an innovation in the Alibata. The solution…put a cross underneath an Alibata! An example is on this image beside.

Now, let’s have fun with Alibata. I found a website that can translate a word into Alibata. I decided to translate my full name; Gene Michael Atanacio. It is a common sense that the Alibata don’t have some western alphabet so I substitute some of the letters on my name to its closest equivalent. I substituted C with K and S (depending on the sound of the letter C). Here is my name in the Alibata in both the Traditional and Modified version of the Alibata.

The Traditional one without the Spanish modification. there is no K or L on my name in this form of the Alibata

This is the Spanish Modification. There is now K and L in my name in this form of Alibata. To have more of translating Alibata, click on this link: Ating Baybayin, Our Filipino Script. Have fun with Alibata!

Americans are haunted by Mt. Bud Dajo

Yesterday, September 11, we remember that day as the beginning of the “War on Terror”. Not surprisingly, the current US president, George W. Bush, decides to go cowboy on his so-called “War on Terror”. 5 years later…what happened already on his campaign? Nada! Personally, this “War on Terror” is nothing more but a stupid, cowboy rodeo of Bush.

Call this a déjà vu but I just remembered how the big US of A decided to wage war against “terrorist” and “insurgents” here in the Philippines. And what an irony because it was in Mindanao that one of the bloodiest episode of the Philippine-American War took place: the Battle of Mt. Bud Dajo.

100 years ago, 1906 to be exact, Mt. Bud Dajo was the bastion of Muslim Resistance against the American troops invading Mindanao. The Americans succeeded in capturing the mountain but at a terrible price. 600 Muslim men, women and children were massacred who were courageously resisting the Americans despite the odds that they only have bolos, faith in Mohammed and the desire for freedom. Mt. Bud Dajo, therefore, became a sacred mountain to all the Filipino Muslims as a remembrance of the bravery of their ancestors and remembers the fallen that shed blood and tears for freedom.

100 years later, American troops cannot shake the ghosts of their fore bearers and the massacre continues to haunt them. Despite telling natives to “forgive, forget and move on”, how can these people moved on with history when innocent lives were lost to aggressive Americans who dreamed of an empire in Asia? How can Filipino Muslims, terrorist of not, dealt with the fact that the Americans defiled and desecrated Mindanao with their atrocities? It’s hard and history should not be forgotten like a children’s fight of yesterday.

"I think it's just important that we not be held hostage to history," US Army Colonel James Linder, the top American commander in the Philippines, told villagers in Jolo's provincial capital in Patikul. Err…dear Colonel Linder, did your American History textbook deodorized and cut the pages of this shameful past of the US in the Philippines wherein The killings were denounced by many Americans at the time, including Mark Twain?

Of course Colonel Linder’s countered…"I won't stay here and make an excuse for something that happened 100 years ago," he said. "We truly do mean to do good things to the people in this island," he said. Well said but when will your government and the American people will acknowledge this history was America’s greatest blunder and the most atrocious?

A US Embassy officer, Stephen Ashby, said he would convey the apology demand to American officials.” It saddens me that that happened and ... the American people at the time spoke out on that issue," he said, adding that one of the great things about the U.S. is that "when our government or our military makes a mistake, we hold them accountable because they serve us." Linder explained that the American troops who are here now had no involvement in Jolo's war and urged villagers to cast aside biases in judging his men.

I hate to say this but no matter how “humanitarian” it is, the bloody hands of your fore bearers are still fresh on these people. Take it slow Mr. Ashby and in the next 100 years, perhaps, before these people will be your friends again.

(Blogger’s Note: some parts of this blog is taken at Philippine Daily Inquirer “As Americans mourn 9/11, Filipinos bewail 1906 Jolo killings” Sept. 11, 2001.)