TRIVIA in Philippine History

TRIVIA

First Circumnavigator of the Globe
Although many historians considered him as the first circumnavigator of the globe, Ferdinand Magellan never completed his voyage around the planet. Magellan, a sea captain, commanded a fleet of five wooden Spanish ships with 241 men on board and embarked on what is now considered as "the greatest of all epics of human discovery". Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who discovered America for Spain, traveled 8,000 miles aboard a Spanish ship across the Atlantic Ocean. But Magellan's men embarked on an expedition that brought them 42,000 miles around the planet.

The voyage began on September 20, 1519. Magellan and his three remaining ships reached the Philippines on March 17, 1521. On April 27, he was killed by the men of Lapulapu, chieftain of Mactan Island in the Philippines. Only one ship, the Trinidad, with 18 European crewmen led by Sebastian del Cano and four Malay crewmen (maybe Filipinos) completed the trip around the world and arrived in Seville, Spain in 1522.

First Landing
On March 16, 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in service of Spain landed at Samar.

First Mass
On March 31, 1521 (Easter Sunday) Spanish friar Pedro Valderama conducted the first Catholic mass in Limasawa, Leyte. Rajah Kolambu, who forged a blood compact of friendship with Magellan two days earlier, attended along with Rajah Siagu.

First Filipino Christians
On April 14, 1521, Rajah Humabon, Rajah Kolambu, and 400 other Filipino natives were baptized into Christianity during a ceremony administered by friar Pedro Valderamma.

First Filipino Priest
In 1590, Martin Lakandula was ordained as an Augustinian priest, becoming the first native Filipino to serve as a friar. In 1906, Jorge Barlin became the first Filipino bishop under the Roman Catholic Church. The first Filipino archbishop was Viviano Gorordo while the first Filipino cardinal was Rufino Cardinal Santos.

First Chair
It was said that Filipinos first used a chair in April 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan gave Rajah Humabon of Cebu a red velvet Spanish chair. According to Halupi, a book of essays on Philippine history, early Filipinos used to sit on the floor. 

First Spanish Monument
Also on April 14, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan planted a huge cross in Cebu. It was here where friar Valderama baptized Rajah Humabon, Rajah Kolambu and 400 other Filipinos into Christianity.

First Battle
On April 14, 1521, the first battle between Filipinos and the European conquerors took place in Mactan, Cebu. Filipino chieftain Lapu-lapu defeated Magellan and his men. After Magellan was killed, Sebastian del Cano led his men back to Spain, completing their voyage around the planet.

First Religious Order
The Franciscans were the first Catholic religious order to establish their presence in the Philippines. The Franciscans came here in 1577; Jesuits, 1581; Dominicans, 1587; Recollects, 1606; Paulists, 1862; Sisters of Charity, 1862; Capuchins, 1886; and Benedictines, 1895.

First Spanish-Filipino Marriage
In 1585, Spanish soldier Pablo Alvarez married Nicolasa de Alvarez, a native of Lubao, Pampanga.

First Muslims
Makdum, Rajah Baguinda and Abu Bakar propagated Islam in the Philippines in the 15th Century.

First Spanish Governor General
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who founded the first European settlement in Cebu City in 1565, is considered the first Spanish governor general in the Philippines. He founded the city of Manila and declared it the capital of the archipelago on June 3, 1571. The last Spanish governor general in the Philippines was Riego delos Rios in 1898.

First Archbishop
Domingo Salazar was the first archbishop of the Philippines, which was regarded as a single diocese in the 1580s.

First Filipina Directress
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, Sor Candida Ocampo was the first and only Filipino who became a directress of an Spanish institution in the Philippines. In 1594, Ocampo, who was born in Camarines Sur, was appointed as the directress of Colegio de Santa Isabel.

First Cannon Maker
Even before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, Filipino natives had already learned the trick of making cannons, perhaps from Chinese traders. Historians claimed that Panday Pira who lived between 1483 and 1576 had devised the cannons which Muslim leader Rajah Sulayman used to protect Manila against the invading Spanish troops. Panday Pira was from Tarlac.

First Chinese Kingdom
After attacking Manila, Chinese conqueror Limahong established a kingdom near the mouth of Agno River in Pangasinan province on December 3, 1574. Agno was the seat of the old civilization. Historians have mentioned one Princess Urduja who ruled Pangasinan before the Spaniards came. In 1660, Filipino leader Malong attempted to establish another kingdom in Pangasinan.

First Revolt
The first attempt to rise against Spanish colonial rule was carried out by chieftains of Bulacan led by Esteban Taes in 1587. On October 26, 1588, Spanish authorities discovered a plot by Magat Salamat of Hagonoy who tried to enlist the support of his relatives in Borneo.

First Filipino in Exile
Felipe Salonga of Polo, Bulacan (now Valenzuela City) became the first Filipino who was put in exile by Spanish authorities for starting a revolt in Bulacan in 1587. He was exiled to Mexico.

First Mention of King of Tagalogs
New historical writings have mentioned the name of one Raha Matanda or Rajah Ache (Lakandula) who ruled over Tondo, a kingdom encompassing an area that now includes Bulacan, Metro Manila, Rizal and Quezon in the 16th Century. Rajah Matanda was the heir to his father's throne and was a grandson of Sultan Siripada I (Bolkeiah I) of Borneo. In 1643, Don Pedro Ladia of Borneo who claimed to be a descendant of Rajah Matanda started a revolt and called himself the king of the Tagalog. He was executed in Manila. Historians said that when the troops of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi attacked Manila in 1571, the men of Rajah Soliman - the king of Manila - rose up in resistance.

In 1847, Apolinario dela Cruz of Tayabas was considered king of the Tagalogs. Bernardo Carpio, a mythical giant character, was also regarded as a king of the Tagalogs. In the 1900s, the revolutionary government proclaimed Macario Sakay as the president of the Tagalog Republic.

First Chinese Revolt
On October 3, 1603, the Chinese rose in revolt in Manila and was driven away to San Pablo, Laguna where they made their last stand.

First Juan dela Cruz
A certain Pantaleon Perez led the Pangasinan revolt on November 3, 1762. Perez assumed the name Juan dela Cruz Palaris. It was mentioned that on November 11, 1849, most illiterate Filipinos during the administration of Spanish governor general Narciso Claveria y Zaldua were given the Christian surname dela Cruz. Our great ancestors, who could not read and write, drew a cross as their signature on documents and so were known for their dela Cruz surnames. In contrast, Filipino descendants of rajahs and noble men were given the option to keep their names. Among the clans, who were also exempted from forced labor and paying taxes under the Spanish rule, were the Lakandulas, Solimans, Gatmaitans, Gatbontons, Salongas, Layas, Lapiras, Macapagals, Salamats, Manuguits, Balinguits, Banals, Kalaws, among others.

First Filipino
The first man who used Filipino as a title of citizenship was Luis Rodriguez Varela, a Spaniard who was born in Manila. He preferred to be called El Conde Pilipino in 1795. (Source: Halupi)

First Map
The first Philippine map was drawn in 1734 by Nicolas dela Cruz and Francisco Suarez under the instruction of Jesuit historian Pedro Murillo Velarde. The original map was 27 inches wide and 42 inches long.

First Dutch Presence
On June 10, 1647, a Dutch fleet arrived in Manila Bay and later attacked Cavite province.

First British Presence
On October 4, 1762, British forces invaded Manila. They took possession of Intramuros until May 31, 1764.

First Filipino Printer
The Spaniards introduced the art of printing in the Philippines, almost half a century before the Americans learned how to use it. It is believed that the first book in the country was Doctrina Christiana en letra y lengua China, which was printed in 1593 by Juan de Vera, a Filipino-Chinese. In 1948, Fray Jose Gonzales of the Dominican Order discovered this book in the Vatican Library. Tomas Pinpin is regarded as the first Filipino printer. He was born in Abucay, Bataan but records about his birth were lost after the Dutch invaders destroyed the town of Abucay in 1646. Pinpin learned the art of printing from the Chinese artisans when he worked in the shop of Filipino-Chinese printer, Luis Beltran. 

Among his works were Arte y Reglas de la Lengua Tagala (1610) and the Librong Pag-aaralan nang mga Tagalog nang Uicang Castila (1610) printed in Bataan. From 1609 to 1639, Pinpin printed more than a dozen titles. Other literary pieces, which appeared during this period were the poems of Pedro Bukaneg (1590-1626), Fernando Bagongbanta (1605), and Pedro Ossorio (1625). The art of modern printing was discovered by German scholar Johannes Gutenberg (1394-1468). The Chinese, however, are credited for having developed their own system of printing, hundreds of years before Gutenberg was born.

First Newspaper
In 1637, Tomas Pinpin published Successos Felices (Fortunate Events), a 14-page newsletter in Spanish that is now widely regarded as the first Philippine newsletter. On December 1, 1846, La Esperanza, the first daily newspaper, was published in the country. Other early newspapers were La Estrella (1847), Diario de Manila (1848) and Boletin Oficial de Filipinas (1852). The first provincial newspaper was El Eco de Vigan (1884), which was issued in Ilocos.

First Magazine and Journal
Seminario Filipino, the first religious magazine in the country, was first issued in 1843. Meanwhile, El Faro Juridico became the first professional journal in the country when it saw print in 1882.

First Guide Book
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the first guidebook in the Philippines (Guia de Forasteros) was printed in 1834.

First Novel
According to literary expert Bievenido Lumbera, the first Filipino novel was Ninay, written by Pedro Paterno and published in 1880. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere was published in 1887 while El Filibusterismo came out of the press in 1891. The first English novel written in English by a Filipino was Zoilo Galang's A Child of Sorrow.

First Woman Writer and Poet
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the first Filipino poetess was Leona Florentino of Ilocos while the first Filipino woman writer was Rosario de Leon of Pampanga. The first Filipino woman novelist, Galang added, was Magalena Jalandoni from Visayas while the first Filipino woman who wrote an English novel was Felicidad Ocampo.

First Non-Catholic Marriage
The first non-Catholic marriage in Manila under the Spanish control took place in the early 19th Century when American Henry Sturgis, who arrived in the country in 1827, married Josephina Borras of Manila. They were wed aboard a British warship at the Manila harbor. 

First Bakery
In 1631, the Spanish government established and operated the first bakery in Manila.

First Drugstore
Botica Boie is considered the first drugstore in the country, having been established by Dr. Lorenzo Negrao in 1830.

First Lighthouse
In 1846, the Farola was built at the mouth of Pasig River, becoming the first lighthouse in the country.

First Electric Lamp
The first electric lamp in the country is said to be the one designed by Ateneo students in 1878, 12 years before Thomas Houston Electric Co. installed Manila's first electric street lights.

First Botanical Garden
In 1858, Governor General Fernando Norzagaray ordered the establishment of the Botanical Garden. It can now be found beside the Manila City Hall.

First Waterworks
Manila had its first centralized water system in July 1882 following the completion of the Carriedo waterworks, whose reservoir was in Marikina. 

First Railroad
In 1892, a railway connecting Manila and Dagupan was completed. It was operated by the Manila Railroad Company.

First Telephone System
The first telegraph line was opened in 1873 while the country's first telephone system was established in Manila in 1890. Electric lines were first installed in 1895. 

First Mining Firm
In the early 19th Century, Johann Andreas Zobel founded the first iron and copper mining firm in Bulacan and Baguio. The first Zobel in the country was Jacobo Zobel Hinsch, a German who went to Manila in 1849. One of the Zobels - Jacobo Zobel Zangroniz latter married Trinidad Ayala de Roxas, an heir of the rich Ayala and Roxas families.

First Calendar
The first calendar with a Philippine almanac was first released in 1897. The first issue of the calendar was titled "La Sonrisa".

First Filipino Chemist
Johann Andreas Zobel also founded the first chemical laboratory in the country. Meanwhile, Anacleto del Rosario is considered as the first Filipino chemist.

First Philanthropist
Dona Margarita Roxas de Ayala, a daughter of Domingo Roxas, is considered as the first philanthropist in the country. She assumed the control of the family's Casa Roxas in 1843 and was one of the founders of La Concordia College.

First Social Club
The first social club was established in Manila in 1898. It was the Filipino Independiente, a circle of educated and rich Filipino nationalists. It succeeded Jose Rizal's La Liga Filipina, which was more of a movement.

World's First Steel Church
The steel church of San Sebastian, now Basilica Minore, is considered as the world's first-ever all-steel basilica. Designed by Don Genaro Palacios in 1883, this small, jewel box church was prefabricated in Belgium. The steel plates, weighing about 50,000 tons were brought to the Philippines in six ships.  The walls were filled with mixed gravel, sand and cement to fortify the structure. Stained glass windows from France were later installed. The church, an earthquake-proof structure, was completed in 1891. There were arguments that French architect Gustavo Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower of Paris and Statue of Liberty in New York, was also the one who designed the San Sebastian Church.

First Hotel 
It is believed that Hotel del Oriente in Binondo, Manila was the first hotel built in the Philippines. The hotel was a two-story building with 83 rooms fronting the Plaza de Carlos III. It was a first-class hotel constructed in the 1850s just beside the famous landmark, La Insular Cigarette and Cigar Factory. The national hero - Jose Rizal - reportedly stayed at Room 22 of that hotel, facing the Binondo Church. Hotel del Oriente was among the crown jewels of the old Binondo (or Minondoc as it was earlier known) which was named after binundok. It was part of the Provincia de Tondo (now Manila) and was declared one of its districts in 1859.

Both Hotel del Oriente and La Insular were burned down during the Japanese Occupation. The Metrobank building now occupies the former site of the two buildings. The oldest surviving hotel in the country is the Manila Hotel, which was built in 1912. The world's first hotel was the Tremont, which opened in Boston in 1829. It had a dining room for 200 people, 12 public rooms and 120 bedrooms.

First Republic
Early Philippine republics were Kakarong de Sili republic in Pandi, Bulacan; Tejeros Convention in Malabon; and Biak na Bato republic in San Miguel, Bulacan. Historians, however, wrote that the first real Philippine republic was established in Malolos, Bulacan on January 21, 1899. Two days later, the First Philippine Republic was inaugurated while General Emilio Aguinaldo was declared its first president.

First President of Katipunan
It was Deodato Arellano who became the first president of the Katipunan, a revolutionary movement against Spanish rule in the Philippines.

First Vice President
Mariano Trias is considered as the first Filipino vice-president who assumed the post in 1897.

First Army Chief
General Artemio Ricarte served as the first captain general of the Philippine Army which was established by the Tejeros Convention on March 22, 1897. Ricarte was replaced by General Antonio Luna on January 22, 1899.

First Calendar
The first calendar with a Philippine almanac was first released in 1897. The first issue of the calendar was titled "La Sonrisa".

First Protestant Mission
The first Presbyterian mission arrived in the country in April 1899. American couple Dr. and Mrs. James Rodgers led the mission. 

First Filipino Protestant Minister
Nicolas Zamora, a former Catholic priest, later became the first ordained protestant minister in the Philippines.

First Election
The first municipal election in the Philippines was held in Baliuag, Bulacan under the supervision of American military governor general Arthur MacArthur on May 6, 1899.

First Ice Cream Parlor
In December 1899, Clarke's Ice Cream Parlor became the first ice cream parlor in the Philippines when it opened its store at Plaza Moraga in Binondo, Manila. Metcalf Clarke owned it.

First Autonomous Region
Before the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) were formed in the 1980s, Panay Island used to have "Cantonal Republic of Negros". The Americans, however, abolished the republic and turned Negros into a regular province on April 30, 1901.

First American Civil Governor
The first American civil governor in the Philippines became the 27th president of the United States. William Howard Taft, who served in the Philippines from 1901 to 1903, was also the only man who became a US president (1909-1912) and then a Supreme Court chief justice (1921-1930). Known for his weight of over 300 pounds, Taft became a very notable person in the US and the Philippines. One of the largest road networks in Metro Manila, the Taft Avenue, was named after him. President McKinley sent him to head the Philippine Commission in 1900. His task was to form a civil government in a country disrupted by the Spanish-American War and the rebellion led by General Emilio Aguinaldo, whom local historians called the country's first president.

First Superintendent of Manila Schools
Dr. David Prescott Barrows, one of the passengers of American ship USAT Thomas, was appointed the first superintendent of schools for Manila and later the first director of the Bureau of Education. USAT Thomas was named after General George Henry Thomas, a hero of the Battle of Chickamauga during the American Civil War. American journalist Frederic Marquardt coined the term Thomasites to refer to American teachers who came to the Philippines aboard USAT Thomas in 1901. (Source: Panorama Magazine)

First Filipino Superintendent
Camilo Osias was the first Filipino division superintendent of schools. Osias later became a senator.

First American College
The Philippine Normal School (PNS) was the first college established in the country under the American government. PNS opened its campus to Filipino students in Manila on September 1, 1901. It became the Philippine Normal University on January 11, 1992.

First Concrete Building
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the Kneedler Building was the first concrete office building in the Philippines

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First Filipino Chief Justice
In 1901, Cayetano Arrelano became the first Filipino chief justice of the court.

First Registered Professionals
A friend of Jose Rizal, Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, holds the distinction of being the first doctor to sign in the Book I of Registered Professionals on January 25, 1902. Pardo de Tavera, a scientist, was a part of the first Civil Government in the 1900s. Among the members of the Pharmacy profession, it was Dr. Leon Ma. Guerrero who appeared as the first registrant on the second earliest compiled Book I. The date was May 22, 1903. Guerrero is known in history books as the first among many Filipinos to put the Philippines on the scientific map of the world. In Book I of Dentistry, it was Dr. Wallace G. Skidmore who first registered on September 21, 1903. The Board of Dentistry was the first board of professionals created in 1899. The idea of organizing the boards of professionals came from the Americans who occupied the Philippines in 1899. (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)

First Inventor
In 1853, the Spanish colonial government awarded a gold medal to Candido Lopez Diaz, a Filipino who invented a machine for Manila hemp or abaka.

First Filipino Chemist
Johann Andreas Zobel also founded the first chemical laboratory in the country. Meanwhile, Anacleto del Rosario is considered as the first Filipino chemist. 

First Dentist
Bonifacio Arevalo is widely considered as the first Filipino dentist. In 1908, he was the founding president of Sociedad Dental de Filipinas, the first dental organization in the country. In 1912, Colegio Dental del Liceo de Manila became the first dental school. The first woman dentist was Catalina Arevalo. 

First Economist
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the first Filipino economist was Gregorio Sanciangco. 

First Pilot
Leoncio Malinas is considered as the first Filipino pilot. He first flew his plane on April 20, 1920.

First Accountants
Vicente Fabella is considered as the first Filipino certified public accountant (CPA) and Belen Enrile Gutierrez, the first woman CPA in the country.

First Cardiologist
The first Filipino cardiologist was Dr. Mariano Alimurung, who became an honorary member of the Mexican Society of Cardiology.

First West Point Graduate
Vicente Lim was the first Filipino who graduated from the prestigious West Point Academy, a military school in the United States.

First Female Professionals
Among Filipino women, it was Maria Francisco de Villacerna who became the first lawyer; Honoria Acosta-Sison, first physician; Catalina Arevalo, first dentist; Encarnacion Alzona, first historian; Celia Castillo, first sociologist; Filomena Francisco, first pharmacist; Belen Enrile Gutierrez, first CPA; Socorro Simuangco, first dermatologist; Carmen Concha, first film director and producer; Criselda J. Garcia-Bausa, first paleontologist; Felipe Landa Jocano, first anthropologist; and Ali Macawaris, first oceanographer.

A visitor of this website said that Elena Ruiz Causin of Cebu could be among the first female lawyers in the country.

First Railroad
The Manila-Dagupan Railroad was completed in 1901, becoming the country's first railway system.

First Automobile
In 1900, La Estrella del Norte shipped from France to the Philippines a "George Richard", the first ever automobile to have landed on the native soil. Its owner was one Dr. Miciano, a rich doctor. The first shipment of automobiles for sale in the country was in 1907, with Bachrach Motors, an affiliate of American firm Ford Motor Co. as the importer.

First Labor Union
Isabelo delos Reyes, a writer, established the Union Obrera Democratica, the first organized labor union in the country on February 2, 1902.

First Political Party
On November 6, 1902, Pedro Paterno, a writer, scholar and former prime minister of President Emilio Aguinaldo, founded the Liberal political party. 

First Opera
In 1905, Magdapio, the first Filipino opera, was staged at Zorilla Theater. Pedro Paterno wrote the opera, which was set to the music of Bonus.

First Convention of Governors
For the first time on October 2, 1906, the governors of Philippine provinces met in a convention in Manila. Sergio Osmena presided the convention.

First General Elections
The country's first general elections were held on July 30, 1907 under the American government. The people elected the members of the First Philippine Assembly. 

First Speaker
The first speaker of the Philippine Assembly, whose members were elected in 1907, was Sergio Osmena.

First Actor in Politics
Before Lito Lapid became governor of Pampanga and Bong Revilla assumed the governorship of Cavite, Jose Padilla Sr., a movie actor in the 1930s, had served as the provincial governor of Bulacan. The first actor who invaded the senate was Rogelio dela Rosa.

First Diplomats
Benito Legarda and Pablo Ocampo were the first Filipino resident commissioners to the Unites States.

First Labor Day
The first Labor Day in the Philippines was celebrated on May 1, 1913 during the first National Labor Congress in Manila. 

First Film
The first Filipino-produced film, "La Vida de Rizal" was released in 1912. Jose Nepomuceno produced the first Filipino full-length film "Dalagang Bukid" in 1919.

First Actor in Politics
Before Lito Lapid became governor of Pampanga and Bong Revilla assumed the governorship of Cavite, Jose Padilla Sr., a movie actor in the 1930s, had served as the provincial governor of Bulacan. The first actor who invaded the senate was Rogelio dela Rosa. 

First Movie Theater
Salon de Pertierra, the country's first movie theater, was built in Escolta, Manila in 1897. A short French film was first shown in the threater.

First Comic Stip
"Kenkoy" is considered as the first comic strip in the Philippines. Cartoonist Tony Velasquez first published the comic strip in 1929.

First TV Station
Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) Channel 3, the first television station in the country, went on the air in 1953.

First Woman Cabinet Officials
Sofira Reyes de Veyra served as "social secretary" under the Quezon and Roxas administrations. In 1941, former President Elpidio Quirino named Asuncion Arriola Perez as the secretary of the Bureau of Public Welfare.

First Woman Senator
Geronima Pecson was elected to senate in 1947, opening the doors for Filipino women who wanted to join national politics.

First Olympian
David Nepomuceno, a Filipino serving in the US Navy, was the first Filipino Olympian. A sprinter, Nepomuceno was the country's sole representative to the 1924 Olympics, which was held in Paris. 

First Balagtasan
The first balagtasan, a local term for poetic debate in honor of Francisco Balagtas, took place in Manila on April 6, 1924. The first participants were Jose Corazon de Jesus and Florentino Collantes.

First International Opera Singer

Before Lea Salonga became famous in London, New York and Paris for her portrayal of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, a Filipino woman had long gained international recognition in the world of theater. Jovita Fuentes became famous in Europe for her opera lead roles in Madama Butterfly, Turandot, La Boheme, Iris, Salome and Li Tae Pe in the 1930s. 

First Grand Opera
Noli Me Tangere, an adaptation of Jose Rizal's first novel became the first Filipino full-length or grand opera in 1957.

First Woman Barber
In June 1927 issue of Philippine Free Press, Martina Lunud from Olongapo City was featured as "Manila's Lady Barber" who could also be the first professional woman barber. She had to find her niche in the male-dominated profession and worked for La Marina barbershop and People's barbershop in Sta. Cruz, Manila later. "This is not a girl's work, I think, but I have done my best to a certain extent, and my customers like my work," the Free Press quoted Lunud as saying. (Source: Ambeth Ocampo, Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Asia's First Airline 
The Philippine Airlines (PAL), which was established in 1941, takes pride in being Asia's oldest commercial airline. However, huge financial losses forced its owner Lucio Tan to close the airline in September 2000. It resumed operations a few months later. The first commercial flight in the country was recorded on March 15, 1941 when a twin-engine Beech Model 18 owned by PAL carried five passengers from Manila to Baguio City in 45 minutes.

First Senate President
The country's first senate president was Manuel Quezon (1917-1935) under the US government. The senate has produced a number of presidents and political luminaries such as Manuel Roxas, Sergio Osmena, Claro M. Recto, Jose Laurel, Camilo Osias, Eulogio Rodriguez, Juan Sumulong, Quintin Paredes, Lorenzo Tanada, Jose Diokno, Benigno Aquino, Ferdinand Marcos, Arturo Tolentino, Gil Puyat, Jovito Salonga, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

First Female Justice
Cecilia Munoz Palma became the first woman to top the bar exam with a score of 92.6 percent in 1935. Palma also became the first female prosecutor in 1947, the first woman judge at the Court of First Instance in the 1950s, first female justice of the Supreme Court in 1973 and first female president of a constitutional commission in 1986.

First House Speaker Under Republic
Eugenio Perez of San Carlos, Pangasinan became the first speaker of the House of Representatives under the Republic in 1946. Among the laws passed during his tenure were the Magna Carta for Labor, the Minimum Wage Law, the Rural Bank Law and the Central Bank charter.

First Woman Cabinet Officials
Sofira Reyes de Veyra served as "social secretary" under the Quezon and Roxas administrations. In 1941, former President Elpidio Quirino named Asuncion Arriola Perez as the secretary of the Bureau of Public Welfare.

First Woman Senator
Geronima Pecson was elected to senate in 1947, opening the doors for Filipino women who wanted to join national politics. 

First Woman Battalion Commander
Lt. Col. Ramona Palabrica-Go became the first woman battalion commander in the history of the male-dominated Philippine Army in January 2003. She was appointed as commander of the elite Aviation Battalion under the Light Armor Brigade based at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija province. She was 45 years old and had three children at the time of appointment.

First National Celebration of June 12

The first national celebration of June 12 as Independence Day took place in 1962 under the Macapagal administration. Former President Diosdado Macapagal signed the law moving the celebration of the holiday from July 4 to June 12 on May 12, 1962. Quezon Representative Manuel Enverga was the one who proposed the law.

First US President To Visit Manila
US President Dwight Eisenhower became the first incumbent American president to have visited the Philippines when he arrived in Manila on June 14, 1960.

First National Artist
Fernando Amorsolo, a painter, was the first national artist declared by the Philippine government. The award was conferred on Amorsolo in April 1972, several days after his death.

First American Multinational Firm
Computer chips manufacturer Intel Philippines Mfg. Inc. claimed that it was the first American multinational company that established a branch in the Philippines in 1974. Today, the Philippine branch of Intel is one of the top exporters of semiconductor components in the country and contributes significantly to the cash flow of its mother company in the US, which is said to be the world's largest corporation in terms of gross income.

First Aeta Lawyer
At 26, Wayda Cosme became the first Aeta to become a lawyer when she passed the bar exam in 2001. Cosme, a law graduate from Harvadian Colleges in San Fernando City, Pampanga, works for the Clark Development Corp. (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)

First Woman President
In February 1986, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, widow of the late Senator Benigno Aquino, became the country's first woman president and the country's 11th president. In January 2001, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a daughter of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, became the 14th president of the Philippines and the second woman to assume the government's highest post.

First President in Prison
Deposed President Joseph Estrada, who lost the presidency to a military-backed people's revolt, was arrested on charges of plunder and corruption in April 2001. His arrest fomented the now infamous May 1 mob revolt that was suppressed by government forces. As this was being written, the trial of Estrada was still ongoing at the Sandiganbayan or the anti-graft court.

First Muslim Justice Secretary
In January 2003, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Simeon Datumanong, a Muslim, as the secretary of the Department of Justice, replacing Hernando Perez, who resigned on corruption charges.

First Award of Ancestral Domain
In what the Arroyo government described as a historic event and the first in the world, it awarded on July 20, 2002 a certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) for the town of Bakun in Benguet province where some 17,000 Kankanaey and Bago people live. The title covers some 29,444 hectares of ancestral land.

Oldest Province
Aklan, originally known as Minuro it Akean, is considered as the oldest province in the country and believed to have been established as early as 1213 by settlers from Borneo. Its first ruler was Datu Dinagandan. In 1399, Kalantiaw grabbed the throne. In 1433, Kalantiaw III formulated a set of laws that is known today as the Code of Kalantiaw.

Oldest Town
Unisan, Quezon could be the oldest town in the Philippines. The people of Unisan claimed that their town is now 481 years old, having been established in 1521, the same year that Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippines. All other towns in the country were established not earlier than 1565, when Spain formally occupied the Philippines as a colony.

A Malayan queen named Ladya reportedly founded Calilayan, the old name of the town. In 1876, Calilayan was renamed Unisan which was derived from the Latin word uni-sancti, meaning "holy saint". (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Oldest City
Cebu City is considered as the oldest city in the country, as this was the site of the earliest European settlement established by Spanish conqueror Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1565.

Oldest Fort
The first Spanish settlement in the country, Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus, was located inside Fort San Pedro in Cebu City. The fort's construction began in 1565.

Oldest Street
Calle Colon in Cebu City is considered as the oldest street in the country. Named after explorer Christopher Columbus, Calle Colon was first constructed in 1565 by men of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.

Oldest Stone Church
The Baclayon Church in Bohol is considered as the oldest stone church in the Philippines. But some historians disagree, claiming that San Agustin Church in Manila deserves the title.

Church historians claim that the cornerstones of San Agustin Church were laid as early as 1571, 25 years before Baclayon Church was built in 1596. But most people believe the title should be kept by the latter, since it is situated in the island first occupied by the troops of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the country's first Spanish governor general.
Bohol was where a friendship was sealed with blood between chieftain Rajah Sikatuna and Legazpi. The event is known today as ''The Blood Compact.''

Oldest Hospital
The San Lazaro Hospital could be the oldest hospital in the country. According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the San Lazaro hospital was established in 1578; Enfermeria de Naga, 1583; and Hospital de San Juan de Dios, 1596.

Oldest Church Bell
The oldest church bell in the country is said to be the one found in Camalaniugan, Cagayan. That bell was reportedly forged in 1595.

Oldest Bridge
The Jones Bridge, formerly known as Puente de Espana, was first built in 1701. It was rebuilt by the Americans in 1916 and renamed after Atkinson Jones.

Oldest University
The University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City is considered as the oldest school in the country and in Asia. Formerly known as the Colegio de San Ildefonso, it was founded by the Spanish Jesuits on August 1, 1595. This makes the Cebu-based university older than the University of Santo Tomas (1611) in Manila and Harvard University (1636) in the United States.

The University of Santo Tomas, however, contests this title. Formerly known as the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, UST was the first school, which got a university status in 1645. USC became a university in 1948. UST also claimed that the original USC was closed in 1769 as a result of the expulsion of the Jesuits. It reopened in 1783 under a new name and ownership. But the USC officials stick to their claim. The university observed its 400th foundation day on August 21, 1995.

Oldest Vocational School
The Don Honorio Ventura College of Arts and Trades (DHVCAT) in Bacolor, Pampanga is said to be the oldest vocational school in Asia. Augustinian Friar Juan Zita and civic leader Don Felino Gil established the vocational school on November 4, 1861.

Oldest Company
Ayala Corp., one of the largest conglomerates in the country, is also the oldest existing company around. It was established in 1834 by sugar barons Domingo Roxas and Antonio de Ayala. It was later renamed as Casa Ayala, then as Ayala y Compania and recently as Ayala Corp.

Oldest Bank
In 1881, Domingo Roxas, an ancestor of the Ayala family, became one of the first directors of Banco Español-Filipino de Isabel II, which was founded by virtue of a royal decree issued by Queen Isabel II. The bank issued the country's first currency notes the following year. Considered as the first private commercial bank in the country, the bank came to be known as the Bank of Philippine Islands in 1912. The oldest savings bank was Monte de Piedad, which was established in 1882.

Oldest Military Supply Shop
The oldest military supply shop in the country was said to be Alfredo Roensch and Co.

Oldest Rizal Monument

What can be considered as the oldest Rizal monument in the country is a 20-foot metal structure standing at a park in Daet, Camarines Norte. Its construction reportedly began on December 30, 1898 and was finished in February 1899. In comparison, the Rizal monument at the former Luneta park was built in 1912.

Oldest Epics
In a 1962 study, E. Arsenio Manuel said the country had at least 19 epics, which were passed to the present generation from our early ancestors through oral chanting. Among these so-called ethnoepics were 13 epics among pagan Filipinos, 2 among Christian Filipinos, and 4 among Muslim Filipinos. These included the Ilocano epic Lam-ang, Manuvu's Tuwaang, Sulod's Hinilawod and Maranaw's Bantugan

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Hoaxes in Philippine History

NOTES IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

The Philippine archipelago has a very rich oral tradition. In fact, the various Filipino ethnolinguistic groups have a collection of their own epics, legends, folk tales and mythology. These tales have been utilized by historians to examine the culture and society of precolonial Philippines. But in the absence of other corroborating evidence, they tend to be unreliable historical sources. Oral literature, by its very nature, is transmitted orally through generations, and thus, is vulnerable to alterations. Still, these tales are valuable historical sources because they embody the collective consciousness of the Filipino people.

Frauds in History

 -refers to the legends and other oral stories that were once believed to be reliable historical facts, but further research has exposed their inconsistencies and questionable features. The inclusion of this category in Philippine history was done to inform readers of the Philippine historical hoaxes in order that we can delineate what constitutes history and what belongs to the purview of fiction.

Below are ten of the hoaxes and frauds in Philippine history:

1. Code of Kalantiaw - was a mythical legal code in the epic story Maragtas written in 1433 by Datu Kalantiaw, the chief of Negros. It precribed extremely brutal punishments to criminals.
2. Legend of the Ten Bornean Datus - refers to the ten chieftains who allegedly ventured to the Island of Panay boarding a boat called balangay (or barangay) to evade the tyrannical ruler of Borneo, Datu Makatunaw.
3. Code of Maragtas - was a document dated between 1200 to 1250 which tells the story of the arrival of the ten datus from Borneo who allegedly bought the island of Panay from the Aetas for a golden salakot.
4. Rajah Bendahara Kalantiaw - was one of the mythical characters in Jose E. Marco's Maragtas Legend. He became the chief of Negros (or Aklan) two hundred years after the rule of Datu Bangkaya.
5. Datu Puti - was the supposed leader of the ten Bornean datus. Under his command, they reached Siwaragan (now San Joaquin), Iloilo.
6. Datu Sumakwel - headed the Bornean datus upon the return of Datu Puti to Borneo. He ventured to the mountains in search of a local deity named Bulalakaw.
7. Povedano Map - was geographical map illustrated by a certain encomendero by the name of Diegus Lope Povedano of Buglas Island which shows his many land travels and sea voyages with the King of Spain, including that in the year 1572.
8. Povedano Calendar - was a manuscript that showed a wheel composed of twelve-month year, and seven-day week time calculation in baybayin. It was supposedly a replica of the calendar used by the precolonized inhabitants of the Philippines.
9. Tasaday - was a group of tiny people who emerged, in 1971, from a rain forest in mountains of the Philippines. They were uncivilized and had thought of the forest as being the whole world itself, with them as the only people living in it.
10. Princess Urduja - was a mythical, legendary warrior-princess who ruled the kingdom of Tawalisi in the province of Pangasinan. She was said to have personally took part in waging battles and engaged in duels with other warriors

The story of Datu Kalantiaw is often mistaken to be part of the epic of ten intrepid chiefs who founded Visayan civilization as much as 800 years ago, as told in an ancient and mysterious document called the Maragtas. This document, however, was an ordinary book written in 1907 by Pedro Monteclaro in which he compiled the local legends of the Visayas from mainly oral traditions and a few written documents that were fairly modern in their origins. Monteclaro never mentioned a chief by the name of Kalantiaw in his Maragtas.

Some of the Maragtas legends are a part of Visayan folklore and they are a source of fierce pride for many Visayans today. The stories of the ten datus or chiefs might have been told for generations and they are perfectly believable, as far as legends go, if we put aside the modern additions such as obviously phoney "original" manuscripts and the use of precise but utterly uncorroborated dates from the pre-colonial era.

After all, it is not hard to believe that exiles could have sailed from Borneo to settle in Panay. Why not? Even though there are no ancient documents to show that Chief Sumakwel and his followers actually existed, there is much archaeological and foreign documentary evidence of regular trade and travel at that time between the Philippines and its neighbours.

But while Monteclaro's misguided nationalism, combined with the blatant dishonesty of other writers who embellished his work, blurred the line between legends and hard historical facts, the story of Kalantiaw is more alarming because he was never a part of the Philippines' history or even its oral traditions. Kalantiaw was an utter hoax from the beginning.

The Incredible Code of Kalantiaw

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century Filipino students were taught about the vicious and bizarre laws that were said to have been enacted by one Datu Kalantiaw in the year 1433 on the island of Panay. Many of his commandments contradicted each other and his punishments were extremely brutal, usually having no relation to the severity of the crime committed. Offences to the law ranged from as light as singing at night to as grave as murder. Those convicted supposedly were made slaves, beaten, lashed, stoned, had fingers cut off, were exposed to ants, drowned, burned, boiled, chopped to pieces or fed to crocodiles.

So, why should we not believe this story that has been taught as history for so many years in Filipino schools? There are three good reasons.

1. The first reason is the lack of historical evidence. There are simply no written or pictorial documents from that time in Philippine history. There are no documents from other countries that mention the great Kalantiaw either. There is also no evidence that Philippine culture ever spawned such a barbaric set of laws. The early Spanish accounts tell us that Filipino custom at that time allowed even the most serious lawbreakers to pay a fine or to be placed into servitude for a time in cases of debt. As the missionary Francisco Colín wrote in 1663:

In the punishment of crimes of violence the social rank of the slayer and slain made a great deal of difference. If the slain was a chief, all his kinsfolk took the warpath against the slayer and his kinfolk, and this state of war continued until arbiters were able to determine the amount of gold which had to be paid for the killing… The death penalty was not imposed by public authority save in cases where both the slayer and slain were commoners, and the slayer could not pay the blood price.

Arbitration is still the custom of those Philippine cultures that were never conquered by the Spaniards.

2. The second reason is the lack of evidence for Kalantiaw even as a legend of oral history. Many ardent admirers of the Datu, who disdain all historical evidence to the contrary, claim that he has long been a part of Visayan culture and heritage. This is simply not true. In almost 400 years of documented Philippine history – from Magellan's arrival in 1521 until the second decade of the 20th century – no such legend was ever recorded. Kalantiaw even escaped the attention of Pedro Monteclaro when he published the Maragtas legends in 1907. This is very suspicious considering that there are more stories today about Kalantiaw than there are about any of the ten datus of the Maragtas.

Did the Spaniards suppress the legend of Kalantiaw? This accusation is usually the first thing that history buffs reach for when they need to explain a gap in Philippine history. If the Spaniards were aware of such a legend they had no reason to suppress it because those Spaniards who were sympathetic to the Filipinos could have presented the mere existence of the Code as proof that their ancestors were civilized – just as many Filipinos do today – while detractors could have pointed to the maniacal Datu himself as proof of their savagery – even though his methods of torture were no more sadistic than those of the Spanish Inquisition.

It is certain that there were no legends of Kalantiaw before the 20th century. The Aklanon historian Digno Alba was a young man at the start of that century. He looked for Kalantiaw in local folklore in the 1950s but did not find him. On May 5, 1967 the historian William H. Scott wrote to Alba and asked him:

When you were a child, Don Digno, did not the old folks of Aklan have stories about Kalantiaw even before the discovery of the Pavón documents in 1913? Were there no popular legends or folklore that the elders told their grandchildren?

To which Alba replied in a letter from Kalibo, Aklan dated May 15, 1967:

I had tried to get stories or legends from the present generations of Aklanons living in Batan… but not one old man can tell me now. K2

3. The third and most important reason to reject the Kalantiaw myth is its source. If Kalantiaw was not a historical figure or a legendary character, where did he come from? Many writers on this subject didn't bother to mention where they obtained their information. Some, like Digno Alba, simply created "facts" from thin air. Scott eventually traced the ultimate origin of Kalantiaw back to a single person, José E. Marco of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, who definitely did not live in the 1400s. In 1913, Marco claimed to have discovered the Pavón documents that were mentioned in Scott's letter to Digno Alba. These documents, which contain the Code of Kalantiaw, were in fact Marco's own creation. Kalantiaw eventually became the most successful of many hoaxes in Marco's career of almost 50 years as a forger and fraud. (For more about the life of Jose Marco

The Origin of Kalantiaw and the Pavón Manuscripts

Kalantiaw's name first appeared in print in July of 1913 in an article entitled Civilización prehispana published in Renacimiento Filipino. K3 The article mentioned 16 laws enacted by King Kalantiaw in 1433 and a fort that he built at Gagalangin, Negros, which was destroyed by an earthquake in the year A.D. 435 (not 1435). The article was written by Manuel Artigas who, only a year before, had provided the footnotes to a poorly written essay by José Marco, Reseña historica de la Isla de Negros. K4.

More details about Kalantiaw emerged a year later, in 1914, when José Marco donated five manuscripts to the Philippine Library & Museum. Among the documents was Las antiguas leyendes de la Isla de Negros, a two volume leather bound work that was supposedly written by a Friar José María Pavón in 1838 and 1839. K5 The Code of Kalantiaw, in chapter 9 of part 1, was one of six translated documents that were dated before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines. The original Code was purportedly discovered in the possession of a Panay datu in 1614. At the time of Pavón's writing in 1839 it was supposedly owned by a Don Marcelio Orfila of Zaragoza. In 1966 the Philippine government asked the government of Spain for the return of the original Code of Kalantiaw by the descendants of Marcelio Orfila but the Police Commissioner there could not find any record of that family in the city of Zaragoza.

For several decades José Marco didn't explain, at least in writing, where he got Friar Pavón's manuscripts but it seems that he had a ready explanation to tell privately. The anthropologist and historian Henry Otley Beyer related this story to his colleague, Mauro Garcia, in the early 1950s. As the story goes, Pavón was the priest in the town of Himamaylan, Negros in the 1840s. When that town was looted during the revolution in 1899, Marco's father was among some looters who had stolen what they thought was a chest of coins or jewelry but when it was accidentally dropped in the river it became so heavy that they realized that it was full of papers, which were apparently the Pavón manuscripts.

However if this story was true, José Marco would have had to explain why he didn't use this wealth of information or even mention these documents when he wrote his Reseña Historica in 1912. Perhaps Marco saw the flaw in his story so, when he explained the origin of the manuscripts to the Philippine Studies Program at the University of Chicago in 1954, he said that he had got them from an old cook who once worked at the convent in Himamaylan where Pavón had lived. It was this old cook, he said, who had stolen the manuscripts during the looting and then, evidently, sold them to Marco in 1913.

Mistakes in the Pavón Manuscript

Aside from the doubtful origin of the Code of Kalantiaw and Pavón's Leyendes, which contains it, these documents themselves are both highly suspicious. The title of the Code is The 17 theses, or laws of the Regulos [Datus] in use in 150 since 1433 (sic) but there are actually 18 laws listed, which cover approximately forty different offences, and not 16 laws as reported by Artigas in 1913. And of course, the dates in the title make no sense. In the 1800s it was still common to abbreviate dates by omitting the first one or two digits of a year but never the final digits. Therefore the number 150 was not a contraction of the year 1500. It could only mean 1150, which is just as nonsensical as 150. The second chapter in part two of Leyendes tells about the building of Kalantiaw's fortress in 433. Although this number is a correct abbreviation of 1433, the same year in which Kalantiaw allegedly wrote his laws, the document that shows that date was supposedly written in the year 1137! And in spite of the fact that ancient Filipinos had no clocks or a measure of time equal to one hour, Kalantiaw's third law condemns a man to swim for three hours if he cannot afford to care for his wives, while his fifth law metes out the punishment of a one hour lashing. Improbable dates are typical of all the documents that José Marco claimed to have discovered. The presumed author of Leyendes, José María Pavón, translated the Code of Kalantiaw and five other pre-Hispanic documents, but he did not explain how he had calculated their dates. He himself even wrote that the ancient Visayans did not keep track of the years for any extended length of time, yet his "exact" translation of a document that was supposedly written in 1489, decades before western culture made contact with the Philippines, mentioned the "first Friday of the year" and years with "three numbers alike, as for instance 1777". It also mentioned coins of King Charles V of Spain who was not even born until the year 1500.

And the anachronisms are not limited to the pre-Hispanic documents. Pavón was just as confused about his own era. Upon completing his masterwork, Pavón dedicated Leyendes to the King of Spain on August 1, 1839. Spain had no king at that time; the 8 year old child Queen Isabella II had held the throne since 1833 under the regency of her mother, Maria Christina. There was no king again until 1874.

When Pavón described an ancient Visayan calendar in 1838-39 he happened to write that November was called "a bad month, for it brought air laden with putrefied microbes of evil fevers". The word microbe was not invented until 1878 and Louis Pasteur only developed his theory that infectious germs could be transmitted through the air in the 1850s.

Pavón included the pre-Hispanic Visayan alphabet that Fr. Francisco Deza had supposedly recorded in 1543 but he was not born until in 1620. Another document was signed by Deza on March 23, 14, which was either six years before his birth or 94 years after, depending on which century was intended for the year ??14. That same document was stamped, "Parish of Ilog of Occidental Negros" with a note, "R.S. in the province and town above named on the twenty first of the month of July in the year 17…" There was no province of Negros Occidental in those centuries or in Pavón's time. The island of Negros was not divided until 1890.

The examples of ancient Visayan writing in Leyendes looked very similar to others that were allegedly discovered by José Marco and they contained the same mistakes. Even though the ancient Filipino letters were used in these documents, the words were not written in the syllabic method of the Philippines but were spelled phonetically in the Spanish style. That is to say, it seemed that each Spanish letter was merely substituted by an ancient Filipino letter. This is wrong because in all other forms of ancient Filipino and Malaysian writing, each letter represented a complete syllable whereas Spanish letters (our modern letters) represent only basic sounds. Also, there were no marks above or below the letters to indicate vowels other than "A" and there was no character for the "NGa" syllable. It was substituted by a combination of the letters "N" and "G" with a large Spanish tilde (~) placed above! In short, pre-colonial Filipino authors supposedly wrote in ancient Filipino letters but applied to them Spanish spelling conventions in an era before any Spaniard had set foot in the Philippines.

Pavón's own writing was also curious. The title pages of Leyendes were obviously hand drawn but made to look as though they were printed text. Various type styles were mixed and the uppercase "I"s were even dotted. (As in the example shown above.) The spelling throughout the two volumes of Leyendes was also erratic. The spelling in volume 1, which was written in 1838, was similar to spelling of the 1500s. For the second volume in 1839, Pavón wrote that he had adopted the "many changes in spelling" contained in the latest dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy and indeed the style of volume 2 was proper for that time, though not consistent with that dictionary. However Pavón did not explain how he was able to employ these new spellings in a document he wrote back in 1837 when he did not yet know about them in 1838. That document was Brujerías y los Cuentos de Fantasmas and it was also "discovered" by José Marco.

Who was José María Pavón?

Friar José María Pavón y Araguro acknowledged many sources of information for his books: untraceable informants, unknown documents and authors who were were already deceased or not even born yet or who, due to other circumstances, could not have written the documents that were ascribed to them. Thus, it is no small coincidence that Pavón's own life story, as described in his manuscripts, was equally dubious.

Pavón claimed that he arrived in the Philippines in 1810 but there are no records to support this. He also wrote that he had lived in the convent of his parish of Himamaylan since at least July 17, 1830 but according to the Libro de Cosas notables of Himamaylan, he actually took charge of that parish 12 years later on September 7, 1842. He wrote that he completed Las Antiguas Leyendes in Himamaylan in 1839, which was the same year the Guía de Forasteros listed him as a Professor of Syntax and Rhetoric at the seminary in Cebu. This is the earliest known record of the real José María Pavón.

The Guía de Forasteros or "Foreigner's Guide" contained a directory of various government officials and it was released annually during the Spanish era. It always listed Pavón with a "D." (for "Don") before his name, which meant that he was a secular priest. But Pavón, the author, often signed his name as "Fray José María Pavón", which implied that he was a friar in a religious order. He even mentioned taking a trip to Borneo with some "companions of the habit".

Pavón claimed that he was a schoolboy in 1788 in Seville, Spain. One of his supposed classmates at that time was Fray Jorge G. de Setién who was also mentioned in José Marco's Reseña histórica as the author of a travel book about the Philippines in 1779. If we suppose that Setién was a very precocious infant in 1779, he and Pavón were no younger that 9 years of age in 1788. This would have made Pavón at least 87 years old in 1866 when he was known to be the parish priest of Cebu.

It is obvious that the real José María Pavón did not write the Pavón manuscripts. It is more likely that his name was simply plucked from the records of history to be used in a very ambitious but clumsy hoax.

Embellishments to the Myth

The Kalantiaw hoax was created by José Marco but it soon took on a life of its own. Frauds and scholars alike began to build a history on the foundation of his artificial legend. Marco and Kalantiaw instantly attained a veneer of legitimacy when Dr. James A. Robertson acquired the new "discoveries" for the Philippine Library and Museum in 1914. On July 20, 1915, Robertson submitted a paper about the Kalantiaw Code to the Panama-Pacific Historical Congress in California and then published an English translation of the Code in 1917. 

In that same year a Spanish version of the Code was published and discussed by Josué Soncuya in six chapters of his Historia Prehispana. K6 Soncuya, a native of Banga, Aklan, bestowed upon the great lawmaker the title "Rajah Kalantiaw" and he concluded that the Code was written for Aklan, Panay and not Negros because he had spotted two Aklanon words in the text. He overlooked the fact that the title of the book that told the tales of Kalantiaw was The Ancient Legends of the Island of Negros and that it was supposedly written on that island by José Pavón whose manuscripts were allegedly discovered there by José Marco, a native of Negros, and according to those manuscripts, Kalantiaw built his fortress on the island of Negros.

Nevertheless, the Kalantiaw legend was successfully transplanted into the soil of Panay. Perhaps his devotees thought that the better fertilized land of the Maragtas legends would provide him a little more credibility. In 1949 Gregorio Zaide included the Kalantiaw Code in his Philippine Political and Cultural History with the words "Aklan, Panay" attached to the title. And even though Digno Alba could find no evidence for Kalantiaw as a legend, he declared in his book Paging Datu Kalantiaw (1956) that the Datu had set up his government in Batan and made it the capital of the sakup of Aklan. K7 On December 8, 1956 a historical marker with a brass plaque was erected in Batan in honour of Kalantiaw. In the following year, 1957, a former school building in the town was converted into the Kalantiaw Shrine by the Philippine Historical and Cultural Society. The museum even boasts an "original manuscript" of the Code.

In 1966 Sol H. Gwekoh released new details in the Sunday Times about the life of Datu Bendahara Kalantiaw, son of Rajah Behendra Gulah. He was born in 1410 and became the third Muslim ruler in Panay at the age of 16. Kalantiaw is thought by many to belong to a long genealogy of Muslim rulers but it is clearly evident in his own Code that he was not even a Muslim. He was an animist. His Code punished offences against anitos, diwatas, venerated trees and animals, and clay idols. Aside from this, it is slightly ironic that Gwekoh gave the exalted Datu the name "Bendahara" because it is actually an old Visayan word, which means "prime minister" or second in power to the top datu. It has a similar meaning in modern Malay.

Other unidentified writers are often quoted throughout the Internet for many contradicting stories about Kalantiaw. (See: Postscript.) Some maintain that he was not only the third ruler of Panay, but that he was also the third in a dynasty of rulers named Kalantiaw. His father was not Rajah Gulah but King Kalantiaw I who captured the town of Batan in 1399 with Chinese adventurers. Incredible though it may seem, the elder Kalantiaw I gave his name to both his sons, Kalantiaw II and Kalantiaw III. Kalantiaw II was not the father of the more famous Kalantiaw III but his brother! Even harder to believe is that there is an exact date for when Kalantiaw III supposedly issued his famous commandments - December 8, 1433. Many more stories abound about the life, the loves, the battles, the duels and the death of Kalantiaw. The title of his Code simply called him Kalantiaw, the 3rd "regulo" or "petty king".

Kalantiaw was honoured by the Philippine Navy in December 1967 when it acquired the World War II destroyer escort USS Booth from the United States and recommissioned it the RPS Datu Kalantiaw. It was lost during typhoon Clara on September 20, 1981.

In 1970 the popular historian Gregorio Zaide speculated in Great Filipinos in History that Kalantiaw's real name was Lakan Tiaw or "Chief of Brief Speech". Lakan is a common prefix to Tagalog names that once meant "paramount ruler". Incredibly Zaide even reproduced a direct quote from the noble king, "The law is above all men." However the most shocking aspect of Zaide's claims was that he wrote them while knowing full well that the Kalantiaw legend was proved decisively to be a hoax two years earlier.

The History of Kalantiaw Refuted

José Marco continued to produce forgeries almost until his death in 1963 but with ever diminishing success. By the 1950s genuine scholars could no longer take him seriously and despite Kalantiaw's growing renown, a new generation of academics began to question the dogma of a half century of Philippine historiography.

In 1965 William Henry Scott was a doctoral candidate at the University of Santo Tomas when the bibliographer Mauro Garcia suggested that for his thesis he examine the history of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spaniards. Garcia had received several fake documents from José Marco in the past, which made him suspicious of Marco's first discoveries upon which so much early history was based. He only showed a few of these forgeries to Scott so as not to prejudice his research, saving the most blatant fakes until after Scott had formed his own conclusions about Marco's work.

Scott focused his investigation by tracing the original source of every single reference to the pre-Hispanic history of the Philippines in the four standard college text books in use at that time. K8 He examined the original documents and searched archives and museums the world over for supporting documents and artifacts. He questioned the top historians of the day about their sources of information. He interviewed the friends and colleagues of Jose E. Marco and he examined their correspondence with him. In the matter of Kalantiaw, all the information was traced back to a single source; José E. Marco. Scott summarized the results of his painstaking investigation in just two sentences:

The José E. Marco contributions to Philippine historiography… appear to be deliberate fabrications with no historic validity. There is therefore no present evidence that any Filipino ruler by the name of Kalantiaw ever existed or that the Kalantiaw penal code is any older than 1914. K9

Scott successfully defended his thesis before a panel of eminent Filipino historians, some of whom had formerly endorsed many of the facts of Philippine history that he had proved false. The panel included Teodoro Agoncillo, Horacio de la Costa, Marcelino Forondo, Mercedes Grau Santamaria, Nicholas Zafra and Gregorio Zaide. Scott's meticulous research was published in 1968 in his book Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History and since then no historian has contested his conclusions.

The Die-Hard Lie

William H. Scott's exposé did not have an immediate effect on Filipino society. On March 1, 1971, President Ferdinand Marcos instituted the "Order of Kalantiaw", an award "for services to the country in the areas of law and justice" (Executive Order No. 294). That same year a beauty pageant winner was crowned "Lakambini ni Kalantiaw" on the supposed anniversary of the Code (December 8), and the artist Carlos Valino Jr. depicted Kalantiaw issuing his commandments (See painting above).

On January 24, 1973, Marcos also issued Presidential Decree No. 105, which declared that the Kalantiaw Shrine, and all national shrines, were sacred. The decree prohibited all forms of desecration including "unnecessary noise and committing unbecoming acts." Like Kalantiaw's Code, the penalty was hefty; "imprisonment for not less than ten (10) years or a fine not less than ten thousand pesos (P10,000) or both."

In 1976, the National Historical Institute (NHI) published the pamphlet, Datu Bendahara Kalantiaw, containing a short biography of the chief, which included several specific pre-colonial dates and the obligatory comparison to Solomon, complete with an anecdote of one of his judicial cases as an example of his wisdom. The pamphlet also contained the Code itself, quoted from the 1970 edition of History of the Filipino People by Teodoro Agoncillo and Milagros Guerrero.

Some historians, like Agoncillo, did not give up on Kalantiaw immediately, although others had already dismissed the legend even before Scott's thesis was published. Once his irrefutable proofs were made public, even the foremost historians were persuaded to remove the myth from their books. However, one astonishing exception was Gregorio F. Zaide, the author of countless school textbooks and a member of the very dissertation panel that examined Scott's thesis in 1968. According to Scott,

During the revalida [oral examination], not a single question was raised about the chapter, which I called "The Contributions of Jose E. Marco to Philippine historiography". K10

Despite this opportunity to challenge Scott's thesis directly on the matter of Kalantiaw, Zaide apparently remained silent but he continued to endorse the myth and even add his own details to it in books such as Heroes of Philippine History (1970), Pageant of Philippine History (1979), History of the Republic of the Philippines (1983), Philippine History (1984), and in reissues of his older works. Soon after Dr. Zaide's death in 1986 his daughter, Sonia M. Zaide, revised the books that she had co-authored with her father and removed most, but not all, of the material based on the Marco hoaxes.

Nevertheless, the ghost of Kalantiaw continues to haunt Filipinos some 40 years after the hoaxes were exposed. He is still portrayed on the ceiling of the old Senate hall in Manila and the Philippine government still awards the "Order of Kalantiaw" to retiring justices. The Central Philippine University in Iloilo has its own "Order of Kalantiao", a fraternity that was at the centre of a serious hazing incident in September of 2001. Even the NHI continued to honour Kalantiaw in 1989 by including him in volume 4 of their five volumes of Filipinos in History. The Gintong Pamana (Golden Heritage) Awards Foundation, a project of Philippine Time USA Magazine, rewards community leadership among Filipino-Americans with the "Kalantiaw Award". Buildings, streets and banquet halls throughout the Philippines still bear the name of the imaginary ruler of Panay and tourists can still visit the Kalantiaw Shrine in Batan, Aklan or even pass by a local high school, Kalantiaw Institute.

Old school textbooks are revised to include relativley recent events such as the People Power Revolution of 1986 but the fictitious codes of Kalantiaw and Maragtas remain untouched, as in A History of the Philippines by Leogardo et al. (1986) K11 In newer textbooks, authors of the old school still retell the obsolete theories and fallacies of Philippine history although some now make cynical attempts to present a fair and enlightened view by merely inserting brief, and often dismissive, notes about rival “opinions.” Take for example these lines from Edgardo E. Dagdag’s 1997 high school textbook, Kasaysayan at Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas (History & Government of the Philippines):

It is good to examine the contents of the Kalantiaw Code, even though it is not believed to be an authentic written law by some historians such as Professor W. Henry Scott, because it can be seen here what kind of society the ancient Filipinos wanted to create.
…Filipinos wanted to have a society that was religious and God-fearing; with respect for authority, the elderly, women and the environment; and which valued life and a person’s word. K12

One wonders just how closely the author examined the content of the Kalantiaw Code when he wrote this charitable description of such a saintly community. Would a society that "valued life" have wanted such an irrational legal code wherein 14 of its 18 laws inflicted the most gruesome deaths, mutilations and tortures? The bibliography in the book does not list any works by W. Henry Scott so it can be assumed that the author was not familiar with Scott’s absolutely incontrovertible proofs that debunked the Kalantiaw myth so thoroughly. Otherwise, he would have known that the Code and all the legends surrounding it were in fact 20^th century fabrications and thus could not possibly show "what kind of society the ancient Filipinos wanted to create."

Inferior textbooks are not likely to vanish soon if the textbook/bribery scandal at the Department of Budget and Management in 1999 was any indicator of the state of the educational system in the Philippines. However, the situation is not completely hopeless. For although the Philippine public may be slow to shrug off the Kalantiaw myth, recent generations of students have come to know it as a fraud rather than a fact. The gradual effect of this teaching is starting to show. In 1994 the playwright Rene O. Villanueva dramatized the life of Jose E. Marco and the creation of the Kalantiaw hoax in the play Kalantiaw, Kagila-gilalas na Kasinungalingan (The Amazing Lie). Villanueva's intriguing story proposed that Marco's motivation for creating his frauds was his intense admiration for his personal hero, Jose Rizal. Marco's ambition was to better the accomplishments of Rizal by inventing a glorious past to fill the gaps in Filipino history.

It is only now, since most of the old guard has passed on, that the new generation of historians have been able to set the records straight. The NHI finally admitted that Kalantiaw was a hoax in 1998 when Chief Justice Andres Narvasa, who was about to receive the Kalantiaw Award, asked Malacañang to look into the matter. President Joseph Estrada gave him the award, anyway.

In 2004, the NHI, under the leadership of Ambeth Ocampo, made their opinion official when they submitted a resolution to President Arroyo to revoke the national shrine status of the Kalantiaw Shrine in Aklan, which, of course, enraged some Aklanons.

Today some people still cite the courage and wisdom of Kalantiaw as they continue to heap accolades upon him and the oblivious recipients of those Kalantiaw awards. However, a sober look at Kalantiaw's Code reveals that his magnificent courage was merely brutality and his exalted wisdom was in fact incredible insanity. Kalantiaw's defenders insist that his legend must be true simply because he has always inspired them as a part of their heritage. But while they portray such a maniac as a Filipino hero, they disregard what gross slander they lay on the character of all Filipinos. Fortunately, the people of the Philippines need never bear this shame because Kalantiaw never really existed.

Legend of the Ten Bornean Datus

The Ten Bornean Datus Epic refers to the ten chieftains who allegedly ventured to the Island of Panay boarding a boat called balangay (or barangay) to evade the tyrannical ruler of Borneo, Datu Makatunaw. The datus, believed to be the fathers of precolonial Philippines, were the following: Datu Puti (and wife, Piangpangan), Datu Sumakwel (and wife, Kapinangan), Datu Bangkaya (and wife, Katurong), Datu Paiborong (and wife, Pabilaan), Datu Paduhinogan (and wife, Tibongsapay), Datu Dumangsol, Datu Libay, Datu Dumangsil, Datu Domalogdog, and Datu Balensuela.

According to the legend, upon the arrival of the datus, the local inhabitants of the islands, the Aeta, grew terrified but the diplomatic Datu Puti said to Marikudo, the chief of the natives, that they had peaceful intentions. Later both parties entered into a trade alliance. Marikudo invited the datus to a feast, during which the ten chiefs negotiated the purchase of Panay Island for a golden salakot. Since the Aetas found the land overwhelmingly vast for them, they retreated to the forest, leaving the Datus with the land which they divided among themselves (namely Aklan, Irong Irong and Hamtik), leading to the birth of Philippine population and culture.

However, recent studies discovered the irregularities of the said legend, and thus, it must not be believed as a reliable source of facts on precolonial Philippines.

Arguments of Authenticity

But still, these studies are contested, though History per se is limited to "written" historical accounts, the legend is is considered "spoken" historical account and part and parcel of Filipino Culture. The legend is important part of the life, culture and identity of Ilonggo people and inhabitants of Panay Island. There is no argument that the roots of the word "Barangay" came from "Balangay" the boat used by the Ten Bornen Datu and their families. Until now, the head of the Barangay is a "Barangay Captain" the only head of a government unit in the world named after a captain of a boat.

Code of Maragtas

The Maragtas Legend was believed to be a document which dated between 1200 to 1250. The document claimed that there were ten Bornean datus (or chieftain) who arrived in the island of Panay to escape from the tyranny of a certain Datu Makatunaw of Borneo. The datus allegedly bought the Island of Panay from Marikudo, the chief of the Aeta group, for a golden salakot (in English: hat). These datus and their families were said to be the people responsible for populating the entire Visayan region, and for forming a confederation of barangays called Madya-as under the leadership of Datu Sumakwel. This legend is now commemorated in the yearly Ati-atihan festival since the late 1950s when it officially became a part of the feast of Santo Niño in Kalibo, Aklan.

Fictitious Book

This legend was previously accepted by many historians; however, recent scrutiny of scholars shows that the Maragtas is actually a fictitious book of Visayan oral local legends written by Pedro Monteclaro, a Visayan public official and poet, in Iloilo in 1907. He wrote the book in the Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a languages of Panay. Monteclaro used the word maragtas to mean “history,” although until the present, the said term has only been known in referral to his compilation.

Monteclaro was said to unusually put high importance to pre-hispanic myths and legends as an important part of Visayan cultural heritage; thus, he collected the various stories of the elderly of Panay and published them in his Maragtas. There have been studies stating that Monteclaro actually translated Maragtas from an ancient prehispanic manuscript but in the preface of the book he clearly stated that he himself was its author. He did refer to two old written documents; however, he stated that he did not publish them due to their poor condition and he did not imply that they were transcribed in his book.

A Hoax

Renowned historian William Henry Scott, in his doctoral dissertation at the University of Santo Tomas, made a painstaking investigation into all the sources of information about the Philippines before the coming of the Spaniards. He proved in his dissertation that the original Maragtas book and the Confederation of Madya-as were not actual ancient documents from long ago but only legends that were collected and in some cases possibly concocted by Pedro Monteclaro. On top of that, Scott found that the Maragtas Code was but merely an invention of Guillermo Santiago-Cuino's mind who probably based it on Monteclaro's book and published in 1938.

* From WikiPilipinas: The Hip 'n Free Philippine Encyclopedia

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