Every Columbus Day, I am frequently reminded of how differently Filipinos commemorate the arrival of the first European Explorers here in the Philippines.
Every Columbus Day, I am frequently reminded of how differently Filipinos commemorate the arrival of the first European Explorers here in the Philippines.
Every Colombus day in the America, I am frequently reminded of how differently we remember the first arrival of a European explorer in the Philippines.
As an outsider looking in, Colombus Day seems to be a very divisive day in America, where you have those who condemn Colombus for his brutality towards native Americans and as a herald of European Colonial conquest over the other native groups, while on the other hand you have those lauding him as a brave explorer at the very least and (at the very extreme) as the bringer of European civilization & Christianity in the Americas continent. Every time the day rolls over, these two sides get into shitfights in public discourse & over the internet, and then happens again in the next year lol.
Meanwhile here in the Philippines, we do something else entirely with our local European explorer. The Arrival of Ferdinand Magellan here (March-April 1521) is celebrated in two days of national commemoration: **On March 31st,** we commemorate the First Catholic Mass ever held in the Philippines by Magellan’s Fleet. In this deeply Catholic nation, Filipino faithful see this event as the dawn of the Catholic faith in the islands, with gratitude accorded to Magellan as the bringer of the faith to the Filipino People. Hence, March 31st is a religious holiday, with Magellan heralded as a hero of the faith.
**On April 27** however, we commemorate the Battle of Mactan. A few weeks after the first mass, Magellan’s crew tried converting some native Kings into Christianity and attempted to turn them into Spanish subjects or at least allies. Some native leaders here- notably the Mactan Chief, Lapu-Lapu- disagreed with being Christians/Spanish Subjects, which caused Magellan & his Spaniards to attack these dissidents, only to get defeated in the fighting, with Magellan killed as a bonus. On this day, it’s Lapu-Lapu who’s the hero, considered by modern Philippine nationalism as the first patriot for standing up to the wannabe colonizer, Magellan, making April 27 a patriotic day of remembrance (and a nationalist holiday in Lapu-Lapu’s Island: Mactan, Cebu).
tl;dr the Philippines both celebrates the arrival and the killing of the first European explorer to set foot here lmao.
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Every Colombus day in the America, I am frequently reminded of how differently we remember the first arrival of a European explorer in the Philippines.
As an outsider looking in, Colombus Day seems to be a very divisive day in America, where you have those who condemn Colombus for his brutality towards native Americans and as a herald of European Colonial conquest over the other native groups, while on the other hand you have those lauding him as a brave explorer at the very least and (at the very extreme) as the bringer of European civilization & Christianity in the Americas continent. Every time the day rolls over, these two sides get into shitfights in public discourse & over the internet, and then happens again in the next year lol.
Meanwhile here in the Philippines, we do something else entirely with our local European explorer. The Arrival of Ferdinand Magellan here (March-April 1521) is celebrated in two days of national commemoration: **On March 31st,** we commemorate the First Catholic Mass ever held in the Philippines by Magellan’s Fleet. In this deeply Catholic nation, Filipino faithful see this event as the dawn of the Catholic faith in the islands, with gratitude accorded to Magellan as the bringer of the faith to the Filipino People. Hence, March 31st is a religious holiday, with Magellan heralded as a hero of the faith.
**On April 27** however, we commemorate the Battle of Mactan. A few weeks after the first mass, Magellan’s crew tried converting some native Kings into Christianity and attempted to turn them into Spanish subjects or at least allies. Some native leaders here- notably the Mactan Chief, Lapu-Lapu- disagreed with being Christians/Spanish Subjects, which caused Magellan & his Spaniards to attack these dissidents, only to get defeated in the fighting, with Magellan killed as a bonus. On this day, it’s Lapu-Lapu who’s the hero, considered by modern Philippine nationalism as the first patriot for standing up to the wannabe colonizer, Magellan, making April 27 a patriotic day of remembrance (and a nationalist holiday in Lapu-Lapu’s Island: Mactan, Cebu).
tl;dr the Philippines both celebrates the arrival and the killing of the first European explorer to set foot here lmao.
This is top tier shitpost coming from PH
Feliz dÃa de la raza