March 16, 2021

DON’T WORRY. This is not one of those doomsday scenarios. March 16 is a day of no significance in the Philippines. Most of us think so.

2021 is just seven years from now. This article is about an event that should be a reason to celebrate in a big way if we just realize its historical significance. Thus, it is written with the hope that various sectors in our society think about how we are going to celebrate this important event for the Philippines and the world.

March 16, 2021 marks the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Philippines by Ferdinand Magellan (known to the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries as Fernando de Magallanes and Fernao de Magalhaes). By citizenship he was Portuguese, born and grew up in Portugal and even became a page to the Queen.

The date also marks an important achievement of mankind in proving that the world is round. Up to that time, “common” knowledge was that the world was flat. Not only that, it was the first time that men circumnavigated the world.

Such a feat has been attributed to Magellan (though he was killed in Mactan, Cebu) as the leader of that famous expedition. Some claimed though that he doesn’t deserve such honor since he did not live to complete the voyage, but it should belong to the few of his crew (18 of the original 260) belonging to the Armada de Maluco who managed to go back to Spain.

Some historians do say that he still deserves the honor since, as a young soldier of the Portuguese crown, he served in Malacca which at that time belonged to Portugal. But was it really Magellan who was the first to do it, or the 18 who returned to Spain?

ENRIQUE, THE SLAVE
On March 25, 1505, the young Magellan served the Portuguese crown and sailed with Portugal’s first war fleet to reach the East. In the process, the Portuguese expedition conquered Goa and Malacca. It was in Malacca that Magellan purchased a Malay slave that he gave the name Enrique. Because of some problem, Magellan was sent back to Portugal and brought his slave with him.

It was in Malacca too that Magellan heard about the Isles of Gold, situated northeast of the Malay Peninsula. It was reported that he made an authorized trip to these Isles of Gold (or somewhere close by) that earned him an administrative case and caused his repatriation.

At that time, Malacca (Melaka in present Malaysia) was a thriving Portuguese port that served as an entrepot for goods coming from China and the rest of present day Southeast Asia. It was there that traders from India and the Middle East came to exchange or buy goods for their lucrative trading operations in their home countries, Europe, and in the countries where they made ports of call. Among those traded “goods” were slaves.

Back in Portugal, Magellan hatched the plan to sail to the Spice Islands by going west. He presented his plan to the King of Portugal but did not get support. Frustrated, he went to Spain to present his plan to King Charles and support was granted.

It is interesting to point out that part of the group of Magellan’s expedition when he left Spain (Seville in particular) was his slave Enrique. Enrique is reported to have been Malay, meaning a Malaysian in today’s parlance. This may not hold water because how can someone of their own blood be sold in a slave market right on their own soil? It would be unthinkable for a Roman to be sold as a slave on Roman soil. Thus, slaves sold in Roman markets were foreigners (blacks from Africa, whites from the present day British Isles, and barbarians). Let’s just leave this point for now.

When Magellan’s expedition discovered what we now call the Philippine Islands, Enrique became very handy because he understood the language of the people of the islands. Thus, he provided a very important point of communication between Magellan’s crew and the natives. Finally, they reached Cebu and that fateful day when Magellan went to Mactan to battle with Lapu-Lapu and he met his final destiny. So the Spaniards hurriedly scampered away when the Cebuanos were ready for the kill. Enrique took that opportunity to abandon ship. In doing so, did Enrique finally connect back with his roots?

From Pigeffeta’s accounts on Magellan’s expedition, he tells us that they actually saw and met foreign traders in Cebu and slaves were part the commodities they carried in their boats. We also know from our history that Muslims from Sulu and Maguindanao carried out raiding expeditions in the Visayas and Luzon to capture slaves for lucrative markets even before the coming of the Spaniards. Did some of those slaves end up in the Malacca bazaars?

It would seem that this is the case because at that time, it was the largest bazaar in this part of the world, a place where traders usually converged to transact their lucrative business for spices and slaves.

If Enrique was not Visayan, why did he understand the language of the people in the Visayas? Today, that would include the Warays, Leyteños (Southern part), Boholanos, and the Cebuanos because these were the areas visited by Magellan’s fleet. I actually asked a friend from Malaysia to speak his native tongue. I wanted to test if Malay and Bisaya are similar. Bisaya is my mother tongue and I could not understand what he was saying. If Enrique was indeed Malay, it is very improbable that he understood Bisaya. My only explanation to this is that he himself was Bisaya.

Therefore, was it a Filipino who first circumnavigated the world?

I would like to leave this question for historians to settle. Maybe it’s time we revisit our history prior to and immediately after the arrival of the Spaniards to get to know more about our past. After all, Filipinos are known all over the world as seafarers and today they form a sizeable percentage of crews of the international shipping industry. Was Enrique the first Filipino international seafarer? Was he the first to circumnavigate the world?

I hope this article ignites interest among our academics to delve deeper into this question. It is fitting that if such is the case, we shall be celebrating 500 years since the first circumnavigation of the world by a Filipino on March 16, 2021. Maybe by then March 16 will be marked as an important date in Philippine calendars.

(This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines. The author is a member of the MAP Agribusiness and Countryside Development Committee, and the Project Manager of the Farm Business School project of MAP and Dean of the MFI Farm Business School. Send feedback to mapsecretariat@gmail.com and renegayo@gmail.com. For previous articles, visit www.map.org.ph.)

source:  Buinessworld