"The First Voyage Around the World" by Magellan translated from the accounts of Antonio Pigafetta and "Customs of the Tagalogs" by Juan de Plasencia talks about their expedition to the land. The first book revolves around the first circumnavigation around the world and embark on a voyage to be led by Ferdinand Magellan which sets out an objective of finding routes to the Orients for the king of Spain and in its wake, it found the land called Las Felipinas. The second book revolves around Juan de Plasencia's experience as a missionary in the Philippines where he preach to spread the Christian Doctrine. The first did have a fruitful discovery only to be met with unfortune at the end while the second did have a fruitful conclusion as it not only defended the land but also uplift its value. With stories around, it help us value our ancestors more with how they do their practices, culture and lifestyle portrayed from different accounts.
Throughout the accounts that Pigafetta and Plasencia shared, we can point out Three observations which has a distinct similarities how they viewed our ancestors: The natives are Religious, Hospitable and Rich in Natural Resources. When the colonizers first discovered the lands where our ancestors are located, they speculated that our ancestors already have a God they worship as shown on their practices and beliefs. Pigafetta mentions that our ancestors were Pagans and worshipped idols. And during his stay in the Philippines where they are welcomed with open arms opted that the Filipinos indeed held their faith high as they embrace and have high regards of the Gods they put their faith into and these God of their worship revolves around Nature. Plasencia account states that the worship of the Tagalogs have a place where put their adoration to their idols called "Simbahan" and with different Gods comes with different faith thus they come up with events like Fiesta to show their utmost love and respect to their idols. Our ancestors has deemed to be altruistic in nature with how they treat visitors with kindness and politeness. Like how Pigafetta was welcomed with loving arms and was even invited and presented with food which shows how they really value people despite being a stranger and Plasencia as he observe how people within barangays treat each other with gentleness and care despite not being related to each other. Abundant with natural resources and materials in the land our ancestors live in which is why we are the most sought for in the early prehispanic period. Pigafetta observes our ancestors lifestyle from the sea where they collect fishes, the forest where they seek shelter and the land where they plant the seeds to harvest food. It was a glorious place where anything can be found everywhere thus they based their idols around Nature. Plasencia mentions a system where lies on the top called Nobles. These are the people that wore expensive silks, exquisite golds, jewelry and makeups and perfumes.
Despite having almost similar statements about our precolonial ancestors, Pigafetta and Plasencia did have different personal impressions of our ancestors solely based on their personal experience and perspective. Pigafetta visited our ancestors as a colonizer which later faced the hostility of our ancestors from trying to colonize the land they lived in. During these did Pigafetta have a impression that we are patriotic in nature since our ancestors did open their arms from presenting their beliefs to them but refused to obey to the king of Spain which started the Battle of Mactan and our ancestors victory showed their resolve and devotion to the land they lived in. Plasencia, on the other hand, arrive in the Philippines as a missionary where they preached about their Christian doctrines throughout the place. On his journey did Plasencia have a impression that we are philanthropic in nature as shown how our ancestors treat each other despite their differences.
Presented with two accounts from different sources only to meet on the same conclusions and impressions about our precolonial ancestors shows how their values stays the same throughout time. Based on the accounts of the two, our ancestors really did uphold the value of their belief and maintain the importance of kindness which is shown through their hospitality. Having a land with abundant resources sparks their philantropic nature not to maintain an illusion of righteousness but to promote their benevolence to others. Our precolonial ancestors really did based their life around pure devotion and service for the land, for their idols and for the people.
References:
[1] Customs of the Tagalogs by Juan de Plasencia. prezi.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://prezi.com/p/vjiz6mscj-2-/customs-of-the-tagalogs-by-juan-de-plasencia/?frame=11e7b3b1e9210090f0066e2b8a833fab110ccb88 [2] Summary of the first voyage around the world. StuDocu. (n.d.). Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/holy-name-university/readings-in-philippine-history/summary-of-the-first-voyage-around-the-world/12886953 [3] The First Circumnavigation of the Globe. (n.d.). Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/portam/first.html#:%7E:text=One%20of%20the%20most%20noted,globe%20from%201519%20to%201522.