Easter people | Inquirer Business

Today, Christians celebrate Easter – the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

And specifically for Filipino Catholics, this is a very blessed year as we celebrate 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.

So let’s take a look at what they ate 500 years ago, when Filipinos, specifically those on the island of Homonhon (this is said to be the site of the first and several other unrecorded holy masses) and on the island of Limasawa , where the first Easter mass took place.

Hungry sailors

Fernando de Magallanes and company were terribly desperate before reaching the Philippines.

Antonio Pigafetta recalled in his Chronicles how hungry they were:

“Wednesday, November 28, 1520 … we entered the Pacific Sea, where we stayed three months and 20 days without taking provisions or other refreshments … We ate sponge cake, which was no longer sponge cake, but cake powder, riddled with worms, and stank … strongly to the urine of rats. We drank yellow water that had been rotten for many days. We also ate some ox hides … which had become very hard from the sun, rain and wind … we often ate sawdust from boards. The rats were sold for half a dukedom each and we still couldn’t get them. But above all the misfortunes, the following was the worst. The gums of both the lower and upper teeth of some of our men became swollen, so they could not eat under any circumstances and therefore died. Nineteen men died from this disease (scurvy). Twenty-five or 30 men got sick in their arms, legs or elsewhere, so few were left healthy. “

Paradise in Homonhon

But lo and behold, on March 16, 1521, they finally saw paradise on the island of Homonhon. Upon disembarking on March 17, the natives welcomed them with a jug of uraca (palm wine or perhaps tuba), bananas, and coconuts.

The next day, Datu Garas-Garas presented “two large jars of rice, a bamboo tube filled with honey, pigs, poultry, fruits, vegetables, including aubergines, a gold-headed truncheon and another jar of tuba.”

On March 22, the natives returned with even more gifts: two jars full of coconuts, sweet oranges, another jug ​​of palm wine, and a rooster, among others.

Blood compact

A few days later, they moved to the island of Limasawa, where they found a feast.

Pigafetta recounted the dinner served by Rajah Colambu: “Pork in its sauce served on porcelain plates, roasted fish with freshly picked ginger and rice; turtle eggs; chicken; and peacock “.

Historians also share that Rajah Siagu and Rajah Colambu signed a peace pact with Magellan. The locals called the pact “almost almost”, whose root, “kasi”, means dear or friend.

Here’s the interesting part: the blood compact was made by incising his arms to extract drops of blood that were then mixed with wine (supposed to be pangasi or rice wine) to drink.

Symbolically, it meant that they were united by blood and therefore had a responsibility to help each other as if they were brothers.

Freshly baked hosts

I also had the opportunity to interview Fr. Johnrey Sibi, president of the celebrations of 500 years of Christianity in Limasawa, and Fr. Mark Vincent Salang, Vice President, and I wondered aloud how Fr. Pedro Valderrama, the diocesan priest aboard the Magellan expedition, could have kept enough hosts (sacramental loaves) throughout his long voyage across the seas. to have enough for the celebration of Easter Sunday.

Salang shared that perhaps the hosts were freshly baked, especially for that Easter celebration. He said it was not difficult to host; which was just flattened unleavened bread.

Could this have been the inspiration for piyaya, which rhymes with biyaya or blessing?

Bicycle

Sibi also took note of a local fruit that the explorers knew about: the breadfruit or “kolo”. This is unique to Limasawa and similar to langka or jackfruit.

Meanwhile, Salang shared his observation that in the Pigafetta chronicles, he documented the first “take out” in Philippine history. The natives were supposedly warned of the sacredness of the occasion, but in their eagerness to share their harvest, they instead found a way to deliver them to visitors, sending food to those in the boats.

Salang said this was perhaps the first “take-home meal”, a truly Filipino culinary concept.

Easter people

In truth, we are a Paschal people.

In a way, it can be said that the Filipino people welcomed the greatest gift that the Magellan expedition offered us: the gift of Christ. It’s no wonder our ancestors were so eager to welcome you with their best offerings.

And at the same time, inspired by the spirit of Easter, Rajah Siagu and Rajah Colambu were eager to share the good news. They told Magellan about Cebu and took him there for another very blessed historical moment: the first baptism in Philippine history.

Five hundred years later, we continue to enjoy the gifts that the Magellan expedition offered: the gift of Christ, the gift of faith. May these gifts live on in our country and in our hearts, generation after generation, for the next 500 years and beyond.

Happy Easter and Happy Quincentennial to the faithful of the Philippines!

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