Magellan Is No Hero



I was recently asked by a colleague about my opinion on the controversy created by the Spanish production of an animated movie "Elcano and Magellan," where native islanders of Mactan led by Lapu Lapu are depicted as villains, the "kontrabida" and Magellan with his men, of course, the "bida." Others even claim the film is overly romanticizing the so-called 500th anniversary of the first rounding of the globe and also somehow glorifying both Magellan and Elcano.

The truth is, while the film's English title seems to be unifying both men, there is right now this debate in the Iberian Peninsula about who really gets the accolade being the first to circumnavigate the world. Portugal and much of global opinions are behind Magellan, while Spain continues to insist Juan Sebastian de Elcano.

Hero? Magellan is not a hero. But we can consider him as one of those pioneers, possessing such tenacity navigating the uncharted waters. "Flawed" is perhaps one fitting word to describe him. In the chronicles of Pigafetta, no matter how much he used a language of praise and admiration to Magellan, it still reveals the Portuguese captain's indifference towards the indigenous people he encountered.

In one entry of Pigafetta, in what was then Patagonia, Magellan asked his men to detain a native to the ship chaining him like an animal, eventually dying in the voyage in such manner. In Guam (Ladrones), Magellan commanded his crew to kill all men in a village and burn their huts, simply because they were angered by the marauding practice of the said natives. While sailing away, the Italian chronicler even described seeing and hearing the wailing women of the village, mourning they are lost.

Fray Bartolome de las Casas writing about the "Indigenous People" of the Americas, pondered upon the plight of the exploited natives and questioned the brotherly love the Europeans suppose to be propagating. Our ancestors perhaps could be considered luckier due to the remoteness of our islands and the scarcity of spices. These realities prevented the brutal experience other natives in other lands had to endure.

The most we can cheer about in this so-called 500th anniversary is the fact that the world was conquered by sailors, mariners, etc. That geography and science finally having a concrete idea of how the globe really was. But we must also remember that the age of exploration and the so-called "la conquista" also had some dark chapters in the history of humanity.

~ Pasig City. November 2019.

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