Our historical ties with Portugal

LISBON, Portugal — We recently re-opened our embassy in Lisbon with Philip Lhuillier technically as the first resident-ambassador. With the Portuguese economy now on the optimistic side, expectations are up that Portugal will soon reinvigorate its bilateral trade relations with many countries including the Philippines. Although formal diplomatic relations were established in 1946, we go a long way in history considering the person credited with “discovering” the Philippines is a Portuguese explorer by the name of Fernão de Magalhães, more commonly known as Ferdinand Magellan. 

Filipinos and Portuguese share many things in common. In fact, a Portuguese friend of mine told me that even before the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, his country already launched a bloodless revolution known as the Revolução dos Cravos or the Carnation Revolution in 1974.

The revolution toppled the almost 50-year dictatorship of the “Estado Novo” regime established in 1933 by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar who only relinquished his power in 1968 after suffering a stroke. Salazar’s second-in-command Marcello Caetano succeeded as Prime Minister, but growing dissatisfaction from the citizens as well as the war in Africa involving Portugal’s territories was also taking its toll on the military as well as the country’s resources. Finally in April 25, 1974, the Movimento das Forças Armadas (Armed Forces Movement) headed by Otero Saraiva de Carvalho launched a military coup, overwhelming the government within six hours. 

Despite radio broadcasts urging citizens to stay at home, the soldiers were soon joined by civilians who ran out into the streets of Lisbon, bringing red carnation flowers which they either gave to the soldiers or placed in the rifle barrels – hence the name “Carnation Revolution” to describe the event.

Portugal is a very captivating country whose old world charm is reminiscent in old castles and palaces. In fact, we're staying at the Pestana Palace Hotel, a historical landmark formerly owned by a wealthy Portuguese merchant who probably traded with the Philippines. There are a number of old churches in Portugal, one of which is the San Antonio de Padua right in the middle of Lisbon. Of course there's the Shrine of Fatima in Ourem, named after the miraculous apparitions of the Virgin Mary to shepherd children Lucia Santos and Jacinta and Francisco Marto in 1917. Like many Filipinos, the Portuguese dream of leaving their country to seek a better life abroad – no doubt a result of the 2008 financial crisis that has affected many European countries.

Ambassador Philip Lhuillier informed me about scholastic papers and researches that show linkages between Portugal and the Philippines, even before Magellan’s voyage of discovery. The Ambassador also mentioned maps and cartographic sketches that could help in our maritime dispute with China, in particular Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc.

In the preliminary research paper of Miguel Rodrigues de Lourenço titled “Report on Bajo de Masinloc in European Cartography” covering the 17th and 18th centuries, he cites the “Carta Hydrogaphical y Chronographica De Las Yslas Filipina” Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde published in 1734 showing Bajo de Masinloc as part of Zambales. The Velarde map is one of the oldest and most accurate maps of the area, and this is supported by the 1792 map of Alejandro Malaspina — an Italian nobleman who served as a Spanish naval officer — that also showed Bajo de Masinloc as part of Philippine territory.

According to Paul Kekai Manansala, a Pampanga-born but now California-based book author (whose interests lie in archaeology, linguistics, history and related fields and has collaborated with archaeological experts and cultural specialists in developing groundbreaking studies on obscure “maritime voyaging and oceanic trade networks”), Portuguese writers as early as the 1500s mention a colony of “Luções” – the name for the people inhabiting the island of “Lução” which is still the Portuguese name for the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

“In Latin maps, Luzon was known as Luçonia or Lussonia both derived from Lução,” Manansala said, noting “the importance of the Luções during the Ming dynasty period and the arrival of early European explorers in Southeast Asia...   as intermediaries throughout the region. Luções were everywhere during this period acting as merchants, mercenaries, administrators, etc. from India to Japan according to varied sources.”

Manansala also cites Ming dynasty (1368-1644) annals affirming the importance of the kingdom of “Lusung” located in Central Luzon, to the point that the third Ming emperor Yung Lo (Yongle Emperor or Zhu Di), in the second year of his reign (1403-1424), sent Admiral Zheng Ho on an invasion of “Lusung” and its neighboring regions, with three more attempts made before the arrival of the first Europeans in the island about a century later.  

An article by Paul Morrow (a Canadian who writes about Philippine history and Baybayin, the ancient script of the Philippines) maintains that Europeans already had contact with Filipinos at least a decade before Magellan met Lapu-Lapu, and that when the Portuguese conquered Malacca in 1511, they found a community of Tagalogs and even appointed one named Regimo as temenggung (police commissioner).

Ateneo professor Dr. Leovino Garcia said maps not only show our location or help us find the direction to a particular destination – they help us “find our place in the world,” and tell us who we are as a people. No doubt history — be it from maps, historical accounts and narrative documentation from other countries like Portugal  — help us discover our roots and give us a better perspective of our present situation and our future as a nation and a people, especially in the context of our current maritime dispute with our Chinese neighbor.

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