Banawa, the Kingdom of Humabon
Cebu's chronicler by the name of Manuel Enriquez de la Calzada points out that the first settlement visited by Magellan was a kingdom ruled by a king called Humabon. Where was that kingdom situated? Banawa.
Banawa, before the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines, was a thriving community. It is now what we call as San Nicolas, a district of Cebu City. It had trade with the Chinese, Borneans, Javanese, and other people from other parts of Asia.
It said that the people were engaged in farming and fishing because the land was fertile and seas abound with fish, seashells, and other products. Fernando Magallanes more known as Ferdinand Magellan was guided by Henrique de Moluka and by the kings of Limasawa and Butuan in search of sufficient food for his sailors and they landed in Banawa, the Kingdom of Humabon.
Henrique de Moluka acted as interpreter, thus Humabon and Magellan understood each other. Dela Calzada wrote that Moluka was a pure-blooded Cebuano, who in his youth, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Moluccas Islands. He eventually found his way to Portugal and Spain where he was recruited by Magellan to accompany him in his expedition.
Magellan was able to convince the conversion of Humabon and his family into Christianity. It was Father Valderrama who baptized them, with Humabon given the name as Carlos and his queen Juana, in honor of the king and queen of Spain. As a gift, Magellan gave the image of the Holy Child to Queen Juana who placed it with her bakhoy and idols at her altar.
The image of the Holy Child was personally chosen and given by King Charles to solve the controversy as to who among the saints should be made as patron saint for the expedition led by Magellan.
In contest to the patron saint were the image of Christ Resurrection, St. Joseph, Santiago Apostol, the patron saint of Spain, and San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of Madrid. Then King Charles intervened to address the deadlock, he remembered receiving a gift from a Belgian priest, went to the queen's room and took the image of the Holy Child from the altar, raised the image and announced that it will be patron saint of Magellan's voyage.
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