Duterte urges protection of country’s sovereignty on Magellan’s 500th

GUIUAN , Philippines — President Duterte called on Filipinos to learn from the lessons of history in order to protect the country’s sovereignty and accomplish national development, 500 years after Western colonizers first set foot here.

The President’s statement was made Thursday during the quincentennial celebration of the arrival of the Magellan-Elcano expedition in the Philippines, a historic voyage that was also the first circumnavigation of the globe.

Speaking before participants at the event held at Veterans Park of Calicoan Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Duterte said he hoped that the celebration of that expedition would “reinvigorate the historical and socio-civic consciousness of the Filipinos, especially among the new generations.”

Duterte also urged Filipinos to participate in the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations, which are aimed to bring the nation’s history, culture and traditions closer to heart.

“The history of the country should make Filipinos reflect on the past and look beyond their future,” he said. “Everyone should therefore honor those who have toiled in order for the Philippines to become modern, progressive and ever thriving as what it is today.”

While the Magellan-Elcano expedition led to the colonization of the Philippines by Spain, Duterte said “the Filipino people can find relief in the knowledge that they have gone far in their efforts to correct the mistakes of the past.

“As inheritors of this complicated yet glorious past, the duty now rests on our shoulders to continue the aspirations of our forebears,” the President said.

“I therefore call on all our kababayans to appreciate our rich history and learn from the experiences of those that came before us so that we may never again allow any other tribe to compromise our sovereignty – invaders who would come and who would stay here and contribute to the richness of our culture and of course in the way how we live,” he said.

Duterte later unveiled in Barangay Ngolos, Guiuan the marker that records the Philippines’ role in the 500th anniversary of the historic feat.

It was in Suluan Island where the Magellan-Elcano expedition anchored on March 16, 1521 from Guam. They landed in Homonhon the next day and on the following day, met local inhabitants who offered them food and nourishment.

Members of the Magellan-Elcano expedition who arrived in Samar were starving, dehydrated, scurvy-stricken and undernourished after almost four months of voyage across the Pacific.

Also present during the ceremony were Spain’s Ambassador Jorge Moragas Sanchez, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, presidential assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino and Sen. Bong Go.