"There are misconceptions in the treatment of our history that should be exposed and corrected for the intellectual health of our students and general readers. Foremost among them is the belief, so current even today, that Magellan discovered the Philippines. This belief originated from the Spaniard chroniclers whose purpose was to put into as wide a circulation as possible the greatness of Spain. This is natural and should not be counted against Spain or Spaniards, for indeed Spain was great and wealthy at the time Magellan reached the Philippines. The statement, however, becomes funny when Filipinos repeat such obvious prevarication of truth, for our country already had commercial relations with her Asian neighbors hundreds of years before Magellan was born."
--Teodoro Agoncillo, "A Reinterpretation of Our History Under Spain" (Sunday Times Magazine, 21 September 1958).
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