On November 18, 2022, at 2:00 p.m., the Murillo-Velarde 1734 Map Replica Turnover Ceremony was held at the Angelo King Multi-Purpose Center, attended by Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) representatives and Xavier School administrators. This is the first formal onsite event for the two institutions after the second lockdown.
The turnover event was made possible through the generosity of Mr. Mel V. Velarde, a true Patriot, Chairman of Now Corporation, CEO of NOW Telecom Company Inc., and Chairman of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication and Velarde Inc. (Read his turn-over speech here.)
According to the AIJP website, the map is what historians regard as the “mother of all Philippine maps.”
The map was one of the 80 heirlooms owned by the Duke of Northumberland, Ralph George Algernon Percy, that were auctioned by Sotheby’s London on November 4, 2014. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio got wind of the auction of the map and shared this information to various public and private museums and individuals, including Velarde, who is also an educator and a technology entrepreneur. Velarde participated in the bid and won.
The 1734 Murillo Velarde map was one of the 270 ancient maps cited at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) hearings in The Hague in the Netherlands when the Philippines contested China’s claims over the West Philippine Sea. In 2016, the PCA tribunal declared that China’s claims were invalid.
Velarde believes that the ownership of the map is every Filipino’s birth right. He donated the map to the Philippine government. He now raises public awareness on the map and its significance to our cultural and historical heritage by donating replicas of the map to government agencies, academic institutions, and private organizations.
More information about the map may be seen on the Murillo Velarde Map website.
Fr. Aristotle C. Dy, SJ, School President, delivered his message of gratitude to Mr. Mel Velarde and his team, emphasizing the relevance of the map to Xavier School’s context as a Chinese-Filipino educational institution. (Read the full message here.)
The map replica is currently displayed in the High School Learning Resource Center of the Xavier School San Juan campus.
The video of the event and an explainer of the Murillo-Velarde 1734 map may be viewed below.
This article by Carlos Villoria Prieto and Valeriano Sánchez Ramos features the Hispanic-Filipino Cultural Center in Laujar de Andarax. The Center pays tribute to the work of Laujar Jesuit Pedro Murillo Velarde, who prepared the first scientific map of the Philippines, the Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de la Yslas Filipinas Manila or the Murillo Velarde Map, together with two Filipinos: Francisco Suarez, who drew the map, and Nicolas dela Cruz Bagay, who did the engraving.
Here is the abstract of the article:
The Spanish Philippine Centre of Laujar de Andarax is the result of two factors that will be the driving force behind its development, on the one hand the international interest in the Laujarean Jesuit Pedro Murillo Velarde and that of the Laujar town council for the recovery of one of its most significant civil buildings that was in a ruinous state and on the verge of being lost. The headquarters of the Centro Hispano Filipino is an exceptional example of a manor house of the small Alpujarran nobility. Built in the first half of the 18th century, it is an example of the economic development of 18th century Laujar. The Centre is dedicated to the Laujar Jesuit Pedro Murillo Velarde, the most prominent intellectual in the Philippines in the 18th
century. Nowadays, Pedro Murillo’s cartographic work has gained unusual relevance due to the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines over the control of the South China Sea.
Access the full article here.
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Mr. President of the United Nations General Assembly;
Mr. Secretary-General;
Heads of state and government;
Excellencies:
I am honored to address you today on behalf of the Filipino people on the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.
The invisible enemy that is COVID-19 has brought about an unfamiliar global landscape and unleashed a crisis without precedent. It is the biggest test the world and the United Nations faced since World War II.
While the United Nations has brought relief and hope to so many countries and peoples around the world, it now finds itself saddled by a virus that has taken many lives and wrecked economies and social order.
We are at a crossroads. How we address COVID-19 will define our future.
For the Philippines, this means putting up all of the peoples of our united nations at the core of this response.
We will need to ask hard and fundamental questions about the vision and mission that the United Nations conceptualized 75 years ago.
We need to ask ourselves whether or not we have remained true and faithful to the United Nations’ principles and ideals.
Mr. President, in the light of the realities of the present, the Philippines grieves with all of the families all over the world who lost their loved ones to this horrible virus.
We extend our heartfelt condolences.
We salute all frontliners who put their lives on the line even in countries not their own. So also do we honor and recognize the healthcare professionals who selflessly answered the call to combat the COVID-19 pandemic despite its virulence and unknown characteristics.
While each nation has its own strategy in fighting the pandemic, what the world needs are coordinated international plans and efforts to pursue a common purpose.
COVID-19 knows no border. It knows no nationality. It knows no race. It knows no gender. It knows no age. It knows no creed.
The Philippines values the role that the United Nations plays in its fight against the pandemic. As a middle-income country whose economic advances have been derailed by the pandemic, we welcome the launch of the UN COVID Response and Recovery Fund.
Ensuring universal access to anti COVID-19 technologies and products is pivotal in the global pandemic recovery.
The world is in the race to find a safe and effective vaccine.
When the world finds that vaccine, access to it must not be denied nor withheld. It should be made available to all, rich and poor nations alike, as a matter of policy.
The Philippines joins our partners in the ASEAN and the Non-Aligned Movement in raising our collective voice: the COVID-19 vaccine must be considered a global public good. Let us be clear on this.
We call for a global health agenda with enough resources and policy space for the World Health Organization.
We need a WHO that is quick to coordinate and quicker to respond. The Philippines will do its part in the pooling of global resources. Our health workers are among the best.
Mr. President, just as we needed stability and confidence because of the pandemic, geopolitical tensions continue to rise.
Escalating tensions benefit no one. New flashpoints heighten fears and tend to tear peoples apart.
When elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled flat.
Given the size and military might of the contenders, we can only imagine and be aghast at the terrible toll on human life and property that shall be inflicted if the “word war” deteriorates into a real war of nuclear weapons and missiles.
I therefore call on the stakeholders in the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East and Africa: if we cannot be friends as yet, then in God’s name, let us not hate each other too much. I heard it once said, and I say it to myself in complete agreement.
Mr. President: Filipino migrant workers have been devastated by the pandemic. Many have lost not only their livelihood, but also their health and lives as well. Yet they
go on in the frontlines, healing, caring for others in the different parts of the world.
The Philippine Government has embarked on an unprecedented repatriation program. More than 345,000 overseas Filipino workers needed to come home then.
We have brought back half and are bringing back the rest.
We thank the countries that have provided Filipino migrants with residence permits, access to testing, treatment and related health services in this pandemic.
We brought back most of our seafarers who were stranded because of COVID19 restrictions. We pioneered with the IMO the Green Lane for safe changes of seafaring crews.
In these times, we need stronger cooperation in promoting and protecting the rights of migrants, regardless of their migrant status.
We must all adhere to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Unless states include all migrants in their response to this pandemic, “no one among us is safe, until everyone is safe”, as the Secretary-General has said.
With the poverty rate reduced at 16.6 percent; and a sustained economic growth rate of 6.4 percent between 2010 and 2019, the Philippines was on track to becoming an upper-
middle income country by the end of 2020. But the pandemic has placed our economy in recession.
Despite this downward pressure on growth, the Philippines remains committed to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mr. President: The same urgency needed to fight COVID-19 is needed to address the climate crisis. This is a global challenge that has worsened existing inequalities and vulnerabilities from within and between nations.
Climate change has worsened the ravages of the pandemic.
Peoples in developing countries like the Philippines suffer the most. We cannot afford to suffer more.
The Philippines joined the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. We call on all parties, especially those who have not made good their commitment to fight climate change, to honor the same.
We call on all parties to strengthen communities and peoples for preparedness and resilience. We are talking about mankind and Earth, our one and only home.
Mr. President: The Philippines will continue to protect the human rights of its people, especially from the scourge of illegal drugs, criminality, and terrorism.
A number of interest groups have weaponized human rights; some well-meaning, others ill-intentioned.
They attempt to discredit the functioning institutions and mechanisms of a democratic country and a popularly elected government which in its last two years, still enjoy the same widespread approval and support.
These detractors pass themselves off as human rights advocates while preying on the most vulnerable humans; even using children as soldiers or human shields in encounters. Even schools are not spared from their malevolence and anti-government propaganda.
They hide their misdeeds under the blanket of human rights but the blood oozes through.
To move forward, open dialogue and constructive engagement with the United Nations is the key.
But these must be done in full respect of the principles of objectivity, noninterference, non-selectivity and genuine dialogue. These are the fundamental bases for productive international cooperation on human rights.
Mr. President: Terrorism looms large.
As I said at the Aqaba Process, the Philippines will do everything and partner with anyone who would sincerely desire to protect the innocent from terrorism in all its manifestations.
The Marawi siege, where foreign terrorist fighters took part, taught us that an effective legal framework is crucial. Our 2020 Anti-Terrorism Act shores up the legal framework by focusing on both terrorism and the usual reckless response to it.
Its enactment was done pursuant to our commitment, and the strict adherence to the relevant Security Council resolutions and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
Most importantly, we remain committed to rebuild stricken communities and address the root causes of terrorism and violent extremism in my country.
We must remain mindful of our obligations and commitment to the Charter of the United Nations and as amplified by the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes.
The Philippines affirms that commitment in the South China Sea in accordance with UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Award.
The Award is now part of international law, beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon.
We firmly reject attempts to undermine it.
We welcome the increasing number of states that have come in support of the award and what it stands for — the triumph of reason over rashness, of law over disorder, of amity over ambition. This – as it should – is the majesty of the law.
Mr. President: The global health crisis has further complicated the global security environment. But no aspiration nor ambition can justify the use of weapons that destroy indiscriminately and completely.
There is no excuse for deaths that a nuclear war could cause nor the reckless use of chemical and biological weapons that can cause mass destruction.
These weapons of death put us all at mortal risk, especially if they fall in the hands of terrorists without a shred of humanity in their souls.
We call on all Member States to fully implement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Chemical and the Biological Weapons Conventions.
I have asked the Philippine Senate to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Importantly, we were among those to sign it first.
Mr. President: The Philippines has a long history of opening its doors to the refugees – from the White Russians following the 1917 Revolution, the European Jews in the Second World War, the Vietnamese in the late 1960s, and the Iranians displaced by the 1979 revolution, among others.
The Philippines continues to honor this humanitarian tradition in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
But lest we forget: helping the most vulnerable – those displaced by conflict, persecution, and political instability – is a shared responsibility of all countries.
As I have said many times: The doors of the Philippines are open, as they have always been, to everyone fleeing for safety, such as the Rohingyas.
In the face of a mounting refugee crisis worldwide, let us work together towards ending the conflicts and conditions that force people to flee their homes.
Mr. President: As our societies become more diverse yet interdependent, social cohesion issues come to the fore.
Mutual understanding always accompanied by mutual tolerance between those of different faiths and cultures is the only foundation of societies at peace with itself and all others.
Finally, I express gratitude to the gallant peacekeepers, including our own, who advance the cause of peace in the most difficult situations.
From the Golan Heights in the Middle East to Liberia in West Africa, Filipino peacekeepers put themselves in the frontlines between the vulnerable and those who seek harm.
We are committed to increasing the Philippine footprint in UN peacekeeping operations with increased participation of women.
Again Mr. President: To defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, we must work with seamless unity which demands complete mutual trust and the conviction that we will win or lose together.
We cannot bring back the dead but we can spare the living; and we can build back better, healthier, and more prosperous and just societies.
To this end, we rededicate ourselves to multilateralism. The UN remains humanity’s essential Organization. But it is only as effective as we make it.
To make significant changes, we need to be bold. We need the same collective courage that finally made the United Nations a reality 75 years ago.
We need to act on long-standing recommendations to improve the Security Council’s composition and working methods; to strengthen the role of the General Assembly; and to streamline the processes and the operations of the UN.
Indeed, to be ready for the new global normal, it cannot be business as usual for the UN.
Let us empower UN – reform it – to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Let us strengthen it so it can fully deliver its mandate to maintain peace and security, uphold justice and human rights, and promote freedom and social progress for all.
After all, we are the United Nations. Thank you.
Source: PCOO-PND (Presidential News Desk)
LIVE: Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio launches e-book on South China Sea
Speakers:
– Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio
– Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario
– Businessman Mel Velarde, the man who brought home the “Mother of All Maps”
Posted by Rappler on Thursday, May 4, 2017
Source:https://web.facebook.com/rapplerdotcom/videos/1599403326747111/?extid=xDIu4rcjTL280G04
The map regarded by historians as the “mother of all Philippine maps” found its way to yet another home. On 03 October 2019, Mr. Mel V. Velarde, Filipino technology entrepreneur and educator, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) turned over to NAMRIA, through Administrator, Usec. Peter N. Tiangco, PhD, an official replica of the Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas Manila, 1734, otherwise known as the 1734 Murillo-Velarde Map.
MGB Director Belen gives his welcome remarks at the start of the program. –VENER QUINTIN C. TAGUBA, JR.
Mr. Velarde talks about his gift to NAMRIA in his message. –VENER QUINTIN C. TAGUBA, JR.
The momentous occasion was held in the NAMRIA Boardroom and was also attended by staff from AIJC, NAMRIA Deputy Administrators Jose C. Cabanayan Jr. and Efren P. Carandang, Chief of Staff Rowena E. Bongalos, Branch Directors Ruel DM. Belen of the Mapping and Geodesy Branch (MGB), Dr. Rijaldia N. Santos of the Resource Data Analysis Branch, John Santiago F. Fabic of the Geospatial Information System Management Branch, Febrina E. Damaso of the Support Services Branch, Assistant Director John M. Labindalawa of the Hydrography Branch, other NAMRIA officials and employees. The event was hosted by Engr. Charisma Victoria D. Cayapan of MGB.
The Deed of Donation is signed by Administrator Tiangco and Mr. Velarde with
officials from NAMRIA and AIJC witnessing the event. –VENER QUINTIN C. TAGUBA, JR.
First made and published in Manila in 1734, the map was created by Spanish Jesuit Friar Pedro Murillo Velarde (1696-1753), together with two Filipino artisans, namely, Francisco Suarez who drew the map and Nicolas dela Cruz Bagay who engraved it upon the behest of then Governor-General Fernando Valdés Tamón, in compliance with an order from King Philip V of Spain.
The map is unveiled by Administrator Tiangco and Mr. Velarde…
…and the agreement for its donation is sealed with the customary handshake. –VENER QUINTIN C. TAGUBA, JR.
Regarded as the first and most important scientific map of the Philippines by the World Digital Library, the map depicts the entire archipelago as flanked by two side panels, containing six vignettes on each side that describe various ethnic groups as well as cities and islands of the country. Also shown on the map as part of national territory are Shoal Panacot, now known as Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal and Los Bajos de Paragua, now referred to as the Island of Spratlys.
In his message, Administrator Tiangco acknowledges the gift received by NAMRIA
and also its great significance. –VENER QUINTIN C. TAGUBA, JR.
Mr. Velarde gained ownership of the artifact on 04 November 2014 through an auction by Sotheby’s London in the United Kingdom. It was among the 80 heirlooms owned by the Duke of Northumberland, Ralph George Algernon Percy. Upon the recommendation of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Mr. Velarde joined and eventually won the bid over the phone. The map arrived in the Philippines on 29 April 2017 and was donated by Mr. Velarde to the Philippine Government through the Office of the Solicitor General.
In his message during the turnover ceremony in NAMRIA, Mr. Velarde spoke of the map which he said was “a gift to the Filipino people” and of a public awareness campaign on it and its significance to the nation’s cultural and historical heritage. He said that the campaign involves donating official replicas of the map to different government agencies, academic institutions, and private organizations, with NAMRIA being one of the beneficiaries. In his own message, Administrator Tiangco expressed NAMRIA’s great appreciation for the gift saying “Christmas came early for NAMRIA.” Indeed, the rare map was an early Christmas present for everyone in the agency.
Monica M. Ocfemia
Source: http://www.namria.gov.ph/list.php?id=2598&alias=namria-gets-official-replica-of-1734-murillo-velarde-map&Archive=1
Historian Ambeth Ocampo says it should instead be called the ‘Velarde-Bagay’ map to highlight the contribution of its Filipino engraver Nicolas dela Cruz Bagay
MANILA, Philippines – Tucked away in the basement of a castle in the English countryside once used to film the Harry Potter movies, the “Mother of all Philippine maps” resurfaced when severe flooding forced the Duke of Northumberland to sell among other heirlooms, the 1734 Murillo Velarde map.
The stroke of serendipity meant the map would finally find its way back to the Philippines after centuries. Businessman Mel Velarde – prompted by Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio – bid P12 million for the prized artifact and won during a Sotheby’s auction in 2012.
Considered the most important map of the Philippines, the 1734 Murillo Velarde map – named after its cartographer Jesuit priest Pedro Murillo Velarde – defined in vivid detail the territory of the country nearly 300 years ago. It continues to do so until today.
After all, a spotlight was put on the map after it played a crucial role in the Philippines’ case against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. The map had been entered as evidence for the Philippines as it showed Panatag Shoal or Scarborough Shoal (named “Panacot” on the map) has been part of the Philippine territory as far back as nearly 3 centuries ago.
‘SCARBOROUGH IS OURS.’ The Northern Luzon Command on June 6, 2016, receives a framed replica of the 1734 Murillo Map that shows the disputed Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) as part of the Philippines.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTHERN LUZON COMMAND
Unlike the Philippines, China has not been able to produce a map older than this one, showing the shoal in its territory. With less than 20 copies worldwide, the Murillo Velarde map is also extremely rare and valued as the first scientific map of the Philippines. (READ: Ancient maps support PH claim over Scarborough)
But for historian Ambeth Ocampo, it’s about time the Philippines considered renaming it. Why? Because Pedro Murillo Velarde was not the only person behind the creation of the map.
What should it be called? Ocampo suggested calling the Murillo Velarde map the “Velarde-Bagay” instead.
According to Ocampo, the map is important not only for its rarity, but also because it tells us one story about who we are as Filipinos. Ocampo said while the map is largely known to have been drawn by Velarde, what’s been mostly forgotten is that it was engraved and printed by a man named Nicolas dela Cruz Bagay, who signed himself an “Indio Tagalo” on the map.
“The most important map of the 18th century is called the Murillo Velarde map, which I hope, will be renamed the Velarde-Bagay map,” Ocampo said.
“While traditionally the map should be named for the cartographer, because we’re Pinoy, we should highlight the Philippine contribution. The man may have drawn a map but without the Indio who signed, you will have no beautiful map,” he added.
For Ocampo, renaming the map to include both its creators gives credit to whom it is due.
“The map shows you not just the territory but much, much more,” he said.
Encircled in this photo is ‘Panacot’ shoal, also known as Panatag Shoal (Scarborough shoal) or Bajo de Masinloc.
SCREENSHOT FROM THE US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
What else is in the map? Aside from laying out Philippine territory, the map also earned praise from historians, scholars, and cartographers throughout the world for depicting a capsule history of the Philippines and what life was like here in the 18th century.
Images of different types of vessels sailing in Philippine waters and the ports of Manila, Zamboanga, and Cavite, show the country’s maritime culture, which many Filipinos often forget, Ocampo said. With over 7,641 islands (according to the National Mapping Resource and Information Authority) the Philippines has one of the longest coastlines in the world.
Meanwhile, 12 vignettes that decorate the sides of the map showcase Philippine products and the daily life of Filipinos. Foreigners who were in the country at the time, such as Persians, “Cafres” (Africans), Indians, Chinese, and Japanese, among others, attest to the Philippines as a rich trading port, too.
“What’s important about the map is that in the 18th century, you’d think we’re a backwater [place but] Manila was not,” Ocampo said.
SOFIA TOMACRUZ
Source: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/why-we-should-rename-1734-murillo-velarde-map
MANILA – A copy of a rare map that helped bolster the Philippines’ case against China in a dispute over the South China Sea was sold on Saturday (Sept 14) for 40 million pesos (S$1.06 million).
The price was nearly four times what a tech executive had paid for another copy at a Sotheby’s auction in London in 2014. Mr Mel Velarde, chief executive of local telco NOW, bought his copy for 12 million pesos.
The map was expected to fetch at least 18 million pesos.
Ms Lori Juvida, a gallery owner, tendered the winning bid. She later told The Straits Times it was “for a friend”. His identity has not been disclosed but he is believed to be a Chinese Filipino.
Mr Jaime Ponce de Leon, the director of Leon Gallery, where the auction was held said: “The strength of its price is its rarity and its historical significance… As a document of history, it is very important.”
The map, first published in 1734 by the Jesuit cartographer Pedro Murillo Velarde, was among 270 maps presented to a five-man arbitration tribunal to back the Philippines’ rights to parts of the South China Sea that China was also claiming.
It drew Scarborough Shoal – referred to back then as Panacot – as part of the country’s territories. The shoal lies just 358km west of the Philippines’ main Luzon island.
The tribunal in The Hague sided with the Philippines and struck down in 2016 China’s claim to the South China Sea.
It concluded that land features, not historic rights, determine maritime claims, and ruled that the “nine-dash line” encircling two million sq km of the South China Sea on modern Chinese maps is illegal.
It upheld the Philippines’ rights to over 200 nautical miles of “exclusive economic zone”, which included Scarborough.
China, however, has ignored the ruling.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte raised the case with China’s leader Xi Jinping when he visited China last month. But he was told China would not change its position on the matter.
His spokesman Salvador Panelo later said the two leaders “agreed to disagree”, and that Mr Duterte would no longer bring up the ruling with Mr Xi.
The 1734 map is by itself an important historical artefact. It was engraved by printer Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay on eight copper plates. The plates were captured by Britain when it occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764, and taken to England as war booty.
The University of Cambridge used the plates to print copies of the map before the plates were “rubbed down” and re-used to make other maps.
The copy auctioned on Saturday had belonged to the Duke of Northumberland.
Fewer than a dozen copies of the map exist today. Three are with the national libraries of Spain and France, and the US Library of Congress, while another three are in private collections in the Philippines.
The map has been described as the “mother of all Philippine maps”, as it was the first to accurately represent the Philippines and define its borders. It had the names of over 900 towns, cities and villages, and showed important rivers and waterways. Later maps would use it as reference.
What also made the 1734 map unique were 12 panels on both sides, drawn by artist Francisco Suarez, that depict everyday life in the Philippines in the 1700s.
The panels portray “sangleys”- as the Chinese who settled in the Philippines were called – as well as African slaves, Armenian and Persian merchants, and a Japanese samurai.
There are also depictions of cockfighting, and men and women going to church, playing the mandolin, dancing, cutting bamboo for scaffolds, steering a carabao, and pounding rice. There are images of forts and the walled city of Old Manila.
“It was the culmination of two centuries of map-making,” wrote curator Lisa Guerrero-Nakpil.
