THE Philippine government will be submitting to the United Nations Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in The Hague this week an almost 300-year-old map of the Philippines showing the disputed Scarborough Shoal being part of Philippine territory as far back as three centuries ago.
The map debunks the so-called nine-dash-line China has been using as proof of its claim over the South China Sea. It also locates Scarborough shoal, then known as “Panacot,” also called “Panatag” by Filipinos, off the shores of Luzon, then known as Nueva Castilla. Scarborough shoal has been a source of conflict between the Philippines and China.
The Jesuit priest Pedro Murillo Velarde had the map published in Manila in 1734. It surfaced in 2012 among the possessions of a British lord, who put it up for auction at Sotheby’s in London, where Filipino businessman Mel Velarde bid and got it for £170,500 ($266,869.46 or P12,014,463.09).
The first certified true copy of the map has been reserved for Malacañang. Velarde will personally present it to President Aquino on June 12, the anniversary of Philippine independence.
How Velarde, president and chief executive officer of Information Technology-based Now Corporation, acquired the map that had lain among the treasures of one of England’s most prominent families for more than 200 years is like something out of the movies. In fact, the wizard Harry Potter even makes a cameo appearance in the story.
Velarde has yet to find out if he is related to the Jesuit priest, although a possible connection was one of the motives for his pursuit of the artifact.
Velarde said Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, a long time friend, suggested to him sometime in October last year to bid for the Murillo Velarde map. Velarde said Carpio’s convincing line was: “You know, man, you’re a Velarde.”
Carpio, who has been conducting lectures debunking China’s claim of almost the entire South China Sea, calls the Murillo Velarde map the “Mother of all Philippine maps.”
Local public and private museums declined to take part in the Sotheby’s bid. The National Museum was interested but didn’t have the money, so the plan was for Velarde to buy the map and sell it later to the National Museum.
The Murillo Velarde map measures 1,120 by 1,200 mm. The Sotheby’s catalog carried a description of the map by Filipino historian and biographer Carlos Quirino: “Murillo Velarde’s map of the Philippines is a landmark in the depiction of the islands, and the first scientific map of the Philippines. It is flanked by two pasted-on side-panels with twelve engravings, eight depicting native costumed figures, a map of Guajam (Guam) and three city or harbour maps, notably Manila.”
The map was among 80 heirlooms that the current Duke of Northumberland, Ralph George Algernon Percy, decided to auction off after a devastating flood hit Northumberland County in April 2012.
Newspaper reports said heavy rains had “caused a culvert on the Duke of Northumberland’s land to collapse. Many residents were evacuated and some homes demolished after the foundations were damaged.”
Although the Duke’s estate did not own all the affected homes, he provided urgent help for his neighbors. The flood left him with a £12 million bill for repairs, hence the need to auction off his family’s collection.
As a bit of trivia, the Duke owns the vast Alnwick Castle, which has been featured as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the first two Harry Potter films.
Sotheby held the first auction on July 9, 2014 and the second on Nov. 4, 2014, both in London.
It was in the November auction that the Murillo Velarde map, called Carta Hydrographia y chorogphica de las Ylas Filipinas, Manila 1734, was included under Lot 183.
The Murillo Velarde map names two Filipinos as responsible for the map–Francisco Suarez who drew it and Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay who engraved it.
Historian Ambeth Ocampo wrote in his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “The Murillo Velarde map of 1734 is quite rare, with less than 50 known copies to exist in the entire universe.”
Velarde registered to participate in the auction through an agent. He had participated in auctions in person before but his acquisition of the map last November was his first bid by phone.
The Sotheby’s auction took place at 9 p.m, Manila time while Velarde was in a Resorts World steakhouse for his mother’s 78th birthday dinner.
Velarde described the bidding, which lasted only for three to four minutes, as “furious.”
He was on the phone before Sotheby’s put Lot 183 on the auction block, and noted that in other lots, it was over after two to three bids.
Bidding for the map started at £30,000. He started to bid through his agent, thinking that he could go as high as £80,000.
Velarde said he could hear “30,000 pounds,… 40,000 pounds… 50,000 pounds. Fifty-five, sixty.” He said, “It seemed like so many were bidding.”
When the bidding reached £80,000, Velarde said he paused for a few seconds to decide whether or not to stop. The exchange rate was P68 to £1. He knew that the National Museum could allot only P5 million to buy rare items.
Then images of the Chinese occupying the contested islands in the Spratlys came to mind, he said, and he decided to proceed.
“Pansariling away na, nagiging personal na sa akin (lt became a personal crusade),” he said. He eventually paid more than double the amount he thought he was willing to part with: £170,500.
When you buy a car, Velarde said, you have something to compare it with. Not in the case of an old map. But Velarde also thought of the possible implications later, knowing that there is a pending case before the U.N. International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea against China. “You need some evidence,” he said.
Velarde said he is thankful the auction was not held in Shanghai or Macau, where the map could have attracted Chinese bidders and the price would have been much higher.
Now that Velarde owns the map, the National Museum has informed him it has no funds to buy the map this year, and that there was some uncertainty about funds next year. Velarde decided to donate the map instead.
Why is he doing it?
“In a true-to-life movie, there’s a part for everybody. There’s a bully in the neighborhood. He already took over our land. We have soldiers in the Spratlys. Naka-standby lang sila (They’re just on standby there),” Velarde said.
“Then, this map is owned by a Duke in a Harry Potter castle. It’s like you wanting to play your part in the movie,” he added.
Velarde said he hopes to meet with the Duke of Northumberland someday. His children want to come along, not really for the Duke, who comes from a 700-year-old English aristocracy and is the fourth largest landowner in the United Kingdom. They are excited to see the room where Harry Potter had his first flying lessons.
***
(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)
It was, of course, a chilling experience to see your president receiving a standing ovation from leaders, movers and shakers of his country’s former enemies after he delivered a speech likening a former friend who has become his enemy to Nazi Germany.
Describing himself as an amateur student of history, President Aquino did compare China’s leaders to the Nazis, not once but twice (He first did in an interview with the New York Times last year).
He was, of course, trying to drag his audience in Tokyo to sympathize with the Philippines, which is protesting China’s incursion on its territories by building permanent structures in reefs and the Spratlys which are being claimed by the Philippines along with several other countries.
Tokyo also has a territorial dispute with China and the standing ovation the Japanese gave Aquino was expected somehow of the former enemy turned ally. Aquino’s reference to the Nazis, however, came somewhat off to the Japanese who were once Nazi allies in the axis of power during World War II.
Aquino is not an amateur in this branch of history as he claims.
The last great war may have been touched many times in many Aquino gatherings. The Chief Executive’s grandfather and namesake of his and his father Ninoy, Benigno “Igno” Aquino Sr. once served in the Japanese-sponsored government during the occupation years as speaker of the national assembly. Benigno Sr. was jailed in Japan by the US during what our oldies called were “liberation” years, and was branded a “collaborator” by the many patriots who have endured the war years without consorting with the enemies.
Still, even with the Japanese working hard to erase its past crimes against humanity, they offer themselves as allies now because being friends would be most convenient to themselves and their patron, the United States, which is fast losing control over the sea and air lanes of Asia amid China’s aggressive moves in claiming most part of the West Philippine Sea.
Aquino based his Nazi comparison with “how Germany was testing the waters and what the response was by various other European powers.” He then also compared the past to the present situation, likening the belated action by the US and Japan by mentioning: “Unfortunately, up to the annexation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, and eventually, the annexation of the entire country of Czechoslovakia, nobody said ‘stop.’
“What if somebody said stop to Hitler at that point in time, or to Germany at that time? Could we have avoided World War II?” Aquino asked. Further adding: “And that is really a question that still occupies the thoughts of so many individuals.”
Yet, Aquino could not drag even the closest but unwilling allies to go to a war.
Like the Philippines, Japan has also avoided firing shots against Chinese boats in the Senkaku Islands despite the protection it receives from the US, much more than what the Philippines receives from its Big Brother.
The US has conducted exploration flights over the islands and has confirmed the existence of the structures, including big guns indicating China’s readiness for a military defense, just in case.
The US is also weighing its future role on this issue. But, however the US tries to cover for its interests in Asia, it only continuously coaxes its junior partners in the region to carry the fight in its behalf.
Losing the sea and air lanes would render the US incapable of protecting its economic and military interests in Asia.
But other than soft warnings, no key US official has yet to issue stronger words that would make China give further outward movements a second thought. In fact, China is the one sending chilling messages to the countries it is now at odds with — an indirect statement such as telling the US not to mess up with China’s own designs.
Without a strong military force, the Philippines is banking on international support to assert it claim over the islands it has already lost.
All indications, however, point to China not giving in to international pressure. It wants bilateral talks with the Philippines, a small country which has no chance of winning concessions with a new superpower.
Yet, government persists in convincing the free world that the islands belong to the Philippines. It is set to present 300-year old Murillo Velarde map (published in 1734) as proof before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in The Hague this week. It is a move which is better than trading bullets with the Chinese, but one which China is expected to continue to ignore.
China is not expected to recognize an old sheet of paper and scoot back to its walled cities with its tail down.
The Philippines and Japan, meanwhile, can only issue big words while their backs get tapped by their US sponsor. They can continuously console each other and give whoever speaks in the favor a big round of applause and a standing ovation, their pasts notwithstanding.
THE Philippines is scheduled this week to submit a 300-year-old map to the international tribunal, which will bolster its case against China’s territorial claim of the South China Sea, the Malacanang said Monday, June 8.
“China’s claim is about historical title,” said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda in a press briefing. “This old map would certainly present the side of the Philippines when it comes to any historical basis.”
Known as the Murillo Velarde map and originally called “Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Islas Filipinas” was first published in 1734 in Manila by Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde, a Jesuit priest.
Lacierda said the map will strengthen the Philippines’ arbitration case and debunk China’s so-called nine-dash-line claim, which it has been using to help prove its claim.
At the time the map came out, it was praised for its detail.
“It became a sensation in Europe because it was very detailed,” said Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Caprio at a recent Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication forum regarding the dispute, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
“It was the advance party for Google Earth,” Carpio added.
Filipino businessman Mel Velarde, who purchased the map at a Sotheby’s auction for P12 million, will present a certified true copy of it to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on Friday, June 12.
The map will be submitted to the United Nations Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in The Hague in the Netherlands this week.
Velarde said the map’s most valuable and relevant feature is found on the upper left section where a cluster of land mass called “Bajo de Masinloc” and “Panacot” – now known as Panatag or Scarborough Shoal – located west of the Luzon coastline. The cluster is irrefutable proof that the disputed shoal has been part of Philippine territory, Velarde added, according to Inquirer.
“As Justice Carpio said in his lecture, none of the islands drawn in this Murrillo-Velarde map ever appeared on China’s maps since centuries ago – only in recent history when China concocted the nine-dash line,” Velarde said in an email to Inquirer.
Despite the tensions resulting from the dispute, Lacierda said the Philippines and China remain friends.
“Just to be clear, we have no conflict with the Chinese people. Our conflict, for instance, our differences are with the approach of the leadership in dealing with the South China Sea. But on whole, with respect to the Chinese people, we continue to establish good relations with them. And we certainly look forward to a better relations with China,” Lacierda said, according to ABS-CBN News.
He added that the relationship of the two countries is not wholly based on the territorial conflict, and that people should consider more than just the issue when examining their relations.
“If you are going to limit yourself only to the South China [Sea] issue, certainly, it will color your perspective. But if you look at it from a broader perspective where we have established good relations with China and we are friends – the Chinese people are here, Filipinos are there,” Lacierda said. (With reports from ABS-CBN News, CNN, Inquirer and Philstar)
The government will submit a 300-year-old map of the Philippines to a United Nations arbitral tribunal to support its petition to nullify China’s claim to Philippine territory in the South China Sea.
Published in Manila by the Jesuit friar Pedro Murillo Velarde in 1734, the map shows Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal), off the coast of Zambales province, as part of the Philippines.
China seized Panatag Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, after a two-month standoff between Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels in 2012.
Without military muscle to retake the shoal, the Philippines went to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (It…
Nevertheless, this map, which can be downloaded online, has been well known among historians, map collectors, and aficionados of Filipiniana in general. Was the purchase really necessary to defend Filipino claims about its sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc (or Scarborough Shoal) before the United Nations? Different versions of the map were already displayed at the Metropolitan Museum in July 2012, at an exhibition titled Three Hundred Years of Philippine Maps, 1598-1898. On that occasion, the historian and economist Benito J. Legarda, Jr. gave a speech on the life and times of the Jesuit priest Velarde. T-shirts printed with the Velarde map were even sold in that gathering. So why so much noise about this now when a version of the map is even available in the Wikipedia entry on Scarborough Shoal?
Pedro Murillo Velarde was not only a priest. Like many in his order and in the Catholic clergy as a whole, during his time, he was as man of erudition, a polygraph and an expert on law, among other things. During his stay in the Philippines, he served as a reference person to consult on almost any matter. On his watch as well as censorship were printed several books. Among his remarkable works is the second Jesuit history of the Philippines, Historia de la Provincia de Philipinas de la Compañía de Jes£s: Segunda Parte (Manila, 1749), recounting Philippine events between 1616 and 1716. This narrative actually includes a copy of the map in question, Carta hydrographica y chorographica de las Islas Filipinas. Another is the 10-volume Geographia Historica (Madrid, 1752), of which the eighth volume devotes almost a hundred pages to the nature, geography, and people of the Philippines.
Nicolás de la Cruz Bagay was the Tagalog engraver to whom must be credited the map’s masterful engraving. He was at the service of the Jesuits until his death, and almost any printed Jesuit book was carried out by him.
HUMAN DIVERSITY
The Carta was printed upon the request of then governor-general Fernando Valdés y Tamón (1729-1739), to please a direct order from Philip V, who wanted to have a detailed map of the archipelago. It took them only one year to carry out the work. Many maps of the Philippines had been already printed, but none matched the Carta in terms of comprehensiveness and accuracy, despite some understandable mistakes. Needless to say, the Jesuit priest did not have to visit all the islands to carry out this work, but he carefully compiled all the maps, charts, and geographical knowledge available in his time in order to design the map.
There has not been enough discussion on the beautiful drawings accompanying the map: they show the human diversity of Manila, at that time a commercial hub and an early entrepot of globalization, thanks to the Manila Galleon; it shows the urban planning of Manila, some of the Filipino fauna — crocodiles used to be abundant — the particular way people, including the indigenous tribes, used to dress, and their varied way of life. The ilustrado Trinidad Pardo de Tavera devoted to this map a thorough monograph printed in 1894, as he was fortunate to see the original copper plate of the book editions of the map.
Perhaps attesting to the map’s popularity was its being reprinted time and again: in Manila (1744), in Vienna (1748) by Kaliwoda, in Nüremberg (1760) by Lowitz, in the first volume of Juan de la Concepción’s Historia General de Philipinas (1788), and as the basis of other Philippine maps (e.g. Paris,1752) until cartography developed more precise methods.
Scarborough Shoal is an easy geographical accident to dismiss because of its small size, but it is too close to the Philippine shore, too close to Manila, and, even more importantly, this has always been the fishing base of Filipino fishermen who are now deprived of a rich source of livelihood. I believe the Spratly Islands further down southwest are also indicated in the map even with its limited space, namely, by Bajos de Paragua.
The current geopolitical situation threatening the integrity of Filipino territory shows how vital history is as a reference for national interests — no matter that history can also be contradicted by contemporary realities. More money should be invested in the rich Philippine National Library, in the National Archives, and in any library containing valuable historical material. More emphasis should be given also in schools to the country’s history before 1898 and also to the archipelago’s overall background before 1521. The Murillo Velarde map should be only the first proof before the United Nations. More inquiries and research into old documents and forgotten maps should shed more light on the Philippine jurisdiction over a handful of islands that always belongs to its territory. Malacañan Palace itself holds a rich collection of Filipino maps that could be useful in this case.
There is a perennial race among powerful nations to assert control over territories whose sovereignty is under challenge — from the Islas Malvinas/Falklands to Western Sahara to the Kuril Islands. Even the melting North Pole is subject to territorial dispute. The problem confronting the Philippines over Scarborough Shoal, with its promise of natural wealth in its surrounding waters, can be better understood in the context of greed by some powerful nations that is akin to big business but raised to an international level. This issue gives rise to patriotic feelings that are otherwise an abstraction to a citizenry dealing with more urgent, palpable concerns. But there are serious implications to the Philippines, with its weak military, as a perfect victim of China’s attempt to extend its area of influence. There are no other weapons for the Philippines but the voice of reason and undeniable evidence, which can be ignored but which remain a steadfast consideration in the international community.
Jorge R. Mojarro is a Spanish scholar and a doctoral candidate doing research on Filipiniana. He has been living in the Philippines since 2009, going around the country, walking Manila’s streets, and taking the train. He also writes for interaksyon.com.
The Philippine government will be submitting to the United Nations Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in The Hague this week an almost 300-year-old map of the Philippines showing the disputed Scarborough Shoal being part of Philippine territory as far back as three centuries ago.
The map debunks the so-called nine-dash-line China has been using as proof of its claim over the South China Sea. It also locates Scarborough Shoal, then known as “Panacot,” also called “Panatag” by Filipinos, off the shores of Luzon, then known as Nueva Castilla. Scarborough Shoal has been a source of conflict between the Philippines and China.
The Jesuit priest Pedro Murillo Velarde had the map published in Manila in 1734. It surfaced in 2012 among the possessions of a British lord, who put it up for auction at Sotheby’s in London, where Filipino businessman Mel Velarde bid and got it for £170,500 ($266,869.46 or P12,014,463.09).
The first certified true copy of the map has been reserved for Malacañang. Velarde will personally present it to President Benigno Aquino 3rd on June 12, the anniversary of Philippine independence.
How Velarde, president and chief executive officer of Information Technology-based Now Corporation, acquired the map that had lain among the treasures of one of England’s most prominent families for more than 200 years is like something out of the movies. In fact, the wizard Harry Potter even makes a cameo appearance in the story.
Velarde is yet to find out if he is related to the Jesuit priest, although a possible connection was one of the motives for his pursuit of the artifact.
He said Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, a long-time friend, suggested to him sometime in October last year to bid for the Murillo Velarde map. Velarde recalled that Carpio’s convincing line was: “You know, man, you’re a Velarde.”
Carpio, who has been conducting lectures debunking China’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea, calls the Murillo Velarde map the “Mother of all Philippine maps.”
Local public and private museums declined to take part in the Sotheby’s bid. The National Museum was interested but didn’t have the money, so the plan was for Velarde to buy the map and sell it later to the National Museum.
The Murillo Velarde map measures 1,120 mm by 1,200 mm. The Sotheby’s catalog carried a description of the map by Filipino historian and biographer Carlos Quirino: “Murillo Velarde’s map of the Philippines is a landmark in the depiction of the islands, and the first scientific map of the Philippines. It is flanked by two pasted-on side-panels with twelve engravings, eight depicting native costumed figures, a map of Guajam (Guam) and three city or harbor maps, notably Manila.”
The map was among 80 heirlooms that the current Duke of Northumberland, Ralph George Algernon Percy, decided to auction off after a devastating flood hit Northumberland County in April 2012.
Newspaper reports said heavy rains had “caused a culvert on the Duke of Northumberland’s land to collapse. Many residents were evacuated and some homes demolished after the foundations were damaged.”
Although the Duke’s estate did not own all the affected homes, he provided urgent help for his neighbors. The flood left him with a £12 million bill for repairs, hence the need to auction off his family’s collection.
As a bit of trivia, the Duke owns the vast Alnwick Castle, which has been featured as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the first two Harry Potter films.
Sotheby held the first auction on July 9, 2014 and the second on Novenber 4, 2014, both in London.
It was in the November auction that the Murillo Velarde map, called Carta Hydrographia y chorogphica de las Ylas Filipinas, Manila 1734, was included under Lot 183.
The Murillo Velarde map names two Filipinos as responsible for the map–Francisco Suarez who drew it and Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay who engraved it.
Historian Ambeth Ocampo wrote in his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “The Murillo Velarde map of 1734 is quite rare, with [fewer] than 50 known copies to exist in the entire universe.”
Velarde registered to participate in the auction through an agent. He had participated in auctions in person before but his acquisition of the map last November was his first bid by phone.
The Sotheby’s auction took place at 9 p.m, Manila time while Velarde was in a Resorts World steakhouse for his mother’s 78th birthday dinner.
Velarde described the bidding, which lasted only for three to four minutes, as “furious.”
He was on the phone before Sotheby’s put Lot 183 on the auction block, and noted that in other lots, it was over after two to three bids.
Bidding for the map started at £30,000. He started to bid through his agent, thinking that he could go as high as £80,000.
Velarde said he could hear “30,000 pounds,… 40,000 pounds… 50,000 pounds. Fifty-five, sixty.” He said, “It seemed like so many were bidding.”
When the bidding reached £80,000, Velarde said he paused for a few seconds to decide whether to stop. The exchange rate was P68 to £1. He knew that the National Museum could allot only P5 million to buy rare items.
Then images of the Chinese occupying the contested islands in the Spratlys came to mind, according to him, and he decided to proceed.
“Pansariling away na, nagiging personal na sa akin [It became a personal crusade],” Velarde said. He eventually paid more than double the amount he thought he was willing to part with: £170,500.
When you buy a car, he said, you have something to compare it with. Not in the case of an old map. But Velarde also thought of the possible implications later, knowing that there is a pending case before the UN International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea against China. “You need some evidence.”
Velarde said he is thankful the auction was not held in Shanghai or Macau, where the map could have attracted Chinese bidders and the price would have been much higher.
Now that Velarde owns the map, the National Museum has informed him it has no funds to buy the map this year, and that there was some uncertainty about funds next year. Velarde decided to donate the map instead.
Why is he doing it?
“In a true-to-life movie, there’s a part for everybody. There’s a bully in the neighborhood. He already took over our land. We have soldiers in the Spratlys. Naka-standby lang sila [They’re just on standby there],” Velarde said.
“Then, this map is owned by a Duke in a Harry Potter castle. It’s like you wanting to play your part in the movie,” he added.
Velarde said he hopes to meet with the Duke of Northumberland someday. His children want to come along, not really for the Duke, who comes from a 700-year-old English aristocracy and is the fourth-largest landowner in the United Kingdom. They are excited to see the room where Harry Potter had his first flying lessons.
VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”
“The Philippine government will be submitting to the United Nations Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in The Hague this week an almost 300-year-old map of the Philippines showing the disputed Scarborough Shoal being part of Philippine territory as far back as three centuries ago,” reports Ellen T. Tordesillas of the VERA Files via InterAksyon.com.
The report noted: “The map debunks the so-called nine-dash-line China has been using as proof of its claim over the South China Sea. It also locates Scarborough shoal, then known as “Panacot,” also called “Panatag” by Filipinos, off the shores of Luzon, then known as Nueva Castilla. Scarborough shoal has been a source of conflict between the Philippines and China.”
The map was obtained by Filipino businessman Mel Velarde from a Sotheby’s auction in London for GBP£170,500 (US$266,869.46 or PHP12,014,463.09).
The Jesuit priest Pedro Murillo Velarde had the map published in Manila in 1734. It was among the possessions of the current Duke of Northumberland, Ralph George Algernon Percy, who decided to auction it off (along with other properties) after a devastating flood hit Northumberland County in April 2012.
Velarde the businessman doesn’t know yet if he is related to the Velarde Jesuit priest.
By Louis Bacani(philstar.com) | Updated June 8, 2015 – 6:18pm
South China Sea areas claimed by the Philippines such as the Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands are also being claimed by China through the nine-dash line shown in red marks. Council on Foreign Relations
MANILA, Philippines – The submission of a 300-year-old map to the international tribunal will strengthen the case filed by the Philippines against China’s territorial claim, Malacañang said Monday.
“China’s claim is about historical title. This old map would certainly present the side of the Philippines when it comes to any historical basis,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing.
Lacierda said the Philippines has a “strong” case against China, which is claiming virtually the entire South China Sea.
The VERA Files reported that Filipino businessman Mel Velarde won an auction and got the map published by Jesuit priest Pedro Murillo Velarde in 1734.
Debunking China’s so-called nine-dash-line claim, the Murillo map indicates Scarborough shoal, known in the past as “Panacot,” which is among the contested areas in the South China Sea.
The Philippine government will submit the map to the United Nations Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in The Hague this week while its certified true copy will be presented to Malacañang and President Aquino on Independence Day.
The Philippine government will be submitting to the United Nations Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in The Hague this week an almost 300-year-old map of the Philippines showing the disputed Scarborough Shoal being part of Philippine territory as far back as three centuries ago.
The map debunks the so-called nine-dash-line China has been using as proof of its claim over the South China Sea. It also locates Scarborough shoal, then known as “Panacot,” also called “Panatag” by Filipinos, off the shores of Luzon, then known as Nueva Castilla. Scarborough shoal has been a source of conflict between the Philippines and China.
The Jesuit priest Pedro Murillo Velarde had the map published in Manila in 1734. It surfaced in 2012 among the possessions of a British lord, who put it up for auction at Sotheby’s in London, where Filipino businessman Mel Velarde bid and got it for £170,500 ($266,869.46 or P12,014,463.09).
The government will submit a 300-year-old map of the Philippines to a United Nations arbitral tribunal to support its petition to nullify China’s claim to Philippine territory in the South China Sea.
