Scarborough is Phl, antique maps show (1)

Beijing’s Communist rulers claim Scarborough Shoal by virtue of “ancient historical facts.” Yet, China’s own antique maps and official declarations debunk that line.

Made in 1136 to 1933, the 18 old maps consistently show Hainan island-province always to have been China’s southernmost territory. Five Constitutions of the Republic of China – in 1912, 1914, 1924, 1937, and 1946 – reaffirm the maps and declare Hainan to be the southernmost boundary. (Gotcha, 22 and 24 Oct. 2014.)

Researched by Supreme Court Senior Justice Antonio T. Carpio, replicas of the maps and the Constitutions are now on public display. “Historical Truths and Lies: Scarborough Shoal in Ancient Maps” runs till Nov. 14, 2014. Venue: University of the Philippines, Asian Center, GT-Toyota Hall of Wisdom, Diliman, Quezon City.

The exhibit is a rare treat for Filipinos and other freemen, and for Chinese subjects. Aside from Hainan as China’s southern end, it shows that the dynasties never included the Spratlys or Scarborough Shoal. Not till Beijing’s despots fall will the maps ever be shown together in their true context.

The exhibit also can be viewed at the Institute of Maritime & Ocean Affairs website: www.imoa.ph.

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Antique maps of Asia and the Philippines, meanwhile, invariably show Scarborough Shoal (ancient names Panacot and Bajo de Masinloc) to be part of the archipelago. Drawn by foreigners, or Filipino officials or citizens, the maps also are in the U.P.-Diliman exhibit and www.imoa.ph.

Justice Carpio dug them up as well:

(1) “China Veteribus Sinarum Regio Nunc Incolis Tame Dicta,” by mapmaker Matthaus Merian, was published 1636 in Frankfurt. It shows China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Northern Luzon. On the western side, off the coast of Central Luzon, there is an unnamed shoal below the words “P. de Mandato.” The Spanish phrase means “point of command,” implying there was a Spanish military garrison in that coastal place. The Jesuit Pedro Murillo later would call the unnamed shoal Panacot.

(2) “Carte Generale des Indes Orientales et des Isles Adiacente,” by Pierre Mariette, was published 1650 in Paris. On the western side, off the coast of Central Luzon, there is an unnamed shoal below the words “P. de Mandato.” This unnamed shoal later would be called Panacot.

(3) “Tabula Indiae Orientalis,” by Fredrick De Wit, was published 1662 in Amsterdam. On the western side, off the coast of Central Luzon, there is an unnamed shoal below the words “P. de Mandato.” This unnamed shoal later would be called Panacot.

(4) “Indiae Orientalis nec non Insularum Adiacentum Nova Descriptio,” by Nicholaus Visscher, was published 1670 in Amsterdam. On the western side, off the coast of Central Luzon, there is an unnamed shoal below the words “P. de Mandato.” This unnamed shoal later would be called Panacot.

(5) “New Map of East India,” by John Speed, was published 1676 in London. On the western side, off the coast of Central Luzon, there is an unnamed shoal below the words “P. de Mandato.” This unnamed shoal later would be called Panacot.

(6) “India Orientalis et Insularium Adiacentum Antiqua et Nova Descriptio,” by Philip Cluverius, was published 1697 in Leiden, Netherlands. On the western side, off the coast of Central Luzon, there is an unnamed shoal below the words “P. de Mandato.” This unnamed shoal later would be called Panacot.

(7) “Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas,” by the Jesuit Pedro Murillo, was published 1734 in Manila. This is the oldest map to give a name to “Panacot” shoal. “Panacot” is Tagalog for “threat, danger.” No prior map had ever given a name to this shoal. The map credits two Filipinos, Francisco Suarez who drew it, and Nicolas dela Cruz Bagay, the engraver. It is considered the “mother of all Philippine maps.”

(8) Also entitled “Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas,” this map is a reduced version of Murillo’s 1734 opus. He published it ten years later, 1744, in Manila. This reduction does not have the vignettes of people and places in the archipelago that appear in the 1734 map. Nicholas dela Cruz Bagay signed as engraver. “Panacot” shoal is shown, as in the 1734 map.

(9) “Carte Hydrographique & Chorographique des Isles Philippines,” by George M. Lowitz, was published 1760 in Nuremberg. Although there is no such acknowledgment, it appears to be based on the Murillo map. It shows “Panacot” shoal.

(10) “General Map of the East Indies and Parts of China Where Europeans Have Settlements or Commonly Any Trade,” by mapmaker Thomas Kitchin, was published 1761 in London. It shows “Panacot” shoal.

(11) “East Indies,” by Royal Hydrographer Thomas Kitchin, was published 1770 in London. It shows “Panacot” shoal.

(12) “Chart of the China Sea,” by D’Apres de Mannevillette, was published 1775 in Paris. It shows “Scarboro” shoal. The British tea clipper Scarborough struck the rocks on Sept. 12, 1748, so European cartographers named the shoal Scarborough.

(13) “Chart of China Sea and Philippine Islands with Archipelagos of Felicia and Soloo,” by R. Sayer and J. Bennett, was published 1778 in London. “Panacot or Marsingola Bank” is the name given to one feature, while “Scarborough Shoal” to another nearby, with the words “the Scarborough Sept. 12, 1748,” the date the British clipper struck the shoal.

(14) “Map of the Pacific Ocean between the Coast of California and Mexico and Japan, Philippines, and Coast of China,” watermarked PVL (Pieter van Ley), was published 1784. It shows a shoal named “B. Mansiloc.”

(See also Gotcha, 4, 6, and 8 Aug. 2014)

(Continuation on Wed.)

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