The mother of all Philippine maps

There I was staring at a huge ancient sepia-toned map, replete with details and names of the different places in the Philippines, including Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys.

I was blown away just taking it all in, this cartographic reality, a living document showing that the disputed territories belong to us and not to China.

This is the so-called mother of Philippine maps, the 1734 Murillo Velarde Map of the Philippines. It is the first scientific map of the Philippines and the only official Spanish Government map showing Philippine territory during the Spanish regime.

I saw it for the first time last week in an exhibition organized by Alliance Française de Manille and the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication where retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio was the guest of honor and speaker.

Why is it called the Mother of All Philippine Maps?

First, the 1734 Murillo Velarde Map, being a very accurate map of the Philippines, has been widely copied by other cartographers.

Second, and more importantly, the map is a living document because it determines Philippine territory today. Philippine territory cannot be determined without reference to this map, according to the information on the map sent to me by Justice Carpio.

It is important to look back to this ancient map now that the debate on the disputed seas continues.

In fact, this 1734 Mother of all Philippine Maps was used at the arbitration tribunal to back up the Philippines’ right and ownership over the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

This is also the first map that gave a name to Scarborough Shoal, or “panacot” in Tagalog, which means danger.

The map has traveled a long way and has survived the passing of time – from Hogwarts to The Hague and back home, thanks to Filipino businessman Mel Velasco Velarde of Now Corp. who acquired this national treasure at a Sotheby’s auction in London in 2014, upon the prodding of Justice Carpio.

At the time, Justice Carpio learned that the map was among the 80 heirloom pieces owned by the 12th Duke of Northumberland, Ralph George Algernon Percy, which were scheduled for auction by Sotheby’s. He urged Velarde to bid, who in turn won at a hammer price of P12 million.

But wait. How did a map end up in some English castle owned by the Duke of Northumberland?

Here is the story, according to a 2017 Esquire article:

“Torrential rains in the west of Newcastle collapsed a decaying Victorian drainage system, flooding nearby housing flats and causing massive damage to the surrounding areas in England last May 2012. The Duke of Northumberland, who owned the land under which the pipe broke, was faced with a £12-million repair bill.

“What does a cash-strapped aristocrat, who happens to live in the Hogwarts castle, do under such circumstances? Why, offload a portion of your estate’s valuable art collection, of course.”

Paintings by Old Masters, super rare books and designer antique furniture – the priciest item being a Roman marble statue of Aphrodite circa 41-54 AD – were dusted off and auctioned at Sotheby’s to help pay for repairs and restoration. One of the 80 or so heirlooms up for sale, Lot #183, was a 1734 Pedro Murillo Velarde map drawn up in Manila, tagged as the “first scientific map of the Philippines.”

How it found its way to England in the 18th century is just as interesting. Said the Esquire article:

“In 1762, the British occupied Manila, following their victory over Spanish forces in the Battle of Manila. When Manila fell on October 6, 1762, British soldiers pillaged (and raped, razed and plundered) the city for 40 hours. One of the looted artifacts, taken by Brigadier General William Draper, was a set of eight copper plates of the 1734 Murillo map, the most comprehensive map of the archipelago at the time. (Fr. Murillo Velarde was the Jesuit priest and polymath who designed the map, also known as Carta hydrographica y chorographica de las Islas Filipinas, but it was drawn and engraved by the skilled Filipino artisans Francisco Suarez and Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay.)

“Draper donated the copperplates to Cambridge University, which ran new prints of the map. Later, the British melted the copperplates when they needed copper to print their admiralty charts. One of these prints was then acquired by the Duke of Northumberland, who kept the map for over 200 years, until it was unearthed after the flood, put to the auction hammer and won over the phone by a Filipino businessman named Mel Velarde (no apparent relation to Pedro) in 2014.”

Official map

On the upper right side of the map is a cartouche with the Spanish royal coat of arms, which means the map is an official map of the Philippines during the Spanish regime. The map was made upon the instruction of King Philip V of Spain in 1733 to Governor-General Fernando Valdes Tamon, who commissioned Pedro Murillo Velarde to make the map.

The map, by the way, is an original print as they were printed from the copperplates made by Bagay, the Filipino artisan.

There are also original prints of the map in the General Archives of the Indies, the official repository of records of the Spanish government, Justice Carpio said.

This 1734 Murillo Velarde map is clearly a living document that proves our claim over Scarborough and Spratlys.

To deny this is to revise history, and this, we must never allow.

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