Velarde MAP

The Murillo Velarde 1734 Map or Carta Hydrographica Y Chorographica De Las Yslas Filipinas, first published in Manila in 1734, is regarded by historians as the “Mother of All Philippine Maps.” It was made by the Spanish Jesuit Friar Pedro Murillo Velarde together with two Filipinos—Francisco Suarez, who drew the map, and Nicolas dela Cruz Bagay, who engraved it. This is the first scientific map of

the entire Philippine archipelago. It is flanked by two side panels, with each panel containing six vignettes depicting scenes of people and places in the country. The shoal “Panacot,” now known as Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, and the islands of the Spratlys, which are referred to as “Los Bajos de Paragua,” are shown in the map as part of the Philippines. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio learned that the map was among the 80 heirlooms owned by the Duke of Northumberland, Ralph George Algernon Percy, which were scheduled for auction by Sotheby’s London on November 4, 2014. Justice Carpio recommended to Filipino technology entrepreneur and educator Mel Velasco Velarde to bid for the map so that it could be displayed in a public museum in the Philippines. Velarde joined the bid and won. The Murillo Velarde 1734 Map played a crucial and integral role in the Philippines’ July 2016 landmark victory at The Hague, where the country lodged its case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for claiming Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea. Velarde believes that ownership of the map is every Filipino's birthright, hence his donation of the map to the government as a gift to the Filipino people.