1.
Quezon, Palawan
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Quezon, Palawan is a first class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 55,142 people and it is home to the Tabon Caves where the remains of the Tabon Man were discovered. The Municipality of Quezon was created in 1951 from the barrios of Berong and Alfonso XII from Aborlan and the barrios of Iraan, Candawaga and Canipaan from Brookes Point. In 1957, the sitios of Aramaywan, Isugod, Tabon, Sawangan, Calumpang, Campong-Ulay, Ransang, Cadawaga, Culasian, Panalingaan, Taburi, Latud, Quezon is politically subdivided into 14 barangays
2.
Palawan
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Palawan, officially the Province of Palawan, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the Mimaropa region. It is the largest province in the country in terms of area of jurisdiction. Its capital is the City of Puerto Princesa, but it is governed independently from the province as an urbanized city. The islands of Palawan stretch between Mindoro in the northeast and Borneo in the southwest and it lies between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. The province is named after its largest island, Palawan Island, measuring 450 kilometres long, the province is composed of the long and narrow Palawan Island, plus a number of other smaller islands surrounding it, totalling roughly 1,780 islands and islets. The Calamianes Group of Islands to the northeast consists of Busuanga, Coron, Culion, Balabac Island is located off the southern tip, separated from Borneo by the Balabac Strait. In addition, Palawan covers the Cuyo Islands in the Sulu Sea, the disputed Spratly Islands, located a few hundred kilometres to the west, are considered part of Palawan by the Philippines, and is locally called the Kalayaan Group of Islands. Palawans almost 2,000 kilometres of coastline is lined with rocky coves. It also harbors a vast stretch of forests that carpet its chain of mountain ranges. The mountain heights average 3,500 feet in altitude, with the highest peak rising to 6,843 feet at Mount Mantalingahan, the vast mountain areas are the source of valuable timber. The terrain is a mix of coastal plain, craggy foothills, valley deltas, the province has a total land area of 14,649.73 square kilometres. When Puerto Princesa City is included for geographical purposes, its area is 17,030.75 square kilometres. The land area is distributed to its mainland municipalities, comprising 12,239 square kilometres, and the island municipalities, the province has two types of climate. The first, which occurs in the northern and southern extremities, the other, which prevails in the eastern coast, has a short dry season of one to three months and no pronounced rainy period during the rest of the year. The southern part of the province is virtually free from tropical depressions but northern Palawan experiences torrential rains during the months of July, summer months serve as peak season for Palawan. Sea voyages are most favorable from March to early June when the seas are calm, the average maximum temperature is 31 °C with little variation all year. Palawan comprises 433 barangays in 23 municipalities and the capital City of Puerto Princesa, as an archipelago, Palawan has 13 mainland municipalities and 10 island towns. The remaining island municipalities are, Busuanga, Coron, Linapacan and Culion, Cuyo, Agutaya and Magsaysay, Araceli, Cagayancillo, Balabac and Kalayaan
3.
Philippines
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The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
National Museum of the Philippines
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The institution also operates numerous branch museums throughout the country. The National Museum began as Insular Museum of Ethnology, Natural History and it was subsequently transferred to the Department of Interior as the Bureau of Ethnological Survey after the passage of the Philippine Commission Act No.841 in 1903. This new bureau was responsible for the Philippine participation in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, after the exposition, it was abolished as a separate bureau and was renamed the Philippine Museum. The National Museum went through the division and distribution of its functions to other government agencies, the Philippine Legislature passed Act No. The latter was transformed into an independent unit under the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Japanese Occupation brought back the divisions under the National Museum of the Philippines as provided by Philippine Republic Executive Order No. 94, but the museum lost a part of its collection during the Liberation of Manila when the Legislative Building was destroyed by American artillery. Fortunately, the Legislative Building was immediately restored through the American reparation funds bringing the back to its operations. The museum’s role in growth was recognized as contributing to government’s desire for national development. It was revitalized in 1966 when President Ferdinand Marcos signed Republic Act No.4846 or the Cultural Properties, with its new powers, it was able to strengthen its cultural mandate by declaring properties, structures, and sites of historical and cultural value to the nation. The educational mandate was strengthened because it was able to inform the public of the researches it conducted, the National Museum of Fine Arts, formerly called the National Art Gallery, is housed in the old Legislative Building. The building was intended as a public library as proposed in Daniel Burnhams 1905 Plan for Manila. Designed by Ralph Harrington Doane, the American consulting architect of the Bureau of Public Works, construction of the building began in 1918 and completed in 1921. The façade of the building had classical features using stylized Corinthian columns, ornamentation, on July 16,1926, the building was formally inaugurated. During the World War II, the building was heavily damaged, after the war, it was rebuilt albeit less ornate and less detailed. During the Martial Law era, the Legislative Building was closed down, today, the building holds the countrys National Art Gallery, natural sciences and other support divisions. It is located in the Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park, Manila next to the main National Museum building which is the National Museum for Fine Arts, the building was the former headquarters of the Department of Finance. The National Museum of Natural History will have a hexagonal DNA tower structure in its center which will be the base for the ventilating roof-dome of the whole building, living trees will also be planted within the interior of the building. It was expected to be finished in the last quarter of 2015, the building started on construction on 1974 and completed 9 months after
6.
Palawan (island)
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Palawan is the largest island of the province of Palawan in the Philippines and the fifth largest island of the country. The north west coast of the island is along the South China Sea, much of the island remains traditional and is considered by some as under-developed. Abundant wildlife, jungle mountains, and some sandy beaches attract many tourists. As of 2016, the island of Palawan is rated the Most Beautiful Island in the World as voted by respective readers of rival travel publications Conde Nast Traveller. It is the year running that Palawan has won the Conde Nast Traveller award. El Nido, located at the tip of the island, is also currently rated the Most Beautiful Beach in the World by Conde Nast Traveller readers. In 2007, National Geographic Traveler magazine rated Palawan the best island destination in East and Southeast Asia region, one of the most biodiverse islands in the Philippines. The island has had a Biosphere Reserve status since early 1990s, showing local interest for conservation, iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, one of seven operating units of the Bureau of Corrections, is located on the island. The entire length of the forms a mountain range, with a peak altitude of 2,086 metres at Mount Mantalingajan. Other significant peaks include Mount Gantung in Batazara and Victoria Peak in Narra, in April 2013, a fishing vessel loaded with illegally poached animals ran aground on a coral atoll off the coast of Palawan Island. In 2014, armed forces chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista said that Oyster Bay may be developed into a base with United States Navy support. Washington DC Media related to Palawan at Wikimedia Commons Geographic data related to Palawan at OpenStreetMap
7.
Panitian, Palawan
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Panitian is a barangay in the municipality of Quezon of the province of Palawan, established through Republic Act No.2593 enacted on June 21,1959. The enactment of R. A.2593 made Panitian the largest barangay of Quezon, Palawan with the inclusion of other sitios under its jurisdiction such as Odiong, Malatgao, Tagpisa, Candis and Napwaran. Due to its enormous size, Panitian allowed Sitio Malatgao to separate, Panitian is bordered on the west by Bgy. Malatgao, on the east by the proper of Quezon, on the south by the municipality of Sofronio Española. Located on Panitians northeasternmost point is the Tabon Cave complex, which is known as the Cradle of Philippine Civilization,1160, agricultural land distribution and resettlement was carried out by encouraging migration of settlers to open new lands for farming. In Southern Palawan, there was a total of 27 public land subdivisions consisting 20,855 lots of eight hectares per lot that was available for new settlers. These homestead lands now comprised the municipality of Narra, Palawan, some barangays of Aborlan, the jungle was a habitat of Palawan fruit bats, also known as megabats or paniki, from which the new inhabitants derived its name. It was first called Panikian, or land of megabats or paniki, the Zambals were given homestead land south of the Municipality of Quezon to be developed for agriculture or into rice farmlands. Initially, the Zambals occupied the lands in Sitios Sarangsang, Tapsan, Nali. The Zambals later on came in contact with the friendly Palawans in Sitio Gugnan in 1960s headed by its chieftain by the name of Ablo. Some of the Zambals purchased lands from the Palawans who had claims on some of the arable properties in Gugnan. Others however directly filed land ownership application at the Bureau of Lands District Office in Puerto Princesa City, with the news of land ownership reaching home in Zambales, new waves of Zambal migrants followed. Many Ilonggo-speaking migrants joined the Zambals in Panitian starting in the 1970s through Sitio Odiong, the Ilonggo migrants were usually fisherfolk coming from other parts of Quezon, Palawan. Many Ilonggos also migrated through Malatgao who then were able to acquire properties in outlying sitios of Panitian and he was ably assisted by Councilor David E. Rombaua who handled most of the daily affairs of Panitian, on behalf of the barangay captain whose residence was in Sitio Sarangsang. This growth is attributed primarily to four important factors, first, the optimism and pride of settlers on their land ownership and the bayanihan system, or a sense of community that exists among the local population. Lastly, the presence of the Philippine Marines starting around 1976 contributed significantly to the economy as their salaries ensure a trickle effect on the local commerce. The barrio proper was a center of economic activities for the local population. At its peak, there were at least six ricemills operating simultaneously in Panitian, Panitian continued to be a vibrant community until the mid-1980s
8.
South China Sea
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The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Karimata and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000 square kilometres. The areas importance largely results from one-third of the worlds shipping sailing through its waters, the sea and its mostly uninhabited islands are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries. These claims are reflected in the variety of names used for the islands. South China Sea is the dominant term used in English for the sea, and this name is a result of early European interest in the sea as a route from Europe and South Asia to the trading opportunities of China. In the sixteenth century Portuguese sailors called it the China Sea, the International Hydrographic Organization refers to the sea as South China Sea. The Classic of Poetry, Zuo Zhuan, and Guoyu classics of the Spring and Autumn period also referred to the sea, Nan Hai, the South Sea, was one of the Four Seas of Chinese literature. There are three other seas, one for each of the four cardinal directions, during the Eastern Han dynasty, Chinas rulers called the Sea Zhang Hai. Fei Hai became popular during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, usage of the current Chinese name, Nan Hai, became gradually widespread during the Qing Dynasty. In Southeast Asia it was called the Champa Sea or Sea of Cham. The majority of the sea came under Japanese naval control during World War II following the acquisition of many surrounding South East Asian territories in 1941. Japan calls the sea Minami Shina Kai South China Sea and this was written 南支那海 until 2004, when the Japanese Foreign Ministry and other departments switched the spelling 南シナ海, which has become the standard usage in Japan. In China, it is called the South Sea, 南海 Nánhǎi, in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, it was long called the South China Sea, with the part within Philippine territorial waters often called the Luzon Sea, Dagat Luzon, by the Philippines. However, following an escalation of the Spratly Islands dispute in 2011, a PAGASA spokesperson said that the sea to the east of the Philippines will continue to be called the Philippine Sea. In September 2012, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III signed Administrative Order No, states and territories with borders on the sea include, the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Major rivers that flow into the South China Sea include the Pearl, Min, Jiulong, Red, Mekong, Rajang, Pahang, Pampanga, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the South China Sea as follows, On the South. From Fuki Kaku the North point of Formosa to Kiushan Tao on to the South point of Haitan Tao, the Mainland, the Southern limit of the Gulf of Thailand and the East coast of the Malay Peninsula. The sea lies above a drowned continental shelf, during recent ice ages global sea level was hundreds of metres lower, the South China Sea opened around 45 million years ago when the Dangerous Ground rifted away from southern China. Extension culminated in seafloor spreading around 30 million years ago, a process that propagated to the SW resulting in the V-shaped basin we see today, extension ceased around 17 million years ago
9.
Tabon Man
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Tabon Man refers to remains discovered in the Tabon Caves in Lipuun Point in Quezon, Palawan in the Philippines. These were discovered by Dr. Robert B, Fox, an American anthropologist of the National Museum of the Philippines on May 28,1962. The Tabon fragments are collectively called Tabon Man after Tabon Cave, Tabon Cave appears to be a kind of Stone Age factory, with both finished stone flake tools and waste core flakes having been found at four separate levels in the main chamber. Charcoal left from three assemblages of cooking fires there has been Carbon-14 dated to roughly 7,000,20,000, the right mandible of a Homo sapien, which dates 29,000 BC, was discovered together with a skull-cap. The Tabon Skull Cap is considered the earliest skull cap of modern man found in the Philippines, the Tabon Mandible is the earliest evidence of human remains showing archaic characteristics of mandible and teeth. The Tabon Tibia Fragment, a bone from the leg, was found during the re-excavation of the Tabon Cave by the National Museum of the Philippines. The bone was sent to the National Museum of Natural History in France to be studied, accelerated carbon dating technique revealed a dating of 47,000 +/- 11-10,000 years ago, making it the oldest human fossil recovered in the complex. About half of the 3,000 recovered specimens examined were discarded cores of a material which had to be transported some distance. This indicates that the inhabitants were engaged in tool manufacture. The Tabon Man fossils are considered to have come from a group of inhabitants. An earlier cave level lies so far below the level containing cooking fire assemblages that it must represent Upper Pleistocene dates like 45 or 50 thousand years ago. Anthropologist Robert Fox, who directed the excavations, deduced that the Tabon Cave was a habitation of man for a period of 40,000 years, from 50,000 to 9,000 years ago. Physical anthropologists who have examined the Tabon Man skullcap are agreed that it belonged to modern man, Homo sapiens and this indicates that Tabon Man was pre-Mongoloid. Two experts have given the opinion that the mandible is Australian in physical type, nothing can be concluded about Tabon Mans physical appearance from the recovered skull fragments except that he was not a Negrito. The Tabon Cave Complex is a series of caves situated in a promontory at Lipuun Point in Southwestern Palawan. It spans 138-hectares and it used to be an island but now, there are roughly 218 caves,38 of which are rich with archaeological and anthropological finds. Lipuun Point is made up of 25 million year old limestone and is composed of large domes, deep cliffs. In this area, cave occupation of a sporadic or temporary nature by humans seems to be indicated into the early Holocene
10.
UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
11.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
12.
Manunggul Jar
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The Manunggul Jar is a secondary burial jar excavated from a Neolithic burial site in Manunggul cave of Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point at Palawan dating from 890–710 B. C. The two prominent figures at the top handle of its cover represent the journey of the soul to the afterlife, the Manunggul Jar is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest Philippine pre-colonial artworks ever produced and is a considered a masterpiece. It is denoted a national treasure and it is designated as item 64-MO-74 by the National Museum of the Philippines and it is now housed at the National Museum of Anthropology and is one of the most popular exhibits there. It is made from clay with some sand soil, the Manunggul Jar was found by Dr. Robert B. Fox and Miguel Antonio in 1962 and it was found alongside the discovery of the remains of Tabon Man. It was recovered by Dr. Fox in Chamber A of Manunggul Cave in Southwestern Palawan, Manunggul Cave is one of the Tabon Caves in Lipuun Point. In the expansion, the Tabon Caves is known to be a site of jar burials with artefacts dating a range from 4250-2000 BP, Chamber A dates as a Late Neolithic burial site. Seventy-eight jars and earthenwares, including the Manunggul Jar, was discovered on the subsurface and surface of Chamber A, each artifact varied in design and form but was evidently types of funerary pottery. As mentioned earlier, the first ever excavation that gave way to the discovery of this burial jar is on the year 1964 by Dr. Robert Fox, during that time, he and his team were excavating the Tabon Cave Complex, specifically in the Lipuun Point. In Fox’s excavation, it is yet the most unusual in all angles, the inside of the jar contains human bones which are covered in red paint. Like the Egyptian burial practice, the jar was found to be equipped with numerous bracelets. “. is perhaps unrivaled in Southeast Asia, the work of an artist, the Manunggul Jar shows that the Filipinos maritime culture is paramount that it reflected its ancestors religious beliefs. Many epics around the Philippines would tell how souls go to the life, aboard boats, pass through the rivers. This belief is connected with the Austronesian belief of the anito, the fine lines and intricate designs of the Manunggul Jar reflect the artistry of early Filipinos. These designs are proof of the Filipinos common heritage from the Austronesian-speaking ancestors despite the diversity of the cultures of the Filipinos, the upper part of the Manunggul jar, as well as the cover, is carved with curvilinear scroll designs which are painted with hematite. The depiction of sea-waves on the lid places this Manunggul jar in the Sa Huỳnh culture pottery tradition and these are people that migrated in an East to West migration from the Borneo-Palawan area to Southern Vietnam. Early Filipinos believed that a man is composed of a body, a force called ginhawa. This explains why the design of the cover of the Manunggul Jar features three faces - the soul, the boatman, and the boat itself
13.
Vietnam
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Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 92.7 million inhabitants as of 2016, it is the worlds 14th-most-populous country, and its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, with Ho Chi Minh City as a historical city as well. The northern part of Vietnam was part of Imperial China for over a millennium, an independent Vietnamese state was formed in 939, following a Vietnamese victory in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Following a Japanese occupation in the 1940s, the Vietnamese fought French rule in the First Indochina War, thereafter, Vietnam was divided politically into two rival states, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified in what is known as the Vietnam War, the war ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975. Vietnam was then unified under a communist government but remained impoverished, in 1986, the government initiated a series of economic and political reforms which began Vietnams path towards integration into the world economy. By 2000, it had established relations with all nations. Since 2000, Vietnams economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world and its successful economic reforms resulted in its joining the World Trade Organization in 2007. It is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Vietnam remains one of the worlds four remaining one-party socialist states officially espousing communism. The name Việt Nam is a variation of Nam Việt, a name that can be traced back to the Triệu Dynasty of the 2nd century BC. The word Việt originated as a form of Bách Việt. The form Vietnam is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem Sấm Trạng Trình, the name has also been found on 12 steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in Haiphong that dates to 1558. Then, as recorded, rewarded Yuenan/Vietnam as their nations name, to also show that they are below the region of Baiyue/Bach Viet. Between 1804 and 1813, the name was used officially by Emperor Gia Long and it was revived in the early 20th century by Phan Bội Châus History of the Loss of Vietnam, and later by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party. The country was usually called Annam until 1945, when both the government in Huế and the Viet Minh government in Hanoi adopted Việt Nam. Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of humans in what is now Vietnam as early as the Paleolithic age, Homo erectus fossils dating to around 500,000 BC have been found in caves in Lạng Sơn and Nghệ An provinces in northern Vietnam. The oldest Homo sapiens fossils from mainland Southeast Asia are of Middle Pleistocene provenance, teeth attributed to Homo sapiens from the Late Pleistocene have also been found at Dong Can, and from the Early Holocene at Mai Da Dieu, Lang Gao and Lang Cuom. The Hồng Bàng dynasty of the Hùng kings is considered the first Vietnamese state, in 257 BC, the last Hùng king was defeated by Thục Phán, who consolidated the Lạc Việt and Âu Việt tribes to form the Âu Lạc, proclaiming himself An Dương Vương
14.
Chams
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The Chams, or Cham people, are an ethnic group of Austronesian origin in Southeast Asia. Their contemporary population, a diaspora is concentrated between the Kampong Cham Province in Cambodia and Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm, Phan Thiết, Ho Chi Minh City, an additional 4,000 Chams live in Bangkok, Thailand, who had migrated during Rama Is reign. Recent immigrants are mainly students and workers, who preferably seek work and education in the southern Islamic Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, Cham people represent the core of the Muslim communities in both Cambodia and Vietnam. From the 2nd to the century the Chams populated Champa. They spoke the Cham language, a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family, Chams and Malays are the only sizable Austronesian peoples, that had settled in Iron Age Mainland Southeast Asia among the more ancient Austroasiatic inhabitants. Austronesian origin, patterns and chronology of migration remain debated and it is assumed, earliest known records of Cham presence in Indochina date back to the second century CE. Maritime trade was the essence of an economy as population centers around the river outlets along the coast controlled the import/export of continental Southeast Asia. Acquisition of territory has not been the subject of concern, the size of Champa was during its heyday in the 9th and 10th century not substantially larger than during the formative period. Cham folklore includes a tradition of a myth in which the founder of the first Cham polity was a certain Lady Po Nagar. She eventually returned to Champa did many good deeds in helping the sick and the poor, from the 8th century onward trade and shipping of India came to be increasingly controlled by Muslims from such regions as Gujarat. Islamic ideas became a part of the vast tide of exchange, Cham people picked up these ideas by the 11th century. This can be seen in the architecture of Cham temples, which shares similarities with the one of the Angkor Temples, ad-Dimashqi writes in 1325, the country of Champa. is inhabited by Muslims and idolaters. The Muslim religion came there during the time of Caliph Uthman. and Ali, many Muslims who were expelled by the Umayyads and by Hajjaj, fled there. The Daoyi Zhilüe records that at Cham ports, Cham women were married by Chinese merchants to whom they came back to after trading voyages. A Chinese merchant from Quanzhou, Wang Yuanmao, traded extensively with Champa, in the 12th century, the Cham fought a series of wars with the Khmer Empire to the west. In 1177, the Cham and their allies launched an attack from the lake Tonlé Sap, in 1181, however, they were defeated by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII. Between the rise of the Khmer Empire around 800 and the Vietnamese peoples territorial push south from Jiaozhi and, later, Đại Việt, Champa began to shrink. A number of Cham also fled across the sea to Malay Peninsula and as early as the 15th century, the Chams encountered Sunni Islam there as the Malacca Sultanate was officially Muslim since 1414
15.
Spratly Islands dispute
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The dispute is characterised by diplomatic stalemate and the employment of military pressure techniques in the advancement of national territorial claims. All except Brunei occupy some of the maritime features, the Spratly Islands are important for economic and strategic reasons. In 2014, China drew increased attention due to its dredging activities within the Spratlys. In 2015 satellite imagery revealed that China was rapidly constructing an airfield on Fiery Cross Reef within the Spratlys whilst continuing its land reclamation activities at other sites, only China, Taiwan, and Vietnam have made claims based on historical sovereignty of the islands. The Philippines, however, claims part of the area as its territory under UNCLOS, there are multiple reasons why the neighbouring nations in particular, and the rest of the world in general, would be interested in the Spratly Islands. In 1968, oil was discovered in the region, the United States Energy Information Administration contests this, estimating almost no oil and less than 100 billion cubic feet of natural gas exists in fields near the Spratly Islands. Still, these large potential reserves have assisted in intensifying the territorial claims of the neighbouring countries, in 1973, Vietnamese troops were stationed on five islands. On 11 March 1976, the first major Philippine oil discovery occurred off the coast of Palawan, in 2010, these oil fields supplied 15% of all petroleum consumed in the Philippines. In 1992, the PRC and Vietnam granted oil exploration contracts to US oil companies that covered overlapping areas in the Spratlys and this led to a confrontation between China and Vietnam, with each demanding that the other cancel its contract. The region is one of the worlds most productive areas for commercial fishing, in 2010, the Western Central Pacific accounted for 14% of the total world catch at 11.7 million tonnes. This was up from less than 4 million tonnes in 1970, the PRC has predicted that the South China Sea holds combined fishing and oil and gas resources worth one trillion dollars. In 1984, Brunei established a fishing zone encompassing Louisa Reef in the southeastern Spratly Islands. The region is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, during the 1980s, at least 270 ships passed through the Spratly Islands region each day. More than half of the worlds supertanker traffic, by tonnage, a total of 48 nations made full claims, and dozens more made preliminary submissions. Brunei made a preliminary submission notifying of its intention to claim a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from its shores, China immediately issued protests over the two submissions and called on the United Nations not to consider them. It also issued a warning to countries not to claim the islands which it said were its sovereign territory. On 22 January 2013, the Philippines instituted arbitral proceedings against the Peoples Republic of China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration, on 19 February 2013, China rejected and returned the Philippines Notification. The Permanent Court of Arbitration acts as Registry in this arbitration, Philippine Justice Antonio T. Carpio states that the case is solely a maritime dispute, and not territorial in nature
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Hinduism in the Philippines
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At present, however, it is limited primarily to the immigrant Indian community, though traditional religious beliefs in most parts of the country have strong Hindu and Buddhist influences. The archipelagoes of Southeast Asia were under the influence of Hindu Tamil, Gujarati, Indian religions, possibly an amalgamated version of Hindu-Buddhist arrived in Philippines archipelago in the 1st millennium, through the Indonesian kingdom of Srivijaya followed by Majapahit. The statue now sits in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, a study of this image was made by Dr. F. D. K. It probably had some connection with the Javanese miners who are known to have been mining gold in the Agusan-Surigao area in the middle or late 14th century, the image is apparently that of a Sivaite goddess, and fits in well with the name Butuan. The Rajahnate of Butuan, in present-day Agusan del Norte and Butuan City, a Hindu Tamil King of the Rajahnate of Cebu was also recorded. Another gold artifact, from the Tabon Caves in the island of Palawan, is an image of Garuda, the discovery of sophisticated Hindu imagery and gold artifacts in Tabon Caves has been linked to those found from Oc Eo, in the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam. These archaeological evidence suggests a trade of many specialized goods. Golden jewelry found so far include rings, some surmounted by images of Nandi - the sacred bull, linked chains, inscribed gold sheets, gold plaques decorated with repoussé images of Hindu deities. In 1989, a laborer working in a mine at the mouth of Lumbang River near Laguna de Bay found a copper plate in Barangay Wawa. This discovery, is now known as the Laguna Copperplate Inscription by scholars and it is the earliest known written document found in the Philippines, dated to be from the 9th century AD, and was deciphered in 1992 by Dutch anthropologist Antoon Postma. Hinduism in the country declined when Islam was introduced by traders from Arabia which was followed by Christianity from Spain. This is an area of research as little is known about the scale and depth of Philippine history from the 1st millennium. There is some growth in the religion as of late, although most temples cater to the same communities, actual adherents of Hinduism are mostly limited to communities that include indigenous and native peoples, expatriate communities, as well as new converts. There are various Hare Krishna groups and popular Hindu personalities and groups such as Sai Baba, Hindu based practises like Yoga and meditation are also popular. Many fables and stories in Filipino Culture are linked to Indian arts, such as the story of monkey and the turtle, similarly, the major epics and folk literature of Philippines show common themes, plots, climax and ideas expressed in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. According to Indologists Juan R. Francisco and Josephine Acosta Pasricha, Hindu influences, the Maranao version is the Maharadia Lawana. Lam-Ang is the version of the Ilocanos and Sarimanok is the bird of the Maranao culture. In addition, many verses from the Hud-Hud of the Ifugao are derived from the Indian Hindu epics Ramayana, with the advent of Spanish colonialism in the 16th century, the Philippines became a closed colony and cultural contacts with other Southeast Asian countries were limited, if not closed
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Golden Tara
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The civilisation of India influenced the languages, scripts, calendars, and artistic aspects of these peoples and nations. Indian scholars wrote about the Dwipantara or Jawa Dwipa Hindu kingdom in Java, Yawadvipa is mentioned in Indias earliest epic, the Ramayana. Sugriva, the chief of Ramas army dispatched his men to Yawadvipa and it was hence referred to in Indian by the Sanskrit name yāvaka dvīpa. Southeast Asia was frequented by traders from eastern India, particularly Kalinga, the Indianised Tarumanagara kingdom was established in West Java around 400s, produced among the earliest inscriptions in Indonesian history. There was a marked Buddhist influence starting about 425 in the region and these Southeast Asian seafaring peoples engaged in extensive trade with India and China. Which attracted the attention of the Mongols, Chinese and Japanese, as well as Islamic traders, some scholars have pointed out that the legends of Ikshvaku and Sumati may have their origin in the Southeast-Asian myth of the birth of humanity from a bitter gourd. The legend of Sumati, the wife of King Sagar, tells that she produced offspring with the aid of a bitter gourd. One notably Southeast Asian aspect of Tamil Hinduism is the festival of Thaipusam, in Thailand and Cambodia, Thai and Khmer people practised Hindu rituals and traditions along with their Buddhist faith, and Hindu gods such as Brahma are still widely revered. Similarly, Hinduism is also found among the Cham minority in Southern Vietnam and Cambodia, just like the Javanese, the resurgence of Hinduism in Indonesia is occurring in all parts of the country. Many recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the families of Sukarnos PNI and this return to the religion of Majapahit is a matter of nationalist pride. The new Hindu communities in Java tend to be concentrated around recently built temples or around archaeological sites which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship. An important new Hindu temple in eastern Java is Pura Mandaragiri Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of Mt. Semeru, Javas highest mountain. Another site is the new Pura Pucak Raung in East Java, an example of resurgence around major archaeological remains of ancient Hindu temple sites was observed in Trowulan near Mojokerto, the capital of the legendary Hindu empire Majapahit. A local Hindu movement is struggling to control of a newly excavated temple building which they wish to see restored as a site of active Hindu worship. The temple is to be dedicated to Gajah Mada, the man attributed with transforming the small Hindu kingdom of Majapahit into an empire. Although there has been a more pronounced history of resistance to Islamization in East Java, the current estimates of Hinduism in Indonesia range from 4 to 8 percent Hinduism in Burma is practised by about 840,000 people. Because a reliable census has not been taken in Burma since colonial times, estimates are approximate, most Hindus in Myanmar are Burmese Indians. Cambodia was first influenced by Hinduism during the beginning of the Kingdom of Funan, Hinduism was one of the Khmer Empires official religions
18.
Garuda
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The Garuda is a large legendary bird, bird-like creature, or humanoid bird that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Garuda is the mount of the Lord Vishnu, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila. The brahminy kite and phoenix are considered to be the contemporary representations of Garuda, Indonesia adopts a more stylistic approach to the Garudas depiction as its national symbol, where it depicts a Javanese eagle. In Hinduism, Garuda is a Hindu divinity, usually the mount of the Lord Vishnu, Garuda is depicted as having the golden body of a strong man with a white face, red wings, and an eagles beak and with a crown on his head. This ancient deity was said to be massive, large enough to block out the sun, Garuda is known as the eternal sworn enemy of the Nāga serpent race and known for feeding exclusively on snakes, such behavior may have referred to the actual short-toed eagle of India. The image of Garuda is often used as the charm or amulet to protect the bearer from attack and its poison, since the king of birds is an implacable enemy. Garudi Vidya is the mantra against snake poison to remove all kinds of evil and his stature in Hindu religion can be gauged by the fact that a dependent Upanishad, the Garudopanishad, and a Purana, the Garuda Purana, is devoted to him. Various names have been attributed to Garuda - Chirada, Gaganeshvara, Kamayusha, Kashyapi, Khageshvara, Nagantaka, Sitanana, Sudhahara, Suparna, Tarkshya, Vainateya, Vishnuratha and others. The Vedas provide the earliest reference of Garuda, though by the name of Śyena, the Puranas, which came into existence much later, mention Garuda as doing the same thing, which indicates that Śyena and Garuda are the same. One of the faces of Śrī Pañcamukha Hanuman is Mahavira Garuda and this face points towards the west. Worship of Garuda is believed to remove the effects of poisons from ones body, in Tamil Vaishnavism Garuda and Hanuman are known as Periya Thiruvadi and Siriya Thiruvadi respectively. Garuda wears the serpent Adisesha on his left wrist and the serpent Gulika on his right wrist, the serpent Vasuki forms his sacred thread. The cobra Takshaka forms his belt on his hip, the snake Karkotaka is worn as his necklace. The snakes Padma and Mahapadma are his ear rings, the snake Shankachuda adorns his divine hair. He is flanked by his two wives ‘Rudra’ and ‘Sukeerthi’ or and these are all invoked in Vedanta Desikas Garuda Panchashath and Garuda Dandaka compositions. Garuda flanked with his consorts Rudra and Sukirthi can be worshipped in an ancient Soumya Keshava temple in Bindiganavile in Karnataka state of India. Garuda Vyuha is worshiped in Tantra for Abhichara and to protect against Abhichara, however, the interesting thing is that Garuda is the Sankarshna form of the lord who during creation primarily possesses the knowledge aspect of the lord. The important point is that Garuda represents the five vayus within us, prana, apana, vyana, udana, samana through his five forms Satya, Suparna, Garuda, Tarkshya, Vihageshwara
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