1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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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