ORIGIN AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Physical Environment

and Its Natural Resources

ORIGIN OF THE PHILIPPINES

There are many explanations about the origin of our land, as follows:As Christians, we believe that the land forms were

made by God as part of his creation. After the Great Flood in time of Noah, many continents and islands appeared. So the descendants of Noah spread out to many parts of the world.

The other religions of some tribes explain the origin of our land by telling “Legends”.Legends or myths are stories that are not true, but

people use them to explain some thing in colorful way.

One legend says our land came from a Giant who was carrying a huge rock. He got tired and threw the rock down, so it broke to many pieces and formed the many islands of our country.

Another legend about the story of a quarrel between the sea and the sky. The sky threw the rocks down to the sea, and thus was formed the islands.

Scientist have different opinions about the origin of our country. Some geologist claim that it was the remnant of

prehistoric continent called “Mu” or “Lemuria” in the Pacific Ocean. Due to volcanic eruptions or earthquakes, this vast continent sank beneath the ocean.

Other believed that the eruption caused the gradual emergence of the islands above the ocean.

The most popular- accepted scientific theory states that the Philippines was part of the “Sunda Shelf”, or the continental shelf of Asia. About 25,000 years ago, the ice age ended the worlds

ice melted, and the rising sea level flooded the land bridges connecting the continent of Asia and the Philippines.

LOCATIONThe Philippines lies in Southeast Asia, a little

above the Equator, between latitudes 4°23’N and longitude 116°E and 127°E.

The map shown the Philippine Territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone.

PHILIPPINE TERRITORIAL SEA AND EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE

It is bounded in the east by the Pacific Ocean, in the west by the South China Sea, Bashi channel, and in the south by the Zulu and Celebes Seas.

The northernmost island is Y’ami, only 240 km. from Taiwan, which can be seen on a clear day. The southernmost island in Saluag Isle, about 24 km. from Sabah (North Borneo).

The Philippine location is important because: It is the only Christian nation in the non-Christian

Asian world. It is the melting pot of races and cultures, with a

unique heritage from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America.

It is the bridge that links the Occidental and Oriental worlds.

It is at the crossroads of Asia’s air and sea routes. It is the bastion of democracy in Asia where most

countries are kingdoms, military dictatorships, or one-party government .

AREA The total land area of the Phil. Is 300,780sq. km. or

0.2percent of the worlds land mass. Having 7,107 islands, it is one of the world’s largest

archipelagos or group of islands. The 11 main islands and their areas are L u z o n (104,687

sq. km.); M i n d a n a o (94,630sq.km.); S a m a r (13,080sq.km.);N e g ro s (12,709sq.km.);P a l a w a n (11,785sq.km.);P a n a y (11,515sq.km.);M i n d o ro (9,735ssq.km.);L e y t e (7,214sq. km.);C e b u (4,422)sq.km.);B o h o l (3,864sq.km.);and M a s b a t e (3,269sq.km.)

On June 11,1978, President Marcos signed Presidential Decree No.1596, declaring the Kalayaan (Spratly) Island a part of the Philippines, to be administered as municipality of the Province of Palawan.

TOPOGRAPHY Topography means the physical features of country. The

Philippines is an inverted Y-shaped archipelago of numerous islands, and islets, coral reefs, abundant rivers, lakes and bays; mountains and valleys; cool plateaus and scenic volcanoes.

It has the longest discontinuous coastline in the world-34,600kilometer. It has 61 natural harbors and 20 landlocked straits.

Manila Bay is the finest harbor in Asia and also the largest Bay in the Philippines .

The narrowest strait in the world is the San Juanico Strait between Samar and Leyte, now connected by the San Juanico Bridge.

The great Peninsulas in the country are historic Bataan Peninsula and the fertile Bicol Peninsula in Luzon , and The Zamboanga and Davao Peninsula in Mindanao.

The lowest place in the country is the “Philippine Deep” some 89 km. northeast of Mindanao. With depth of 37,732 ft. below sea level, it is said to be “the deepest place in the world.”

The Philippines has softly mountains and numerous valleys

SEVEN MAJOR MOUNTAINS RANGES

The longest being the Sierra Mountain range from Cagayan Province in the north and to Laguna in the south.

The highest mountain is Mt. Apo in Mindanao(9,690 feet or 2,954) meters above sea level.) The second highest peak is Mt. Pulog on the Ifugao-Benguet boundary in Luzon (2,982 meters).

Other noted peaks are Mt.Banahaw in Laguna-Quezon ;Mt. Bulusan in Sorsogon; Mt. Halcon in Mindoro Oriental; Mt. Kanloan in Negros Occidental; and Mt. Matutum in Cotabato.

FOUR MAJOR LOWLANDS PLAINS

The Central Plain and Cagayan Valley in Luzon, and Agusan Valley and the Cotobato Valley in Mindanao.

The Central Plain is the “rice granary” of the Philippines. Cagayan Valley is the greatest tobacco-producing region in Asia, is also the largest valley.

Among the famous plateaus are the Benguet Plateau in northern Luzon on which nestles the summer capital of the Philippines, Baguio (“City of Pines”), and the fertile Bukidnon Plateau in Mindanao. Famous for its delicious pineapples.

o About 132 rivers traverse the country. Its longest river is the Cagayan river, whose annual

flood fertilizes the Cagayan Valley as the Nile river of Egypt.

In water volume, the Rio Grande of Mindanao is the Largest river .

Most historic of the Philippine rivers is the Pasig River, which is unfortunately is now so badly polluted it is gradually dying.

Out of 59 natural Lakes, the Largest is Laguna de Bay which was source of inspiration for Jose Rizal our national hero.

There are spring that are vulnerable for their medicinal waters and for geothermal power like in Los Baños and Pan sol in Laguna Pandi and Sibul in Bulacan; Tiwi in Albay; and Magsingal in Ilocos sur.

Water falls provide tourist attractions and hydroelectric power. The world renowned Pagsanjan Falls in Laguna is a favorite tourists resort and move location.

Other waterfalls are the ff: Maria Cristina Falls in Lanao del Norte; Hinulugang Taktak in Antipolo; Tamaraw Falls in Mindoro Oriental; and Darosdos Falls

in Samar.

CLIMATE The Philippine climate is tropical and monsoonal in

character. The temperature varies from 21°to 32°C(70° to 90° F) There are the two instincts seasons- the dry season

(from December to May) and the wet season (from June to November.)

The coldest month is January and the Hottest month is May.

Humidity in rather high from 71 to 85 percent. Due to the tropical weather and surrounding seas.

Rain fall is the most important factor in its climate, with most rainy days from July to Oct.

NATURAL CALAMITIES The Philippines sits on “Ring Of Fire” where most

natural calamities happen.

These natural calamities are typhoons, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. They cause great damage to people , property and nature.

One natural calamity is the Typhoon. It is the Chinese word meaning strong wind and heavy rain .

In English it is called a “storm”. During the months of June to October , more than a dozen Typhoon hit the country.

The most terrible earthquake that hit the country was on July 16, 1990. The earthquake, which measured 7.7 on the Richter scale, killed more than 1,500people on the main island of Luzon.

VOLCANOES There are more than 50 volcanoes in the country. Most famous and scenic of the Phil. volcanoes is

Mt. Mayon in Albay, Bicol, which has a nearly perfect one. It has erupted more than 30 times in recorded history from 1616 to the present.

It is the most destructive eruption occurred on Feb.1,1814, when the town of Casagwa was buried 1,2oo people died.

Taal the smallest and most unusual volcano, being surrounded by a lake in Batangas erupted more than 20 times.

The worst Volcanic eruption in history happened at Mt. Pinatubo, Zambales in June 1991. The Pinatubo volcanic eruption damaged six provinces in Central Luzon. It is believed that the Pinatubo Affected climate around the world.

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

God, Land and People. There are three important parts about knowing the country’s history. These are:

1. GOD

2. PEOPLE and

3. Land

The Philippines is blessed in all three ways.

THE NAME PHILIPPINES Early Chinese traders who visited Mindoro called our

nation “Ma-yi”. This means land of gold, because they bought gold in Mindoro.

A Greek map maker named Claudius Ptolemy (90-168A.D.) called our islands “Maniolas” in his ancient map.

When Magellan came in 1521 he called the Philippines “Archipelago of St. Lazarus”. But the name did not become popular.

In 1543, a Spanish Explorer named Ruy Lopez de Villalobos gave the name “Felipinas” to the Philippines Phil. In honor of Crown Prince Felipe(Philip) who later became King Philip II of Spain.

The “Felipinas” later became “Filipinas” during the Spanish colonial era. Then it became “the Philippine Islands” during the American colonial era. Then “the Republic of the Philippines.

Then “the Republic of the Philippines” after our independence in 1946.

PEARL OF THE ORIENT SEA-the most popular nickname for the

Philippines.This was the romantic name given to our

country by two Famous writers. One of them was a Spanish missionary-historian named Fr. Juan J. Delgado in 1751. But the Filipino who popularized this name was Dr. Jose Rizal, our National Hero.

NATURAL RESOURCES

The natural resources of a country include soil, plant and animal life, fish and marine resources, minerals, energy sources, and scenic beauty of nature.

SOIL Soil the country’s more important natural resources

because most of the people earn a living from tilling the land. The people are fortunate to have a highly fertile soil.

According to the Bureau of Soils, about 75% of the country’s arable land of 11 million hectares has been badly eroded.

When properly cultivate the farms and plantation can yield good crops – rice and corn, coconuts, sugar abaca and tobacco, and fruits (bananas, pineapples and mangoes) and nuts. The Philippines ranks first in world production of coconuts and hemp products; second in sugar; and fifth in tobacco.

THE WORLD’S GREATEST BIODIVERSITY God has blessed our country with the greatest diversity of

plant and animal life on earth. We have richest and most numerous species of plant and animals.

PLANT LIFE According to agricultural experts, 8,120 species of plant

grow in the country. About 1000 varieties of orchids, 1000 species of rice, and 3000 species of trees found in it.

The “Queen of Philippine Flowers” is the famous Sampaguita, the national flower.

ANIMAL LIFE

About 850 species of birds are found in country, more than Australia, Japan, and other Asian countries. The Biggest Bird is the eastern Sarus Crane, known as tipol in Luzon and labong in Visayas. It is the wadding bird with very long legs andf neck. When full grown, it is five and half feet.

Other remarkable birds in the country are; The Philippine or Monkey eating eagle, the World’s

Largest Eagle, which is now the National Birds. The Kalaw, called the “ Clock of the Mountains” by the

Spanish colonizers because, it always makes a loud call at noon in the mountains.

The Katala, which can talk and sing like a human.

The Palawan Peacock, a dancing bird with gorgeous plumage and;

The Limbas, a hawk which screams repeatedly as it soars into the sky; tik-wee tik-wee.

The most useful of the animals is the Carabao(water buffalo), the farmers best friend.

Four unique animals are:

1. the tamaraw of Mindoro which looks like a dwarf carabao and is fierce like a tiger;

2. the tarsier of Bohol, reputed to be the smallest monkey in the world;

3. the mouse deer of Balabac Island (Palawan Province which is the smallest deer in the world;and

4. the Zebronkey, which is half zebra and half donkey, bred for the first time at the Manila Zoo in 1962.

FOREST RESOURCES The forest lands have total area 16,633,000 hectares,

representing55percent of the total land area. More than 3,000 species of trees are found in our

forests, 1000 of which are commercial timber. The most famous of forest trees is the

Narra,”Queen of the Philippine Wood”. It is the National Tree.

FISH AND MARINE RESOURCES At least 2,000 species of fish are found in the waters

of the archipelago Both the world’s largest fish and the world’s two

smallest fish are found in the Philippines.

The huge of “whale shark”(Rhincodon typus) is called “pating bulik” (striped shark) by fishermen because of its black stripes. It is about 50 feet in length and weighs several tons, and was firsts sighted in 1816 at Mariveles Bay.

The Pygmy goby fish (Pandaka pygmea) and tabios, the two smallest fish, were found in the Philippine waters. Like the size of a grain of rice.

Of the world’s 60,000 species of shells some 20,000 are available in the Philippines.

The world’s rarest and most expensive shell,called “Glory Of the Sea”(Conus gloriamaris), and the Golden Cowrie, another rare shell, are both found here.

Also present in Philipppine waters are the world’s largest shell, Tridacna gigas, and the world’s smallest shell, Pisidium.

PEARL OF ALLAH -the world’s largest natural pearl, is said to

be 350 years old, 14 pounds in weight. It was valued at US $ 3.5million.

MINERALS Many minerals are found in the country

(metallic or non-metallic).Metallic mineral like nickel. Copper, iron, and gold are relatively abundant. The country is one of Asia’s great gold producing regions.

The best known copper district in the country is Mankayan in the Mountain Province where the oldest and best copper mine still exist.

The greatest iron bearing areas in the country are in the Surigao provinces (del norte and del sur).

ENERGY SOURCES

Energy (power) is used to supply electricity and fuel to run factories, light homes and offices, and to move cars, trucks and boats. After the 1973 “energy crisis” and the world economic slump, people have become more aware of the importance of their power and fuel supplied.

The Philippines energy needs are supplied by

1. Oil 2. hydroelectric power3. bagasse (sugar cane wastes);4. geothermal energy5. coal and;6. new sources of energy , like solar

power biogas, agro-forestry wastes, natural gas, alcogas and wood.

HIDDEN TREASURES

The Oil and Gas Discovery in Palawan.In 2001, the discovery of more oil and

gas in Malampaya, Palawan, caused great excitement. The delivery of oil and natural gas from this Field offers great economic improvement.

The Palawan find is the biggest oil and gas field in the country. It also deepest well in the world , going 3,000 meters above sea level.

EARLY HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES

STONE-AGE(C.50,000 - C.500 BC) The first evidence of the systematic use of Stone-

Age technologies in the Philippines is estimated to have dated back to about 50,000 BC, and this phase in the development of proto-Philippine societies is considered to end with the rise of metal tools in about 500 BC, although stone tools continued to be used past that date. Filipino Anthropologist F. Landa Jocano refers to the earliest noticeable stage in the development of proto-Philippine societies as the Formative Phase.  He also identified stone tool and ceramics making as the two core industries that defined the economic activity of the time, and which shaped the means by which early Filipinos adapted to their environment during this period.

About 30,000 BC, the Negritos, who became the ancestors of today's Aetas, or Aboriginal Filipinos, descended from more northerly abodes in Central Asia passing through the Indian Subcontinent and reaching the Andamanese Islands. From thereon, the Negritos continued to venture on land bridges reachingSoutheast Asia.

While some of the Negritos settled in Malaysia, becoming what is now the Orang Asli people, several Negrito tribes continued on to the Philippines through Borneo. No evidence has survived which would indicate details of Ancient Filipino life such as their crops, color, and architecture.

CALLAO MAN (C. 41000 BC) The earliest human remains known in the

Philippines are the fossilized remains discovered in 2007 by Armand Salvador Mijares in Callao Cave, Cagayan,Philippines. A 67,000 years old remains that predates Tabon Man. Specifically, the find consisted of a single 61 milimeter metatarsal which, when dated using uranium series ablation, was found to be at least about 67,000 years old. If definitively proven to be remains of Homo sapiens, it would antedate the 47,000 year old remains of Tabon Man to become the earliest human remains known in the Philippines, and one of the oldest human remains in the Asia Pacific.

Tabon Man(c.24000 or 22,000 BC)

A fossilized fragments of a skull and jawbone of three individuals, discovered on May 28, 1962 by Dr. Robert B. Fox, an American anthropologist of the National Museum.

 These fragments are collectively called "Tabon Man" after the place where they were found on the west coast of Palawan. 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, and 22,000 BCE.

The Tabon man fossils are considered to have come from a third group of inhabitants, who worked the cave between 22,000 and 20,000 BCE. 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.

MIGRATION THEORIES There have been several models of early

human migration to the Philippines. Since H. Otley Beyer first proposed his wave migration theory, numerous scholars have approached the question of how, when and why humans first came to the Philippines. The question of whether the first humans arrived from the south (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei as suggested by Beyer) or from the north (via Taiwan as suggested by the Austronesian theory) has been a subject of heated debate for decades. As new discoveries come to light, past hypotheses are reevaluated and new theories constructed

BEYER'S WAVE MIGRATION THEORY

According to Dr. Beyer, the ancestors of the Filipinos came to the islands first via land bridges which would occur during times when the sea level was low, and then later in seagoing vessels such as the balangay. Thus he differentiated these ancestors as arriving in different "waves of migration", as follows:

"Dawn Man", a cave-man type who was similar to Java man, Peking Man, and other Asian homo sapiens of 250,000 years ago.

The aboriginal pygmy group, the Negritos, who arrived between 25,000 and 30,000 years ago.

The sea-faring tool-using Indonesian group who arrived about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago and were the first immigrants to reach the Philippines by sea.

The seafaring, more civilized Malays who brought the Iron age culture and were the real colonizers and dominant cultural group in the pre-Hispanic Philippines.

BELLWOOD'S AUSTRONESIAN DIFFUSION THEORY

This model suggests that Between 4500 BCE and 4000 BCE, developments in agricultural technology in the Yunnan Plateau in Chinacreated pressures which drove certain peoples to migrate to Taiwan. These people either already had or began to develop a unique language of their own, now referred to as Proto-Austronesian.

By around 3000 BCE, these groups started differentiating into three or four distinct subcultures, and by 2500 to 1500 BC, one of these groups began migrating southwards towards the Philippines and Indonesia, reaching as far as Borneo and the Moluccas by 1500 BCE, forming new cultural groupings and developing unique languages.

By 1500 BC, some of these groups started migrating west, reaching as far as Madagascar around the first millennium CE. Others migrated east, settling as far as Easter Island by the mid-13th century CE, giving the Austronesian language group the distinction of being the most widely distributed language groups in the world at that time, in terms of the geographical span of the homelands of its languages.

According to this theory, the peoples of the Philippines are the descendants of those cultures who remained on the Philippine islands when others moved first southwards, then eastward and westward.

JOCANO'S LOCAL ORIGINS THEORY

Another alternative model is that asserted by anthropologist F. Landa Jocano of the University of the Philippines, who in 2001 contended that the existing fossil evidence of ancient humans demonstrates that they not only migrated to the Philippines, but also to New Guinea, Borneo, and Australia.

Another alternative model is that asserted by anthropologist F. Landa Jocano of the University of the Philippines, who in 2001 contended that the existing fossil evidence of ancient humans demonstrates that they not only migrated to the Philippines, but also to New Guinea, Borneo, and Australia.

 In reference to Beyer's wave model, he points out that there is no definitive way to determine the "race" of the human fossils; the only certain thing is that the discovery of Tabon Man proves that the Philippines was inhabited as early as 21,000 or 22,000 years ago. If this is true, the first inhabitants of the Philippines would not have come from the Malay Peninsula. Instead, Jocano postulates that the present Filipinos are products of the long process of evolution and movement of people..

He also adds that this is also true of Indonesians and Malaysians, with none among the three peoples being the dominant carrier of culture. In fact, he suggests that the ancient humans who populated Southeast Asia cannot be categorized under any of these three groups. He thus further suggests that it is not correct to consider Filipino culture as being Malayan in orientation

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