‘Velarde map trumps China’s fabrication’
Father Pedro Murillo Velarde painstakingly drew and published in 1734 the map that left no doubt that the Philippines has exercised sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea centuries back. Photos at top right show China’s illegal man-made structures in the South China Sea.
China's new map expanding its nine-dash line territorial claim in the South China Sea is undermining the peace and security in the Asia-Pacific Region, geopolitical analyst Marlon Villarin told Daily Tribune's sister publication Dyaryo Tirada over the weekend.
Appearing in the digital show "Hot Patatas," the University of Santo Tomas political science professor belittled Beijing's new "standard map" for 2023 as a mere fabrication that would not stand scrutiny against the so-called Velarde map.
The Velarde map is one of the oldest maps in the world, the one that the Philippines used to stake its territorial claim in the West Philippine Sea before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.
In 2016, the arbitral court affirmed that the Philippines holds rights over its exclusive economic zones in the WPS while dismissing China's nine-dash line claim to nearly the entire South China Sea for being without legal or historical basis.
"As things stand, they (Chinese) seemed to have fabricated (the nine-dash line claim). On the other hand, one of the oldest maps, the Velarde map, has helped us a lot," Villarin told Tirada editor Rose Novenario. "It showed that it (WPS) is part of our territory."
- Hughes Reef
