Philippines displays ancient maps to debunk China's sea claims that limit 'til Hainan only

A local photographer looks at an ancient map on display at a Catholic university in Manila September 11, 2014.  REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco- View in Full screen here http://bit.ly/1uySB9o

 

Philippines displays ancient maps to debunk China's sea claims

 

The Philippines on Thursday put on display dozens of ancient maps which officials said showed that China's territorial claims over the South China Sea did not include a disputed shoal at the centre of an acrimonious standoff.

The Philippines is in dispute with China over parts of the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, an area believed to be rich in oil and natural gas as well as fisheries resources.

China seized control of the shoal in June 2012 and has prevented Philippine fishermen from getting close to the rocky outcrop, a rich fishing ground.

Philippine officials said the exhibition of old maps at a university showed that for almost 1,000 years, from the Song Dynasty in the year 960 until the end of the Qing Dynasty early in the 20th century, China's southernmost territory was always Hainan island, just off the Chinese coast.

"We should respect historical facts, not historical lies," said Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who has done extensive research on the territorial disputes.

The facts were graphically illustrated on the ancient maps, both official and unofficial, he said.

Carpio said the exhibition could be viewed online and it would help everyone in all claimant states understand the facts, "either to restrain extreme nationalism fuelled by historical lies or give hope to a just and durable settlement of disputes".

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea.

But Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims in the sea, which is traversed each year by ship-borne trade worth about $5 trillion.

Exhibition organisers said the Scarborough Shoal never appeared in any old Chinese maps. But on numerous ancient maps made by foreigners and Filipinos, from as early as 1636, the rocky outcrop was consistently shown to be Philippine territory.

Carpio, in an earlier lecture, said the shoal was also used as a naval gunnery range by U.S. and Philippine armed forces from the 1960s to the 1980s, and neither China nor any other country protested against the bombing practice.

In June, China unveiled a new official map of the country, giving greater play to its claims on the South China Sea.

The Philippines, a close U.S. ally, has brought a case to the U.N. arbitral court in The Hague, seeking clarification on its entitlements under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China has refused to take part in the arbitration. A ruling is expected late next year.

Ancient Philippine Map

Philippines' Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio (L) gestures to an ancient map on display while Philippines' Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario (2nd L), Justice Secretary Leila De Lima and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin look on at a Catholic university in Manila September 11, 2014. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco - View whole album here 

 

Visitors point at an ancient map on display at a Catholic university in Manila September 11, 2014.  REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco - View whole album here 

Published in Paris in 1650, this map shows an unnamed shoal as part of the East Indies.Philippines Institute for Maritime and Oceanic Affairs. View Photo here http://on.fb.me/1rZfWmO

 

A map published in 1770 by Britain's Royal Hydrographer shows the “Panacot” shoal, today's Scarborough Shoal.National Library of Australia. View Photo here http://on.fb.me/1rZfWmO

 

Published in 1734 by a Jesuit named Pedro Murillo, this map is one of the first to identify what is today the Scarborough Shoal, then named the “Panacot” shoal.US Library of Congress. View Photo here http://on.fb.me/1rZfWmO

 

 

Tian Ditu, or “the Atlas of Heaven and Earth,” published in 1601 during the Ming Dynasty shows shows Hainan Island as China’s southernmost territory.U.S. Library of Congress. View Photo here http://on.fb.me/1rZfWmO

 

 

A world map published by the Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci in 1602 at the request of the Ming Dynasty shows the southern boundary of China as Hainan. View Photo here http://on.fb.me/1rZfWmO

 

 

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1 Million jobs created over a year; Philippine Unemployment rate drops down

Unemployment rate drops as 1M jobs created over a year

MANILA, Philippines - With over 1 million jobs created over a year, the country's jobless rate declined to 6.7 percent in July 2014, down from the 7.3 percent registered a year ago, the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday.

Data from the July 2014 Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed that 93.3 percent of the country's labor force (aged 15 and above) have jobs, an improvement from the 7.3 percent posted last year. The National Economic and Development Authority noted that the number of employed Filipinos rose by 2.8 percent to 38.5 million in July 2014 from 37.4 million in July 2013. This translates to 1.06 million jobs created over a year.

The underemployment rate similarly went down, dropping to 18.3 percent from last year's 19.2 percent. Employed workers in need of additional jobs or hours of work in their current jobs are considered underemployed, PSA noted.

Data from the state agency showed that three regions had employment rates lower than the national average. These are the National Capital Region (89.7 percent), Central Luzon (91.7 percent) and CALABARZON (92 percent).

The labor force participation rate (LFPR) also went up to 64.4 percent in July 2014 compared to 63.9 percent a year ago. This means the labor market absorbed 879,000 labor entrants, expanding the labor force to 41.23 million.

"To some extent, the growth in the LFPR reflects the more positive outlook of workers in line with the momentum created by the robust economic growth in recent years, along with the expectations of better employment,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

Balisacan said the Aquino administration should continue fostering an economic climate conducive to business and investment to sustain the recent gains in the labor market.

“In industry, the key objective should be to increase investment, especially in labor-intensive sectors, and to encourage the existing pool of employers to hire more workers.  In the immediate term, the demand for labor can be driven by the infrastructure program of government, reconstruction activities in the Visayas and other disaster-hit areas, and private construction.  In services, the focus must be on increasing sales and clients enough to warrant the hiring of workers. There is much room for expansion in business-process management and tourism-related activities,” he added.

In agriculture, Balisacan said there is a need to introduce non-farm employment opportunities during the off-season, such as value-adding activities and community-based employment programs. This would address the seasonal and low-paying jobs in the sector, he said.

“To further support the labor market performance in the medium term, the government should remain vigilant to attendant risks to growth and make sure that pre-emptive measures and programs are in place to mitigate any adverse effects of such risks or shocks in the economy,” he added.

PSA noted that the July 2014 LFS did not include employment data from Leyte, because of the large number of households displaced by typhoon Yolanda last year. The 7.3-percent jobless rate in July 2013 also excluded data from the typhoon-ravaged province to make the estimates comparable. - By Jovan Cerda @ philSTAR

 

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