The Natural Settings and its People

1. How the Earth was in the Beginning

a. The story of Creation found in the book of Genesis in The Holy Bible tells how God
created the heavens and earth, and so as man in His own image in likeness.
b. Filipino Mythology
Tagalog Legend. It presents how Bathala created the Filipino people as well as
the formation of the Philippine archipelago.
Visayan Legend. The legend tells how Manaul, a mythical bird, asked the help
of Kaptan, the god of the sea, and Magauayan, the god of the air to help him
find a resting place. The gods asserting their might against each other paved
the way to the formation of the Philippine archipelago.
The Legend of Bernardo Carpio. An imaginative explanation of how the
country was shaken by earthquakes. Earthquakes as explained by this myth
is caused by Bernardo Carpios effort to push the mountains of Montalban.
c. Analytic Geology

Uniformitarian theory. Maintains that the laws of nature have remain constant
and that the physical and chemical processes that have acted throughout the
geologic time are the same processes seen today.
Ptolemy produced the first collection of maps in about 150 A.D.
Maps or charts covering the entire world or specific regions are contained in
an atlas.
The term was derived from the Greek mythological figure Atlas.
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theater of the Earth) was considered the first
modern atlas published by Abraham Ortelius, a Dutch cartographer in 1570.
Ortelius also realized that the coast of America, Europe, and Africa could be
linked together like a huge jigsaw puzzle.
Theory of continental drift supposes a supercontinent called Pangaea, a
Greek word meaning all land.
Pangaea, later on separated into two, Laurasia, the northern portion, and
Gondwanaland, the southern portion.
Another theory, the plate tectonics theory, explains that the lithosphere (the
outer layer) moves sideways above a less rigid layer called the
asthenosphere, which is under extreme pressure.
It gained a far reaching acceptance in the field of science.

2. Geological Foundations
Geologic time scale. The first geologic time scale was proposed in 1913 by
the British geologist Arthur Holmes (1890 - 1965). This was soon after the
discovery of radioactivity, and using it, Holmes estimated that the Earth was
about 4 billion years old - this was much greater than previously believed.
The Philippines was believed to be adjoined to Formosa.
The combined effects of volcanism and other tectonic movements of the
basement complex brought about the disjunction.
The emergence of man on earth was estimated at 5 million years BP (Before
the Present).
Fluvial condition refers to the climatic condition characterized by extensive
and continuous rain.

Recent studies claim that the earth has undergone 20 cycles of glaciations
over the past 2 million years.
Some historians claim that the Philippines is a remnant of a lost continent in
the Pacific called Mu or Lemuria.
Pacific Magmatic Theory claims that the Philippines came into existence after
the eruptions of volcanoes beneath the Pacific Ocean in remote epochs.
Asiatic Theory or Land Bridges Theory states that the Philippines was once
part of Continental Asia.
Sunda Shelf and Sahul Shelf are extensions of continents otherwise known as
continental shelves.

3. The Archipelagos Name

Ma-yi or Ma-I was the name used by the Chinese to refer to the archipelago.
Magellan named the archipelago Islas de San Lazaro (Island of St. Lazarus).
It was Ruy Lopez de Villalobos who named the archipelago Filipinas in honor
of King Philip II.
Fr. Juan J. Delgado called Manila Pearl of the Orient.
Rizal used Pearl of the Orient Seas to refer to the Philippines in his Mi Ultimo
Adios.
Philippine Islands (P.I.) during the American colonial era and later on renamed
Republic of the Philippines (R.P.) after the recognition of its independence in
1946.
Artemio Ricarte wanted to call the country Rizaline Republic in honor of Rizal.
Marcos proposed the name Maharlika after his dream of making the country
great again.

4. Geography and Resources

a. Location: The Philippines, found in the Western Pacific Ocean, has an astronomical
location of 4 23'-21 25 N. Latitude and 116-127 E. Longitude. It comprises an
archipelago of some 7,107 islands located off Southeast Asia, between the South
China Sea on the west and the Philippine Sea on the east. The major islands are
Luzon in the north, the Visayan Islands in the middle, and Mindanao in the south.
b. Size: The total area is about 300,000 square kilometers, including about 298,000
square kilometers of land and about 2,000 square kilometers of water. The
Philippines stretches about 1,850 kilometers from YAmi Island in the north to
Saluag Isle, only 34 miles east of Borneo.
c. Land Boundaries: The Philippines has no land boundaries. Nearby neighbors are

Taiwan to the north, Malaysia and Indonesia to the south, Vietnam to the west, and
China to the northwest.
d. Length of Coastline: Estimates of the total length of the coastline range from

17,500 kilometers (official Philippine figure) to 36,289 kilometers (U.S. figure).

e. Topography: The Philippines consists of volcanic islands, including active
volcanoes, with mostly mountainous interiors surrounded by flat lowlands and
alluvial plains of varying widths along the coasts. The elevation ranges from sea

level to the highest point of Mount Apo on Mindanao Island, at 2,954 meters above
sea level.
f.

Principal Rivers: The longest river is the Cagayan (Ro Grande de Cagayan) on
Luzon, about 350 kilometers in length. Other principal rivers on Luzon include the
Abra, Bicol, Chico, and Pampanga. The Pasig River is only about 25 kilometers in
length but serves as the main waterway, flowing between Laguna de Bay, the
largest freshwater lake in the Philippines, through metropolitan Manila to Manila
Bay. Principal rivers on Mindanao include the Mindanao River (known as the Pulangi
River in its upper reaches), and the Agusan. The St. Paul River on Palawan is an
eight-kilometer-long underground river.

g.

Regions

locos Region (Region I)

Cagayan Valley (Region II)

Central Luzon (Region III)

CALABARZON (Region IV-A)

MIMAROPA (Region IV-B)

Bicol Region (Region V)

Western Visayas (Region VI)

Central Visayas (Region VII)

Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)

Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)

Northern Mindanao (Region X)

Davao Region (Region XI)

Soccsksargen (Region XII)

Caraga (Region XIII)

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)

Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

NationalCapital Region (NCR; Metro Manila)

h. Ecosystems

Forests

Ponds

Grassland

Valleys

Plains

Rivers

Seas

i.

Natural Resources: The major natural mineral resources include coal, cobalt,
copper, chromite, gold, gypsum, iron, natural gas, nickel, petroleum, salt, silver, and
sulfur. There are lesser deposits of bauxite, lead, mercury, molybdenum, and zinc.
Other important resources are geothermal and hydroelectric power, fish, and
timber.

j.

Flora and fauna: Plant and animal species in the Philippines is both diverse and beautiful. The
Philippine Islands sit south of Japan, near the equator. The lovely tropical climate causes many
species to flourish. Some unique animal found in the country are tamaraw, Calamian dear, tarsier,
whale shark, Philippine eagle, kalaw, katala and many others. The country is also home to 25,00
species of insects. Among the 10,000 species of flowers are sampaguita, dama de noche, and
waling-waling.