TSS - Origins and Geographic Features of the Philippines - Activity

Name: Aurelia, Gilmar D.

Date: April 08, 2021

Origins and Geographic Features of the Philippines (Prof. Rey Carlo Gonzales)

Summary:
The Philippine is located in Asia and the southeastern portion of Asia. It’s bound in the north by
Taiwan, in the West by the West Philippine Sea, in the east by the Pacific, and in the South by the
Celebes Sea. The Philippines is home to 7,107 Islands but the number actually fluctuates and so it’s really
much closer to a recent count of 7,641 Islands. The reason for this is that sometimes the islands
submerged because of climate change, or they discover new islands, or they could be taken from us.
Approximately, it is 1,000 square miles from north to south. The land surface is 114,830 square miles.
The size and diversity of the features of the Philippines translates into things like cultural diversity,
biodiversity, presence of subcultures and cultures and the strong maritime culture.
Professor Rey Carlo Gonzales discussed the different theories about how the Philippines came to be.
Such theories are; the Continental Drift Theory, The Land Bridge Theory, The Faulting and Folding
(Diastrophism) Theory, the Volcanic Origins Theory and lastly The Last Continent of Mu. He also
discussed the Mythological Origins of the Philippines such as; the Idea of Divine Creation, A Quarrel
Between Divinities and The Atlas-Type Narrative.

1. Theories About How the Philippines Came To Be

 The Continental Drift Theory
 This was formulated in year 1596
 It argues that the world was one large landmass called Pangaea and that, over the
next series of millennia, the continents gradually drifted away from each other.
 The Land Bridge Theory
 This theory argues that the Philippines is connected to mainland Asia, and that
25,000 years ago you could walk across to Asia using these lang bridges.
 This theory was critiqued by both Fritjof Voss and Landa Jocano.
 The Faulting and Folding (Diastrophism) Theory
 This was formulated by Leopoldo Faustino
 This theory argues that the Earth’s crust constantly shifts – bumps into each other
and moves away from each other – and that the islands in the Philippines today
are a product of these constant shifting plates.
 The Volcanic Origins Theory
 This was proposed by Bailey Willis
 This theory argues that, much like the islands of Hawaii, the Philippines is a
product of volcanic eruptions.
 The Last Continent of Mu
 Its between science and myth arguments that the Philippines was part of a lost
continent of Mu.
 There is a continent in the Pacific called Mu which came crashing down and was
lost to the sea forever, and it says that the Philippines is one of those which
remained of Mu.

GILMAR DEUS AURELIA BEED2A NPC 1

TSS - Origins and Geographic Features of the Philippines - Activity

2. Mythological Origins of the Philippines

 The Idea of Divine Creation
 This myths argue that the God, in His infinite wisdom, chose to create the
Philippines and its people.
 A Quarrel Between Divinities
 The most familiar of this is the quarrel between the earth and the sky, and how
the kite or the eagle or the falcon in some cases caused the sky and the sea to
have this big battle and, at the end of it, the Philippines was born. In some other
cases you have the argument between to giants, and they throw stones at each
other, and these stones become the islands of the Philippines.
 The Atlas-Type Narrative
 It says that there is this big, massive, divine being – like, the biggest giant you’ve
ever seen – and the Philippines is either part of his body or it is his body which is
decomposing.
 Or, the giant could have probably dropped something and it came crashing down,
splintered into pieces and became the islands of the Philippines.

3. Geographic Features of the Philippines

 The Philippines is divided into three major islands the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
 It has home to 7,107 Islands but the number actually fluctuates and so it’s really much
closer to a recent count of 7,641 Islands.
 The land surface is 114,840 square miles.
 The size and diversity of the features of the Philippines translates into things like cultural
diversity, biodiversity, the presence of subcultures and cultures and the strong maritime
culture.
 The Philippines has seven mountain ranges. The largest and longest and most majestic of
these is the Sierra Madre, the tallest peak is Mount Apo (9,690 feet asl.) located in
Davao, Mount Madia-as as the tallest peak in the Island of Panay, and the lowest peak
can be found in the southeastern part of the Philippines which is the Philippine Deep.
 It is also home to many volcanoes. Some of the most iconic and majestic ones are Taal
Volcano, Mount Mayon, Mount Pinatubo, and Kanlaon Volcano.
 The Philippines has a number of lakes some of the most iconic of these are Laguna Lake,
Lanao Lake, and Taal Lake.
 There are also waterfalls like Pagsanjan Falls and Maria Cristina Falls.
 Its home to 10,000 species of plants and ferns, and 900 species of orchids
 It’s also home to some of the smallest animals of their species as the Philippine Tarsier,
Tamaraw and the Pilandok
 If we talk about marine life, the Philippines is home to 2,000 species of fish, 10,000
species of shells and its home to Pandaka Pygmaea, the smallest fish in the world.
 Philippines is also rich in minerals such as gold, iron, copper, silver, platinum, chromium,
manganese, lead, zinc, petroleum, asbestos, clay, gypsum, lime, salt, sulfur, marble, and
adobe stone.

GILMAR DEUS AURELIA BEED2A NPC 2