The Filipino people according to Murillo Velarde

MURILLO Velarde became a hot name in the Philippines a few years ago, when China claimed jurisdiction over the entire archipelago of the Spratly Islands. The Philippines had to prove that the archipelago belong to their territory back in times, and for that purpose they looked for old Spanish maps. The most famous of them is the Murillo Velarde map, a true jewel of world cartography. Designed by this Jesuit priest from the province of Almeria in southern Spain, the artistic execution was carried out by Nicolás de la Cruz Bagay, a gifted Filipino engraver who also printed many books for the Jesuit press. The map, titled Carta hydrographica y chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas (1734), was surrounded by several engravings of scenes depicting Philippine life, many of them carried out by another Filipino artist, Francisco Suárez. The map served to win the case for the Spratlys at the United Nations. Every time there is a Murillo Velarde map for auction, prices can skyrocket dramatically. It is not surprising, then, why the finely printed journal of the Philippine Association of Collector of Maps is named precisely The Murillo Bulletin.

But this Jesuit man did not only make a map. He wrote sermons, poetry, theater, works on canon law and an extremely entertaining chronicle of the Philippine islands. Probably, he was the most intellectually powerful person in the Philippines throughout the obscure 18th century. His encylopedic knowledge came to see full light in Madrid in 1752 in the 10 volumes of Geographia Historica, a major work where he condensed all the available knowledge regarding the geography, nature, history and peoples of the planet. More importantly, although printed in Spain, this book was written in the Philippines, which indicates the exceptional quality of the libraries in Manila at that time.