BANGKOK, 12 SEPTEMBER 2023 – The Philippine Embassy in Bangkok joins the national celebration of Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANA Mo) in September 2023.

This year’s national theme for the MANA Mo celebration is “Kapuluan, Kabuluhan, Kaunlaran" (Archipelago, Significance, and Development) to underscore the essence of our archipelagic nation's unique identity and to emphasize the crucial role that our archipelago and its marine resources play in our journey toward sustainable development.

To further amplify this year's national theme, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) adopts the sub-theme: “Setting Sails Towards Sustainability: Ocean Science for Archipelagic Philippines” to align with the commitment of the Philippines to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, underlining the pivotal role of ocean science in advancing the national interest.

This MANA Mo 2023, the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok launched a special exhibit at the Consular Section of the Embassy a print of the “Carta Hydrographica De Las Yslas Filipinas Manila” (1734). Popularly known as the “Murillo Velarde Map,” it is regarded by historians as the “Mother of all Philippine Maps” and considered as the first scientific map of the Philippines, prepared by Spanish Jesuit Friar Pedro Murillo Velarde together with two Filipinos - Francis Suarez, who drew the map, and Nicolas dela Cruz Bagay, who engraved it.

Complementing the Murillo Velarde Map exhibit is a showing of the 2021 documentary film “Yaman sa Kailaliman: West Philippine Sea” produced by the Philippines Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Biodiversity Management Bureau. The documentary features the rich fisheries, marine biodiversity, and ecological services provided by the West Philippine Sea to the Philippine Archipelago as evidenced by the marine scientific researches conducted in the area in 2017, 2019, and 2021. The film can be viewed online on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3timSPMtWYY.

The Embassy will host weekly screenings of the documentary on its Facebook page especially for the Filipino community in Thailand. END

A copy of the Carta Hydrographica De Las Yslas Filipinas Manila” (1734), popularly known as the “Murillo Velarde Map”