ORIGIN OF THE PHILIPPINES AND ITS PEOPLE

PACIFIC THEORY

• DR. BAILEY WILLIS, A RENOWNED GEOLOGIST, TO HIM, THE PHILIPPINES WAS FORMED THROUGH A SERIES OF UNDERWATER VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.
• HE CLAIMED THAT THESE VOLCANOES, WHICH WERE LOCATED IN THE DEEP WATERS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN, ERUPTED APPROXIMATELY 200 MILLION YEARS AGO.
• AS A RESULT, LARGE AMOUNTS OF MAGMA AND LAVA WERE LAID ON TOP OF EACH OTHER AND EVENTUALLY FORMED THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO.

Origin of the Philippines - Volcanic Theory - YouTube

PACIFIC THEORY

LAND BRIDGES THEORY

• IT IS BELIEVED THAT LAND BRIDGES CONNECTED THE PHILIPPINES TO ASIA.

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LAND BRIDGES THEORY

- HUGE ICE GLACIERS WERE FORMED THAT RESULTED IN THE DECREASE OF THE OCEAN WATER LEVEL AND THE APPEARANCE OF LAND BRIDGES WHERE THESE LAND BRIDGES CONNECTED THE PHILIPPINES AND PARTS OF THE ASIA MAINLAND.

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- THE ICE GLACIERS MELTED AND THE OCEAN WATER LEVEL ROSE AGAIN, THE LAND BRIDGES WERE SUBMERGED IN WATER AND DISAPPEARED, CAUSING THE PHILIPPINES TO BE DISCONNECTED FROM THE ASIAN MAINLAND.

BOTTOM OF THE SEA THEORY

• GERMAN SCIENTIST DR. FRITJOP VOSS ASSERTED THAT THE PHILIPPINES WAS NEVER CONNECTED TO MAINLAND ASIA THROUGH LAND BRIDGES.
• INSTEAD, HE SUGGESTED THAT THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO WAS ORIGINALLY LOCATED ON TOP OF FAULT LINES ON THE OCEAN FLOOR. BECAUSE OF SUCCESSIVE EARTHQUAKES, LAND WAS PUSHED UPWARD UNTIL IT REACHED THE EARTH’S SURFACE AND CONSEQUENTLY FORMED THE PHILIPPINES.
•  POWERFUL EARTHQUAKES PUSHED UP THE LANDMASS FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR AND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS ROSE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN.

LOST CONTINENT THEORY

• A CERTAIN GROUP OF GEOGRAPHERS BELIEVED THAT THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS ARE THE REMAINS OF WHAT WAS ONCE A CONTINENT DURING THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD. A HUGE PORTION OF THIS CONTINENT LOCATED IN ASIA WAS SUBMERGED IN WATER, WHILE ITS REMAINS EVENTUALLY FORMED THE ISLANDS OF THE PHILIPPINES.

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THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF FILIPINOS

LAND BRIDGES THEORY

• PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN BRINGING THE FIRST HUMANS TO THE PHILIPPINES

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• ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS, ANIMALS SUCH AS THE RHINOCEROS AND SEVERAL SPECIES OF ELEPHANTS REACHED PHILIPPINES BY CROSSING THE LAND BRIDGES THAT APPEARED DURING THE ICE AGE. THE FIRST HUMANS THAT INHABITED THE ARCHIPELAGOS WERE THE HOMO ERECTUS AND HOMO SAPIENS, ALSO USED THE SAME ROUTE ALMOST 30,000 YEARS AGO.

HOMO ERECTUS HOMO SAPIENS

AUSTRONESIAN DIFFUSION THEORY

• THE MELTING OF THE ICE GLACIERS AND THE SUBSEQUENT RISE OF THE OCEAN WATERS CAUSED THE DISAPPEARANCE OF LAND BRIDGES. AS A RESULT, THE EARLY SETTLERS, WHICH IS THE AUSTRONESIANS, ADOPTED NEW WAYS OF TRAVELING.
• THEY LEARNED HOW TO BUILD AND USE SEA VESSELS TO GO TO OTHER PLACES.
• THEY WERE ABLE TO TRAVEL FROM SOUTHERN CHINA AND TAIWAN TO VARIOUS PLACES IN ASIA LIKE PHILIPPINES, INDONESIA, BORNEO AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS.
• THE AUSTRONESIAN DIFFUSION THEORY STATES THAT THE MIGRATION OF THE AUSTRONESIANS RESULTED IN SIMILARITIES IN LANGUAGES, CULTURES, AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCES OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN PEOPLE.

LOCAL ORIGIN THEORY

• FILIPINO ANTHROLOPOLOGIST, F. LANDA JOCANO, WAS ABLE TO COME UP WITH THIS THEORY STATING THAT THERE WERE ALREADY INHABITANTS IN THE PHILIPPINES ABOUT 20,000 – 22,000 YEARS AGO.
• THESE EARLY PEOPLE ADAPTED TO THE CONDITIONS IN THE ISLANDS AND, AS A RESULT, DEVELOPED A CULTURE UNIQUE FROM THE REST OF SOUTHEAST ASIA.
• FOR JOCANO, THE FILIPINO CULTURE DEVELOPED FROM WITHIN THE COUNTRY AND NOT AS A PART OF THE SOUTHEAST ASIA CULTURAL MILIEU.

LET’S KEEP IN MIND:

• THE PACIFIC THEORY POSITS THAT THE PHILIPPINES WAS FORMED THROUGH SUCCESSIVE UNDERWATER VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS CAUSED LARGE AMOUNTS OF MAGMA AND LAVA TO BE LAID ON TOP OF EACH OTHER AND CONSEQUENTLY FORMED THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO.
• FOR LAND BRIDGES THEORY, THE PHILIPPINES WAS ONCE CONNECTED TO MAINLAND ASIA THROUGH LAND BRIDGES. SCIENTISTS HYPOTHESIZED THAT THESE LAND BRIDGES APPEARED WHEN THE OCEAN WATER LEVEL DECREASED, AS HUGE ICE GLACIERS FORMED DURING THE ICE AGE. HOWEVER, WHEN THE ICE GLACIERS MELTED, THE OCEAN WATERS ROSE AGAIN AND THE LAND BRIDGES DISAPPEARED.

LET’S KEEP IN MIND:

• THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA THEORY QUESTIONS THE PLAUSIBILITY OF THE LAND BRIDGES THEORY. IT INSTEAD SUGGESTED THAT SUCCESSIVE EARTHQUAKES PUSHED PORTIONS OF THE OCEAN FLOOR UPWARD, WHICH BECAME THE ISLANDS OF THE PHILIPPINES.
• ACCORDING TO THE LOST CONTINENT THEORY, A HUGE PORTION OF A CONTINENT IN ASIA WAS SUBMERGED IN WATER AND ITS REMAINS EVENTUALLY FORMED THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO.
• THE AUSTRONESIAN DIFFUSION THEORY STATES THAT AUSTRONESIANS FROM SOUTHERN CHINA AND TAIWAN MIGRATED TO SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC, PARTICULARLY THE PHILIPPINES AND INDONESIA.
• THE LOCAL ORIGIN THEORY POSITS THAT THERE WERE ALREADY INHABITANTS IN THE COUNTRY ABOUT 20,000 TO 22,000 YEARS AGO.