Name as proof of ownership

Christine Avendaño (“What’s in a name? Scarborough, Panatag or Bajo de Masinloc?” Inquirer, 4/29/12) gives three Philippine names for the 150-square kilometer shoal whose ownership is now being disputed by the Philippines and China. There is a fourth and earlier name: Panacot, which is found in the first detailed map of the Philippines made in 1734 by Jesuit Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde and Filipino engraver Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay.

This name was carried as late as 1794 in a British map of the Philippines by Robert Carr.

—BENITO

LEGARDA JR.,

benitolegardajr

@yahoo.com