The Hague, 27 September 2021 – Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya presented a copy of the book “Ferdinand Magellan: The Armada de Maluco and the European Discovery of the Philippines” to the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam during a visit to the museum on 17 September 2021. The book is written by Filipino historian Danilo Madrid Gerona.
“A visit to the National Maritime Museum is most symbolic as the Philippines and the Netherlands are both maritime countries. The links in the maritime realm between our two peoples go back to the 16th century and continue to the present with the presence of some 22,000 Filipino seafarers on board Dutch vessels,” Ambassador Malaya said when presenting Prof. Gerona’s book to the museum’s General Director Michael Huijser.
The National Maritime Museum (https://www.hetscheepvaartmuseum.com) in Amsterdam is dedicated to maritime history and contains numerous artefacts and materials associated with shipping and sailing. Its collection is one of the largest and most notable in the world, which includes a surviving copy of the first edition of Maximilianus Transylvanus' work, De Moluccis Insulis - the first to describe Ferdinand Magellan's voyage around the world.
The author Dr. Danilo Gerona is a professor at the Partido State University who specializes in pre– and Spanish colonial period. His 500-page book on Magellan’s voyage and early interactions with Filipinos is based on primary documents found in Spanish and Portuguese archives.
The first Dutch squadron to reach the Philippine shores was led by Olivier van Noort, whose venture to Asia became an inspiration for more expeditions, including the formation of the Dutch East India Company a few months after his return to the Netherlands in 1601.
The Philippines observes this September the Philippines’ Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness month (Mana Mo). This year 2021 also marks the 500th anniversary of the landing in Limasawa island in Leyte province of the Magellan-Elcano expedition which signified the first circumnavigation of the world.
Ambassador Malaya was accompanied by Consul Marianne Bringas and Attaché Marisar Cabatingan. The embassy delegation was welcomed by General Director Huijser, Ms. Eefje Valkema, Head of Program and Audience, and Erwin van Delden, Library Specialist, who showed the museum’s collection of materials on and maps of the Philippines.
On 14 September 2017, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the Proclamation No. 316 declaring the month of September as “Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month” or MANA Mo to raise awareness on the country’s vast maritime domains and its potentials among Filipinos. The theme for this year’s MANA Mo is “Our Seas, Our Livelihood, Our Heritage: Connecting Lives and Nations”. END
