Spanish and Dutch Cannonballs: Naval battle off Marinduque

Asiadivesite.com map showing area between Marinduque and Banton, 

rich divesite areas. There a Dutch fire ship lies fallen, cold and coral encrusted.

A century before the manufacture of Boac’s 1751 cannon from Sweden, the Dutch and the Spanish forces were already fighting fierce naval battles with large contingents of Filipino volunteers fighting on the side of Spain. One of these bloody battles occurred between the islands of Banton and Marinduque on July 29, 1646 at around 7:00 PM. There, the two Spanish warships “Encarnacion” and “Rosario” were pitted against seven Dutch warships. Account of the battle follows in part:

Spanish Galleon

“At one point the Encarnacion got entangled with the Dutch almiranta, with the danger that the Dutch would board the flagship and force the outnumbered Spanish and Filipino troops in hand-to-hand combat. The mariners of the Spanish flagship immediately rushed to cut the tangled ropes, freeing both ships..."

Dutch ship. Willem van de Velde, The Cannon Shot (ca. 1670)

"The Dutch tried to blow up the Encarnacion by sending one of their fire ships, but it was repulsed by a continuous volley of artillery from the Spanish flagship. It turned to the Rosario, but it too was met with ten simultaneous shots which ignited its fireworks. The fire ship burst into flames and sank, killing more than 500 soldiers. The battle lasted till daybreak, and the Dutch fled.”

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila

Before the battle began, both General Orellana and Admiral Lopez, made public their vows to the Virgin of the Rosary in the name of the entire armada, that if they come out victorious against the Dutch, they will make a solemn feast in Her honor, and all of them would walk barefoot to Our Lady's chapel at Santo Domingo church, as a sign of thanksgiving.

Fray Joseph Fayol wrote in Affairs in Filipinas 1644-47 : “This must be one of the most unusual records known in naval warfare; it was a favor, evident beyond doubt, from God and His mother, who protect the Catholic power in these islands, on account of its importance to the propagation of His holy faith”. 

View of Southern Marinduque from Bellarocca Island (Elefante Island)

The Dutch after more losing battles eventually abandoned further incursions into the Philippines. The Spanish victories were attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila; declared a miracle in 1652 by the Cathedral Chapter of Manila and gave rise to the La Naval de Manila festivities celebrated until today. (Celebrated every 2nd Sunday of October at Sto. Domingo Church, Quezon City.)

Cong's Canyon in Torrijos

Congressman Lord Allan Velasco has been a scuba diving enthusiast for many years. He also finds time to take other divers to one of his favorite diving spots in Torrijos (in photo). This area simply teems with marine life, local divers now jokingly refer to it as "Cong's Canyon". Here, divers from Torrijos lend a hand to other scuba divers by providing surface support with inflatables and kayaks.

Volcanic rocks such as these dot the shores in many parts of Torrijos' coastal areas. Some of them are large enough for use as diving platforms.

Velasco prepares to dive.

The Malindig volcano stands tall and elegant and provides a scenic view of  Torrijos, Marinduque.

Real underwater Marinduque treasures

Speaking of finding treasures underwater, Marinduque will not run out of such areas to explore. One of them, quite easy to reach is right along the coast of Torrijos town where a series of ridges and underwater crevices reveal impressive marine life as shown here.

Remember that this area of Marinduque is still within the outskirts of the Verde Island Passage marine biodiversity corridor (declared the center of the center of the center of marine shorefish biodiversity, remember?), which covers the stretch of water surrounding the provinces of Batangas, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque and Romblon.

Yes indeed, More Fun in Marinduque!

Photos courtesy of Gabriel Dela Pena.

Marinduque Within Center of the Center of the Center of World's Marine Biodiversity

The center of the highest concentration of marine biodiversity in the world is an area of 900,000 square kilometers, the heart of the coral triangle in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, accounting for 50 percent of the world’s coral species. This is known as the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape.

In 2004 American marine biologist Dr. Kent Carpenter, global marine species assessment coordinator of the World Conservation Union and fellow researcher Dr. Victor Springer, curator emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution discovered that the center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity in the world was the Philippines and not Indonesia.

Amost 3,000 maps showing the distribution of marine species from all over the world were analyzed, and it was found that the highest percentage (2.5) of biological diversity was found in the Philippines.

The central Philippine archipelago which includes the Tubattaha Reef, a UNESCO world heritage site, was thus identified as the center of the center of marine biodiversity.

Within this center of marine biodiversity, the largest concentration of marine life in the world with a recorded 1,736 overlapping marine species in a 10 by 10 kilometer marine habitat was identified within the Verde Island Passage between Batangas and Mindoro. The entire Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor, a busy sea lane, covers portions of the coastal waters of Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque and Romblon.

Conservation efforts and management plan

In 2004, First Gen in partnership with First Philippine Conservation, Inc. (FPCI), Conservation International-Philippines (CI-P) and the local government of Batangas City formulated and implemented a conservation and development program for the two marine protected areas of Batangas City located in Verde Island.

Much of the conservation efforts are at present centered on Batangas due to serious problems such as mangrove area conversion and marine pollution. USD1-million was committed by First Gen that would be used by FPCI and CI-P to ensure that conservation work in the passage is implemented and sustained in partnership with the local community stakeholders. By 2007, the project has expanded to cover marine protected areas in the island municipality of Tingloy, Batangas and the Apo Reef Natural Park (ARNP).

In 2006, the ‘Center of the Center’ campaign was launched by the project partners together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to raise public awareness on the Verde Island Passage and the impending need for concerted action. .

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo then responded by convening a national conference on biodiversity. During that conference held on November 8, 2006, she signed Executive Order 578 ordering, among others, the creation of a multi-agency task force on Verde Island Passage with specific mandate of formulating an integrated management plan for the passage.

Call for Action from Scientists

In August 2009, a gathering of scientists was organized by Conservation International (CI) and held in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, the scientists collectively called for immediate action from the global community to protect the hugely important site. This site has been dubbed by the scientists as "the world’s blue water version of the Amazon River basin."

The CI report stressed its importance to marine conservation because habitat threats in the Philippines could result in mass extinctions of species similar to what is occurring in the Amazon River Basin. "The Philippines can therefore be considered as the marine counterpart of this famous terrestrial center of biodiversity", the report stated.

CI said the Passage “has arguably the highest concentration of marine species of any region in the world’s oceans, including whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and giant clams (Tridacna gigas).”

The scientists said climate change, along with over-exploitation of resources, is threatening the marine habitats. “The marine habitats and species of the Verde Island Passage are already threatened by human impacts, like overfishing, pollution and coastal infrastructure development. Climate change is intensifying these impacts, with severe consequences for the well-being of the people of the area,” said Dr. Giuseppe Di Carlo, CI marine climate change manager.

Photos courtesy of Sammy Ang.

SCUBA-DIVING IN MARINDUQUE

The Capitol's Tourism Team (Prov.Adm. Lord Allan Velasco, Joven Lilles & Gerry Jamilla) went scuba diving recently at the west wall of Elephant Island for updates on the state of Marinduque's divesites. This underwater photo was taken by Engr. Pampola.