The God Culture Philippines Biblical History Library

5 VERY Large Islands? How would Crocodile Dundee View This?

"That's not an Archipelago [Ryukyu]...

This is an Archipelago [Philippines]!"

—The Smoking Quill Series

The 5 Philippine Islands have coordinates West of Batanes [Lequios] where Pinto was shipwrecked. A blogger who can't read a map ridiculed this not knowing what he was even talking about [as usual].

Ryukyu doesn't have 5 Very Large Islands to consider, neither in its existence, nor to its West, in any sense. Pinto continues with resources. How do they rank? This is embarrassing!

🔍 The Claim:

In Peregrinação (~1558), Fernão Mendes Pinto describes encountering the Lequios—a people associated with five very large, resource-rich islands to the west. These islands, he says, contained an extraordinary range of high-value commodities.

For years, some assumed Pinto was referring to Ryukyu (Okinawa). But let’s put that claim through the resource and geography test—and let the truth sail.

🧾 Pinto’s Resource Checklist vs the Real Map

Resource

Silver Mines

Philippines (West of Batanes):  ✅ Yes – Cordillera range, Benguet Province, San Marcelino, Zambales, and Batangas Province, Luzon; Cebu and Marinduque Island, Visayas; Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao.

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa):  ❌ None

Pearls

Philippines (West of Batanes): ✅ Yes – Sulu, Mindoro Strait, Palawan. [LARGEST ON EARTH!!! Mapped as Thilis, the Ancient Isle of Pearl.]

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa): ⚠️ Minor; not a known pearl-producing hub

Amber / Resins

Philippines (West of Batanes): ✅ Yes – Copal, Almaciga NATIVE to Zambales, Mindoro, Palawan, Zamboanga and Davao.

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa): ❌ No known trade resins or amber

Incense woods

Philippines (West of Batanes): ✅ Yes – "Poor Man's Frankincense", Manila Elemi from Pili Tree in Cordillera Region, Batangas, Masbate, Visayas and a booming industry in Bicol boasts the world's largest elemi industry reported by some.

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa): ❌ No eaglewood or aromatic wood production

Silk / Fiber

Philippines (West of Batanes): ✅ Yes – Piña in Aklan, Visayas; abaca in Mindoro, Luzon; Negros Oriental, Iloilo and Aklan, Visayas; all the provinces of Mindanao; and Akleng Parang (silk tree) all over Mindanao, Laguna, and Mindoro all endemic since ancient times.

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa): ❌ No native silk production

Rosewood

Philippines (West of Batanes): ✅ Yes – Narra [National Tree], Kamagong in Mindoro, Luzon; Palawan, Visayas; and multiple places on Mindanao.

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa): ❌ None

Brazilwood (Dye trees)

Philippines (West of Batanes): ✅ Yes – Sibucao and other dye woods especially in Negros, Visayas.

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa): ❌ None

Eaglewood

Philippines (West of Batanes): ✅ Yes – Eaglewood [agarwood] in Palawan, Zamboanga and other parts of Mindanao.

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa): ❌ Not native

Pitch / Asphalt

Philippines (West of Batanes): ✅ Yes – Leyte Rock Asphalt native and ancient, pitch sources in Samar & Palawan (all West of Batanes).

Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa): ❌ None

🏝️ The Geography Test: Size Matters

Pinto calls them “five very large islands.” Perhaps Pinto did not know what "very large" meant. Here’s how they compare:

Philippines

Largest Island Size (km²): Luzon – 109,964 km²

Total Number of Very Large Islands: 5+ (Luzon, Mindoro, Palawan, Panay, Mindanao), all with coordinates West of Batanes.

Ryukyu Islands

Largest Island Size (km²): Okinawa – 1,200 km²

Total Number of Very Large Islands: 1 small-to-mid island only

🔎 The entire Ryukyu chain combined is smaller than just Luzon.

Note: A blogger actually challenged in ridicule where are the islands West of Luzon. The blogger could not bother to ask where are the VERY LARGE islands West of the Ryukyus or inclusive of the Ryukyu's. That is laughable! Then, he forgot to read. We have specified many times that Lequios is especially Batanes where Pinto landed. West of Batanes is 5 VERY LARGE Islands. He failed to even read the resources in the next sentences. Ryukyu FAILS them all. They are Philippine resources–100%! Now that is a sad excuse for hollow criticism. Maybe if the blogger even read his own blog, he would see how embarrassing this illiteracy projects. 

🧠 Conclusion: Ryukyu Fails the Test

Pinto’s list of commodities wasn’t poetic fantasy—it was a trade log. A maritime merchant like Pinto would’ve seen, traded for, or heard firsthand reports of the locations of these items.

The Philippines matches every resource Pinto named, in the right number of large islands, with historical and archaeological backing.

Ryukyu doesn’t match a single one.

🔥 Bottom Line:

The Smoking Quill writes again. Pinto’s “five very large islands” were not Ryukyu. They were Philippine islands west of Batanes—the true Lequios where Pinto was shipwrecked, the Isles of Gold, the gateway to Ophir. Every resource fits the Philippines and Ryukyu fails. 

Stay tuned. The next ship of truth is about to dock.

Yah Bless.

The God Culture Team