The God Culture Philippines Biblical History Library

Archaeological Evidence of Ophir’s Gold

In 1946, archaeologists discovered inscribed pottery shards referencing Ophir's gold...

Venice Joins the Verdict!

Date: 1799
Cartographer: Antonio Zatta
Map Title:Indie Orientali di Qua e di Là dal Gange col Loro Arcipelago

[View in Full Zoom Mode at Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps, Inc.]

🪶 THE SMOKING QUILL | May 15, 2025

Venetian Map Confirms Pinto’s Lequios Were the Philippines

How an 18th-Century Atlas Shatters the Ryukyu Myth and Restores Luzon’s Identity

Summary:

In a 1799 map engraved and published in Venice by Antonio Zatta, we find yet another historical witness to the true location of the Lequios Isles: the Philippines. Zatta plots five islands west of Batanes where none exist today, labeling the region "Il Banco d’Argento" (The Silver Bank), adjacent to the Isole di Bashee and Babuyanes—clearly a symbolic preservation of Pinto’s “Five Very Large Islands” and his shipwreck near Lequios.

📍 Interpretive Insight:

These “five islands” west of Batanes match Pinto’s directional language after being adrift. While not literal, they reflect a navigational recollection, not a mapped coordinate.
Pinto likely narrated travel memory, not latitudes. His drift path from Batanes westward toward Ilocos (his “Lequios”) then south along Luzon’s coast matches 16th-century trade routes and ethnic connections with Ilocanos.
Zatta’s Venetian map, like the Spanish (1794) and British (Bowen, c.1740s–50s) counterparts, places Batanes and surrounding regions as Pinto’s Lequios, refuting Ryukyu entirely.

🧭 Coordinates Reference (Modern for Map Context):

Batanes: ~20.5°N, 121.9°E
Babuyan Islands: ~19.3°N, 121.5°E
“Il Banco d’Argento” (on map): ~19°N, ~120.5°E — directly west/southwest of Batanes, reinforcing the narrative drift.
To determine the westernmost coordinates of the five major Philippine islands that align with Pinto’s “Five Very Large Islands” west of Batanes (in the context of his drift and trial location), here’s the likely group and their westmost longitudes:

🏝️ Proposed “Five Very Large Islands” from Pinto’s Account (near Batanes):

We’re comparing westmost longitudes of the proposed “Five Very Large Isles” to see if they are indeed west of 121.9°E.

✅ Comparative Analysis of Westmost Points:

Island | Westmost Longitude | West of Batanes (121.9°E)?

Palawan 117.1°E ✅ YES

Mindoro 120.3°E ✅ YES

Luzon 120.4°E ✅ YES (Ilocos Norte)

Panay 121.0°E ✅ YES

Mindanao 121.0°E ✅ YES (Zamboanga)

🗝️ Interpretation:

Palawan is clearly the westernmost of all — the furthest west of the Lequios Isles group if read directionally.
If Pinto was recalling a drift and landing "west of where he was put on trial", the reference might describe sailing past Batanes, turning west and then south — aligning with Ilocos, Mindoro, and Palawan sequentially.
Zatta’s 1794 Venetian map plotting “Il Banco d’Argento” west of Batanes affirms this westward sweep as meaningful — not just an error, but a memory from maritime direction, not static coordinates.

🪶 Final Summary:

Yes — ALL FIVE major Philippine islands you've proposed (excluding Masbate) are geographically west of Batanes, affirming Pinto's directional accuracy if we interpret his account as referring to directional progression, not mapped coordinates.

"Cartographers were not simply drawing guesses—they were mapping testimony from real navigation."

Philippine Isles With Points West of Batanes

🌍 Conclusion:
With Venice joining Spain and Britain in affirming Lequios as Luzon and its northern islands, the geographic consensus before modern colonial revisionism is clear:
The Lequios Isles were Philippine, not Japanese.

🧩 Another piece falls into place—across Europe, history remembered... until it was overwritten. But not anymore.

🧠 MUST READ: “The Lequios are from the Lequios of Sambalas. That’s Luzon.”

🗺️ A Colonial Trail of Tears
The visual record of how truth was displaced, overwritten, and erased.

🎉 “The maps were never lost… only silenced. Now, the silenced speak.”

Cantino World Map

1502

[See above]

Lequios of Zambales at 17N. Affirmed within.

Jorge Reinel/Rodriguez Chart

1512

[Click Image for Blog Link]

"The Main Island of Lequios" is charted and noted geographically near Luzon, not near Okinawa.

Diogo Ribeiro Map

1527

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Locates Lequios near Luzon, reinforcing the Philippines as the center of early Southeast Asian trade routes.

Anonymous Penrose Chart

1535

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Lequios plotted between 17°–20° North Latitude, matching Northern Philippines, not Okinawa.

Spanish Santa Cruz Map

1539

[See above]

SPANISH GOVERNMENT MAP! Luquios as Luzon, Philippines With Visayas and Mindanao Charted With It.

British Sebastian Cabot Map Also Hired By Spain

1544

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Cabot's 'Canal of Lequios' flows into the West Philippine Sea, cementing Lequios’ geographic tie to the Philippines. 10-15N.

Portuguese Lopo Homem Planisphere

1554

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Colonial Propaganda Begins! Homem still places Lequios closer to the Philippines; later maps begin shifting it northward under colonial reinterpretations.

Italian Giacomo Gastaldi Map

1561

Lequios Canal continues to be recognized near Palawan, and labels North Luzon as "Cangu", the likely Zipangu of Marco Polo.

Italian Urbano Monti Map

1587

Canal route for major trade between Palawan and Borneo still referenced where Lequios Canal is on previous maps.

Spanish Maris Pacifici: Abraham Ortelius

1589

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Ortelius’ 1589 map silently reversed Portuguese propaganda by restoring the Philippines’ true heritage.

Dutch Globe

1613

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Flemish and Dutch engraver and cartographer preserves Batanes as Pintos' location for Lequios while bending to Colonial pressure for Ryukyu.

Dutch Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula

1659

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Dutch Mapmaker Joan Blaeu maintains Batanes as Pinto's Lequios also offering the new Colonial bias of Ryukyu which fails.

French Map

1752

Just west of the Bashee Isles (Batanes), the map boldly labels:

“Les 5 Isles” — The Five Islands

Relating the legend from Pinto's shipreck with Batanes as Lequios.

Spanish-British Map

1794

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Lequios River, Batanes as Pinto's Shipwreck, Five Isles, and the Final Blow to Ryukyu Theory.

Italian Map

1799

[Click Image for Blog Link]

Pinto's legend of The 5 Isles appears West of Batanes, as Lequios.

🪶 “History didn’t just speak — it sang… and the world finally listened.”

“The final page wasn’t colonial ink — it was joy, justice, and memory.”

Archaeological Evidence of Ophir’s Gold

Want Exclusive Research Updates?

Venice Joins the Verdict!

🪶 THE SMOKING QUILL | May 15, 2025

Venetian Map Confirms Pinto’s Lequios Were the Philippines

How an 18th-Century Atlas Shatters the Ryukyu Myth and Restores Luzon’s Identity

Summary:

🧭 Coordinates Reference (Modern for Map Context):

🏝️ Proposed “Five Very Large Islands” from Pinto’s Account (near Batanes):

We’re comparing westmost longitudes of the proposed “Five Very Large Isles” to see if they are indeed west of 121.9°E.

✅ Comparative Analysis of Westmost Points:

🗝️ Interpretation:

🪶 Final Summary:

🌍 Conclusion: With Venice joining Spain and Britain in affirming Lequios as Luzon and its northern islands, the geographic consensus before modern colonial revisionism is clear:The Lequios Isles were Philippine, not Japanese.

🧩 Another piece falls into place—across Europe, history remembered... until it was overwritten. But not anymore.

🗺️ A Colonial Trail of TearsThe visual record of how truth was displaced, overwritten, and erased.

1502

Lequios of Zambales at 17N. Affirmed within.

1512

1527

Locates Lequios near Luzon, reinforcing the Philippines as the center of early Southeast Asian trade routes.

1535

Lequios plotted between 17°–20° North Latitude, matching Northern Philippines, not Okinawa.

1539

SPANISH GOVERNMENT MAP! Luquios as Luzon, Philippines With Visayas and Mindanao Charted With It.

1544

1554

Colonial Propaganda Begins! Homem still places Lequios closer to the Philippines; later maps begin shifting it northward under colonial reinterpretations.

1561

Lequios Canal continues to be recognized near Palawan, and labels North Luzon as "Cangu", the likely Zipangu of Marco Polo.

1587

Canal route for major trade between Palawan and Borneo still referenced where Lequios Canal is on previous maps.

1589

Ortelius’ 1589 map silently reversed Portuguese propaganda by restoring the Philippines’ true heritage.

1613

1659

1752

1794

Lequios River, Batanes as Pinto's Shipwreck, Five Isles, and the Final Blow to Ryukyu Theory.

1799

Pinto's legend of The 5 Isles appears West of Batanes, as Lequios.

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🌍 Conclusion:
With Venice joining Spain and Britain in affirming Lequios as Luzon and its northern islands, the geographic consensus before modern colonial revisionism is clear:
The Lequios Isles were Philippine, not Japanese.

🗺️ A Colonial Trail of Tears
The visual record of how truth was displaced, overwritten, and erased.