A recent claim circulating on Chinese social media has sparked outrage among historians and lawmakers in the Philippines, as it falsely asserts that the island province of Palawan once belonged to China.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) was quick to debunk the claim, reinforcing that Palawan has always been an integral part of the Philippine archipelago.
The controversy began when Chinese netizens on Red Note, a Chinese social media platform similar to TikTok, spread misinformation suggesting that Palawan was historically a Chinese territory for about a millennium.
The post even claimed that the island’s original name was “Zheng He Island,” after the famous 14th-century Chinese explorer.
“The post falsely states that the island of Palawan was once theirs and they have governed it for one thousand years, but the Philippines claims jurisdiction and has named it Palawan,” the NHCP said in a statement.
The agency dismissed this assertion, emphasizing that while Chinese explorers may have visited Palawan centuries ago, exploration does not equate to sovereignty.
“It is necessary to note that exploration does not equate to sovereign ownership. There exists no evidence to support the settlement of a permanent Chinese population in Palawan, which has been continuously populated since 50,000 years ago through archaeological data,” the NHCP said.
Historical evidence contradicts Chinese claim
The NHCP turned to historical records to disprove the claim, citing the accounts of Italian chronicler Antonio Pigafetta, who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition in 1521.
The commission said it was European explorers who “made a blood compact with the chief of the community” in a town now known as Brooke’s Point, Palawan.
“This does not, however, preclude the existence of trade relations as our ancestors have, as we are at present, been trading with our neighbors for millennia,” the NHCP said.
Pigafetta’s writings detailed encounters with indigenous communities in Palawan but made no mention of any established Chinese settlement.
“Palawan was populated by communities of similar cultural affinity with the rest of our archipelago,” the NHCP noted.
The commission also pointed out that early European maps from the 1500s to the 1800s consistently included Palawan within Philippine territory, under the governance of the Sultanate of Sulu and later the Spanish Captain-Generalcy of the Philippines.
Furthermore, the 1898 Treaty of Paris and the 1900 Treaty of Washington solidified Palawan’s status as part of Philippine territory.
“Neither does vassalage by a predecessor nation equate to sovereign rule in the present day. Early Filipino polities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were, at one point or another, closely connected to sultanates and rajahnates in other parts of Southeast Asia,” the NHCP explained.
“However, our neighbors do not claim sovereignty over Philippine territory over baseless and inaccessible historical fiction.”
Malacañang Palace has yet to issue a statement on the issue as of this writing.
Chinese netizens want China to take back Palawan. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) said that none of the Philippines’ neighbors assert territorial claims based on “baseless and inaccessible historical fiction”. Photo Courtesy: NHCP
Lawmakers condemn disinformation
The Philippine Senate was quick to denounce the claim, with Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada calling it “A blatant affront to our nation’s sovereignty and another reckless distortion of historical truth.”
“Everything — our territorial waters, airspace, and now even our province — they are claiming as theirs,” Estrada added.
He also urged government agencies to remain vigilant against disinformation campaigns that seek to undermine the Philippines’ territorial integrity.
“Palawan is ours, and this is very clear. No amount of internet trolling can change or rewrite history and create confusion to influence public perception,” Estrada asserted.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino echoed this sentiment, rejecting China’s claim outright.
“Let them fix their own place. That’s already too much — Palawan is not theirs,” he said. “Palawan is part of the Mimaropa region, Region IV-B, and not of Guangdong.”
The controversy over Palawan’s sovereignty comes amid ongoing tensions between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea.
The West Philippine Sea refers to the maritime areas west of the Philippine archipelago, including the Luzon Sea and the waters surrounding the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc.
China continues to assert sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, including areas within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Despite the 2016 Arbitral Award that ruled in favor of the Philippines and invalidated China’s sweeping maritime claims, Beijing has refused to acknowledge the decision and has continued its aggressive actions in the region.
The NHCP firmly reiterated the Philippine government’s stance: “Not one inch of Filipino sovereign territory is for sale, nor can any be claimed by states that purport to be our friends yet continue to undermine regional stability through the reprehensible use of questionable historical data. Palawan is and will always be Filipino.”
Top photo: Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada. Photos credit: Jinggoy Estrada Facebook page.
