Culture
7 Philippine maps they didn’t teach you in school
(sdf13/ Timog.com)
There are only a blessed few among us who enjoyed memorizing the names and locations of capital cities to pass grade school geography. And for us Filipinos, studying the country’s map is especially hard. Take note: we have 17 regions, 81 provinces, and 7,107 islands. So if you messed up SOCCSKSARGEN in your map exam in fourth grade, we completely understand. It’s time to move on and realize that beyond the classroom, maps are actually kind of cool. Just take a look at these unique maps that show a different side to the Philippines.
The Republic of the Philippines-China
Here’s how the Philippines would look like if we claimed ownership over China. This map is a response to the “bullying of China over territories they don’t own.” Carlos Celdran posted this map on Facebook with the caption “Love this map. Northwest Philippines. Haha. Kiss our 98 million asses, China.” Wishful thinking, yes, but we love the idea of a New Binondo.
The congested urban jungle of Manila
Jan-Daniel Belmonte’s map shows what we already know—we are in dire need of better urban planning.
Metro Manila’s cartographic coolness
A visual representation of NCR that’s perfect for a T-shirt.
A shopaholic’s guide to Metro Manila
Shopaholics will love this cute map which highlights the major malls in Metro Manila. It also reminds you to “walk your pampered dog in upscale Boni High Street.” Why not.
Philippine provinces and their reductive stereotypes
Godzilla Spawning Area, the shrimps of Davao, cheapfucks in the North, and hemorrhoids in Bicol. Yeah, we are pretty sure this map was done in jest.
Our 7,107 LEGO islands
How awesome is this Philippine map made entirely of LEGO? The best we can do with our LEGO is stack them into a tower and unceremoniously step on a stray block.
The motherland in human form
Our teachers said that the Philippines, when viewed as a whole, looks like a dinosaur, a dragon, or a dog. Ingrid Dabringer’s artisitic take on the Philippine map proves that our country actually looks like a person.
