Subject: GE 2

Lesson 1
Activity 1
Form groups of five members. Pause for a few minutes and think about or reflect on your
past. Has your past influenced you in one way or another? How does your past shape your
identity and behaviour? Discuss your answers with your group mates.
Most of the time we learn from our past mistakes and experiences to guide as a better life
and it helps to form the new version of ourselves.
As I grew up and slowly reaching adolescence, I trained myself to become a better
person.

Activity 2
Research on what Teodoro Agoncillo, Reynaldo Ileto, and Renato Constantino said about
history. Do you agree with them? Share your finding and opinions to the class.
Agoncillo said: “History deals with the past, not with the future." History is never
objective.
Constantino believed that history should be rewritten as a struggle of the people
towards freedom and liberty. Ileto had a similar belief of “a history from below”

Explanation:
Yes, I agree to both of them. We learned from our mistakes from our past
experiences in short, our history to avoid doing the same mistakes in the future.

Lesson 2
Activity 1
Read the excerpts below then do a comparative analysis.
Comparative Analysis
In the excerpt “The Tabon Caves: Archaeological Explorations and Excavation on
Palawan Island, Philippines (Manila, 1970) p.40 by Robert B. Fox and “Prehispanic Source
Material for Philippine History (Revised Edition) (Queszon City 1984), pp.14-15”by William
Henry Scott, they both tackle and discuss about what was considered as the earliest known
humans in the Philippines which were the Tabon Man.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS:
A. Which is the primary source and secondary source between the two readings?
Answer: The primary source is the work of Robert B. Fox while the secondary
source is the work of William Scott.

B. Do a credibility analysis of the sources. Who between the two authors is more credible to
talk about the topic?
Answer: Robert Fox is a more credible source provider because Robert Fox,
himself, discovered the Tabon Man. In comparison with William Scott is an historian and
Robert Fox is an anthropologist.

Activity 2
Work in pairs. Look for the sources used by the Philippines and China in their respective
claims of sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal and identify which are primary sources. Also
look for the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and explain the reason for its decision.
Present your finding in class.
 The Chinese Claims
As to when Scarborough Shoal, or Huangyan dao, became Chinese territory, their academic
historiography places at the time of the Yuan Dynasty during the 13th century. Unfortunately for
China, there is a huge span of time even by Chinese standards in which there is no mention to the
territory. Wu Shicun pointed out in 2012 that there is evidence that in The Book on Voyage
Routes (Geng Lu Bu) and other annuals there contain a complete record of the sailing routes of
Chinese fishermen there, a claim that if true might probably put the Chinese presence by the end
of the Ming, early-Qing dynasties.

 The Philippine Claims

As for the Philippines, claims over Scarborough Shoal have been until recently based mainly
on contemporary norms, in particular those emerging from the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and as a result of State practice: Republic Act 9522 of July 28, 2008
defines the baselines of the Philippine archipelago under UNCLOS, and together with the
Kalayaan Island Group (part of the Spratlys), Scarborough Shoal, named also Bajo de Masinloc
in the bill, has been put under the regime of islands as stipulated by Article 121 of UNCLOS.
The Philippines seems currently starting to base its claim over Scarborough Shoal on historical
arguments. In particular, since Manila initiated arbitral proceedings in January 2013 at the PCA,
the historical aspect of the claim is increasingly manifest. According to such studies, historical
sources until late-19th century, mainly maps, identify Scarborough Shoal in a 1784 map with the
watermark PVL (for Pieter van Ley), the Map of the Pacific Ocean between the Coast of
California and Mexico and Japan, Philippines, and the Coast of China.

The ruling of the permanent court of Arbitration

Philippines vs. China (PCA case number 2013–19), also known as the South China Sea
Arbitration, was an arbitration case brought by the Republic of the Philippines against the
People's Republic of China (PRC) under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, ratified by the Philippines in 1984 and by the PRC in 1996)
concerning certain issues in the South China Sea, including the nine-dash line introduced by the
Republic of China (Taiwan) since as early as 1947.
Explanation for the reason for its decision
It clarified that it would not "rule on any question of sovereignty over land territory and
would not delimit any maritime boundary between the Parties".