You’re PINOY If…

Face it, not matter how popular Pinoys are on the Internet (our bad reputation precedes us), only a few knows where (or even what) the Philippines is. Foreigners who know where the Philippines is located are either from neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region or are very good in geography.

If you listened to your Grade 2 teacher, you’d know the the Philippines is an archipelago located at the South East Asia between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer, lying along the northwestern fringes of the Pacific Ring of Fire. He or she would also probaby tell you that it is located between 4°23′ and 21°25′ N latitude and 116°00′ and 127°00′ E longitude, which would mean nothing to your simple 8-year-old mind. The Philippines is bounded by the Philippine Sea on the east, the Bashi Channel on the north, the South China Sea on the west, and the Celebes Sea (Sulawesi Sea) on the south. The northernmost island is the Y’ami Island in the Batanes group in the north and the southernmost island is the Saluag Island in the Sibutu group.

Other information will also be taught throughout your student life such as the shape of the Philippine Islands, which is broken and fragmented, is that of a sitting dog or a rosary, depending on the religious beliefs of your teachers or professors. You will also be taught that at roughly 300,000 sq. km., the Philippines fall under the category of a large state. It’s coastline stretches up to 10,850 miles, twice the length of the US coastline.

Most drawing of the globe or the world map would fail to include the Philippines in the picture. Japan, being one of the world Superpowers, is always included of course. Sometimes the Korean Peninsula would also make it into the sketch. The South East Asian islands on the other hand, would be drawn as “the tiny dots above Australia” with Indonesia being the most prominent of the bunch.