Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture loathes and despises the Jesuits. Tim thinks they are a group of conniving, scheming, duplicitous, lying, evil men. They even altered maps to hide the true location of the Lequios Islands by moving them north of the Philippines and next to Japan. The Jesuits cannot be trusted. Unless they say something Tim likes. Enter Father Colin.
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| https://thegodculturephilippines.com/father-francisco-colin-confirms-lequios-as-philippine-isles/ |
Father Francisco Colin Confirms Lequios as Philippine Isles — and Declares the Archipelago as Ophir and Tarshish
🔥 Introduction: The “Lequios” Lie Exposed
Much has been said about the mysterious "Lequios" in early Iberian accounts — long assumed by modern scholars to be the Ryukyu Islands. But what happens when we actually read the men who lived in the region, knew the geography, and left behind clear accounts?
Father Francisco Colin, Jesuit provincial and historian of the 17th century Philippines, leaves no ambiguity. In his monumental Labor Evangelica (1663), Colin places the Lequios in Northern Luzon, directly associating them with the Babuyan and Batanes Isles — not Japan.
And he doesn’t stop there. He names the entire Philippine archipelago as Ophir, Tarshish, and Havilah, drawn directly from Genesis 10.
According to Tim, Father Colin, in his book Labor Evangelica, which is the first part of a series about the history of the Jesuits in the Philippines, places the Lequios Islands in Luzon. Volume 2 is by Murillo Veralde. Tim also claims Colin names the Philippines as Ophir and Tarshish. It is the claim about the Lequios Islands which is of concern. Not only does Colin admit his claim about Ophir and Tarshish is speculation but he absolutely does not affirm the Philippines is Ophir and Tarshish.
Although these are islands, it won't be necessary to strain our understanding, speculating (as Saint Augustine and other authors do regarding other islands and the Americas) about how and from where people and animals came to them. Because if some of these were at some point a continent after the flood, then people and animals could have remained there since that time. And if they have always been islands, the proximity of some to others, and of some of them to the mainland of Asia—from where the propagation of the human lineage and the populating by Noah's descendants began—is sufficient for some of them to have been able to come and populate these parts. And that this was indeed the case, and the principal colonizer of these Archipelagos was Tarshish, son of Javan, with his brothers—just as Ophir and Havilah were for India—is founded in the tenth chapter of Genesis, which deals with the dispersion of peoples and the populating of lands, as we have established in detail elsewhere.
Colin says Tarshish founded the Philippines while Ophir and Havilah founded India. Tim deceptively and intentionally edits Colin's text to hide that fact.
📖 3. The Biblical Bombshell: Philippines as Ophir and Tarshish
Perhaps most stunning, Colin writes:
“Y el principal Poblador de estos Archipielagos fuese Tharsis, hijo de Javan... como lo fueron Ophir, y Hevilath…”(Labor Evangelica, p. 16)📌 Translation:"And the principal settlers of these archipelagos was Tarshish, son of Javan... just as were Ophir and Havilah..."Citing Genesis 10, Colin aligns the early Philippine settlers with the biblical sons of Javan, declaring the islands the biblical lands of gold.
He speaks not hypothetically — but with scriptural and ethnographic confidence.
Compare the original Spanish to Tim's edit.
Y que con efecto fuesse assi, y el principal Poblador de estos Archipiélagos fuesse Tharsis, hijo de Iauan, con sus hermanos, como lo fueron Ophir, y Heuilath de la India, tiene fundamento en elcapitulo diez del Génesis, que trata de la dispersión de las gentes, y población de las tierras, como lo fundamos de proposito en otro lugar.
It's absolutely intolerable that Tim has manipulated Colin's text in this manner. It is thoroughly dishonest and underscores his total lack of integrity. This is more proof that Timothy Jay Schwab is not to be trusted and his research should be discarded.
The edition of Labor Evangelica Tim uses was published in 1663 and the word Lequois appears only 5 times. The version I have on hand was published in 1900 and a search for Lequios returns 12 hits. There are a number of reasons for this such as several instances of Lequios appearing in additional footnotes not in the 1663 edition. The point is we are using the same book except for the addition of an introduction as well as footnotes by Pablo Pastells.
This archipelago, according to the wise Father Muñoz, is a component of another multitude of archipelagos, such as those of the Marianas and New Guinea, those of Japan, Lequios, the Philippines, Borneo, Celebes, the Moluccas, and the Javas.
In this quote from the introduction we see that the Philippines and the Lequios are listed as separate archipelagos. Father Colin agrees with that assessment beginning on page one.
What we now call the Philippine Islands are one of the many large Archipelagos of Islands that the Author of Nature, in the admirable fabric of this lower Orb, placed for the highest purposes of his gentle Providence in these vast Seas of India Extra Gangem, almost within sight of the extended Coasts of the rich Kingdoms of Malacca, Siam, Cambodia, Champa, Cochinchina, Tonkin, and China, up to the confines of Eastern Tartary, which are all that the newest and most harmonious Geographers comprehend under the name of India Ulterior, or Extra Gangem. Among these Archipelagos, the first in situation, beginning (as is reasonable) from the Eastern part, is that of the Islands of Japan, and their subjects the Lequios. Immediately following these is the large Island of Manila, with those of its district, which its first Discoverer, by the Demarcation of Castile, the famous Ferdinand Magellan, in the year 1521, called the Archipelago of St. Lazarus, because he entered and anchored there on a Saturday of Dominica in Passione, commonly called Lazarus Saturday.
In this quote Father Colin says the Lequios are subjects of Japan and separate from the Philippines.
It remains for us to see more particularly the proportion, in number and situation, that our Philippines have with Ptolemy's Maniolas Islands. The ships coming from America by the Demarcation of Castile, in search of the Archipelago of San Lázaro, or Filipino, necessarily recognize the land by one of four Islands: Mindanao, Leyte, Ibabao, or Manila. These four, in an almost semicircular shape, face the seas we call here "of Spain" for more than two hundred leagues: Manila to the Northeast, Ibabao and Leyte to the Southeast, and Mindanao to the South. To the West is Paragua (Palawan), which, after Manila and Mindanao, with which it forms a triangle, is the third in size. Within the space of this almost triangle, in addition to the five islands already named, there are another five also of note, quite large and populated: Mindoro, Panay, Isla de Negros, Cebu, and Bohol. Thus it seems that the larger and more notable islands of this Philippine Archipelago are ten, which is the number Ptolemy indicated. Interwoven and mixed with these ten are as many smaller ones, but populated and of some renown, starting the count opposite Manila Bay, and following the route of the ships when they depart for New Spain: Lubang, Marinduque, Isla de Tablas, Romblon, Sibuyan, Burias, Masbate, Ticao, Capul, and outside the strait, Catanduanes. Of other smaller ones, some populated and some unpopulated, but all known and frequented by the Indians for the produce they obtain from them, it is not easy to keep a precise record. Only generally can it be said that opposite the Island of Manila, on the North side, between the two Capes called Bojeador and Engaño, eight leagues away, begin the Islets called the Babuyanes. The first is inhabited by Christian, tribute-paying Indians, and the others are not. They continue with the Lequios, and Isla Hermosa (Formosa). To the West, near the head of Paragua that faces Manila, are the Islets of Calamianes, of which there are three by this name; and then another eight or nine, all with people. And turning South, twenty-five or thirty leagues from Calamianes, opposite Caldera, a point of Mindanao, are Taguima and Jolo with many other small Islets around them.
pgs. 4-5
Tim makes a big to-do about this passage.
1. Geographic Precision: Lequios = Luzon
Father Colin is unequivocal:
“Solo por mayor fe puede dezir, que enfrente de la Isla de Manila, por la parte del Norte, entre los dos Cabos, llamados Boxeador, y del Engaño... Continuanse con los Lequios, y Isla Hermosa.”(Labor Evangelica, p. 50)📌 Translation:"One may say with certainty that in front of the Island of Manila, to the north, between the Capes called Boxeador and Engaño... [the islands] continue with the Lequios and Isla Hermosa."That corridor is not Ryukyu. It is the Babuyan and Batanes Islands — the northernmost tip of the Philippines, beyond Luzon.
“Isla Hermosa, que es entre los Lequios y Manila…”“Isla Hermosa, which is between the Lequios and Manila.”This text triangulates their location: Lequios to the north, Manila to the south, and Hermosa in between — meaning Lequios lies within the Philippine archipelago.
This quote is not in the passage Tim is citing.
“Isla Hermosa, que es entre los Lequios y Manila…”“Isla Hermosa, which is between the Lequios and Manila.”
Maybe it's somewhere else. Even if it were in the text neither it nor the passage cited describe the Lequios as part of the Philippines. Lequios is grouped together with Formosa which has historically been known as Lequio Pequeño. In the non-existent quote Taiwan lies in-between Manila and the Lequios. Since Tawain is north of Manila that would mean the Lequois are also north of Manila and not a part of the Philippines. the Babuyan and Batanes Islands are south of Taiwan so they also cannot be the Lequios Islands.
From Lubang onwards, towards the North, the coast of Manila has no island worthy of mention. Doubling Cape Bojeador, opposite Nueva Segovia, at a distance of eight leagues, the Babuyanes extend to the North, which is a chain of small, low islands, running all the way to Isla Hermosa (Formosa), and the Lequios. Only the first, and closest of them, is peaceful. It will have up to five hundred tributaries. The produce consists of wax, ebony, sweet potatoes, palms, plantains, and other fruits that sustain them, and the "Babuyes" (which are swine/pigs) that they raise in abundance, from which they were called Babuyanes.
This is another passage lumping Taiwan and the Lequios Islands together. It is very similar to the passage in Gemelli's travelogue.
Beyond Luban, towards the North, no island of significance is seen: only after passing the Cape of the Boxer, opposite the new Segovia and eight leagues distant, extend the low and small Islands of the Babuyanes, up to the Island Hermosa and the Lequios. In the first one, which is the closest and conquered, there will be 500 tributaries. It produces wax, ebony, sweet potatoes, palms, plantains, and other things for the sustenance of the inhabitants and certain animals called Babuyes in the language of the country from which the name Babuyanes came.
https://thegodculturephilippines.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-god-culture-musk-of-los-lequios.html
As for gold, from reliable original sources I am informed that, one year with another, the value extracted from these Islands will be one hundred thousand pesos. And there having been more than eighty years that this trade has been ongoing, one can already see the millions it amounts to. Besides this, before these Islands were discovered by way of the West, much was also extracted by way of the East. Juan de Barros, discussing the Emporium of Malacca, says that much gold was brought to it from the great Lequio, which can be none other than this Island of Manila, which, as was said at the beginning, is continuous with the Lequios. On the other hand, a certain argument for this conjecture is the multitude of carnelian stones that have been found, and are still found, on this Island of Manila in the Provinces of Gold, and their bordering areas; because they are not found in their raw state, but worked with all perfection and refinement; which is a sign that they came from elsewhere, and they confess that they find them underground in vessels from Borneo, and of carnelian. India, where Ptolemy places a mountain of mines of this type of stones, it is to be believed they largely came to this Island of Manila as ransom, and in exchange for its abundant gold, as they are only found in the Provinces where it is given.
pg. 50-51
This passage labels the Island of Manila as "the great Lequio." But let's consider some things. On page 1 Colin says
the Islands of Japan, and their subjects the Lequios
So, there is no way he can mean "the great Lequio, which can be none other than this Island of Manila" in a literal sense without contradicting himself. No part of the Philippines was ever subject to Japanese rule until World War 2.
Colin also says the Island of Manila is continuous with the Lequios. That does not mean they are the same place or within the same archipelago. Again, from page 1:
Among these Archipelagos, the first in situation, beginning (as is reasonable) from the Eastern part, is that of the Islands of Japan, and their subjects the Lequios. Immediately following these is the large Island of Manila
Continuous means there is a chain of Islands following one another southward beginning with Japan and ending with "the large Island of Manila" which is Luzon.
The footnote on this passage also seems to buttress the idea that "the large Island of Manila" is "the great Lequios" by referencing a Latin translation and paraphrase of Pinto by Alfonso Sanchez.
For what it's worth, in corroboration of what Father Colín indicates in this place, we will adduce a 16th-century manuscript, titled "Doctoris Alfonsi Sanctij Historiae Orientalis Anacephalaeosis. Ex Peregrinationibus Ferdinandi Méndez Pinti, Orientis incógnita niult.i complectens" (A Summary of the Oriental History of Doctor Alphonsus Sanctius. Comprising many unknown things of the East, from the Peregrinations of Ferdinand Méndez Pinto). In Chapter 68, folio 97, verso, of this original manuscript in my possession, it reads: "«Adjacent are some islands (namely, the Lequios), in which there are copious gold and silver mines. There, ivory, pearls, frankincense, amber, silk fabrics, brazilwood for dyeing [are found], the inhabitants use cultivated silk garments, or [garments] made from cotton or linen, they are unwarlike, devoted to pleasures»." The manuscript consists of 145 and a half folios.
This citation of Pinto is from the shipwreck narrative after he had been released from prison.
To the west, there are five very large islands which have many silver mines, pearls, amber, incense, silk, rosewood, brazilwood, wild eaglewood, and large quantities of pitch, though the silk is somewhat inferior to that of China. The inhabitants of all these islands are like the Chinese, and they dress in clothes made of linen, cotton, and silk, along with some damasks that they import from Nanking. They are overly fond of food, given to the pleasures of the flesh, and have little inclination for bearing arms, which are in short supply, from which it appears that it will be very easy to conquer them.
Pinto, pg. 300, Rebecca Catz, translator
Alfonso Sanchez's text has disappeared making it impossible to verify what he wrote, including any notes.
Following in the footsteps taken some forty years earlier by the Harvard professor, in September 2003 we began by searching for Alfonso Sánchez’s ancient manuscript in the imposing building of the Centro Borja in Sant Cugat. There, we were guided with unparalleled kindness by Father Antonio Borràs through the library. Finding nothing, we continued our inquiry at the Arxiu Històric de la Companyia de Jesús a Catalunya in Barcelona, where a considerable portion of the relevant archive had recently been transferred. Having learned of our quest in advance, its director, Father Jordi Roca, awaited us with the disheartening news that Sánchez’s original Anacephalaeosis had vanished from that collection.
It is not clear if "(namely, the Lequios)" is original to Sanchez or if it's an edition by the editor of the Labor Evangelica, Pablo Pastells. In the Introduction on page 210 Pastells differentiates between the Lequios and the Philippines so it would not make sense for him to insert Lequios in Sanchez's translation. Either way it would contradict Pinto who writes from the Lequios:
To the west, there are five very large islands
The five very large islands, or adjacent islands as Sanchez designates them, cannot be the Lequios Islands because that is from where Pinto is writing. Neither Colin's text nor the footnote make any sense because they are contradicted by page 1 of the book. It is not easy to reconcile this part of the text with the rest of the book. The totality of evidence, including page 1 of Labor Evangelica, points to the Lequios Islands being near Japan. A literal reading of this passage contradicts Colin's own words.
The industrial activity consists of the trade of rich merchandise with other Kingdoms. This does not depend so much on the nature and amenities of the place, as on the site, proportion, and distance where God placed it, with respect to other opulent Kingdoms, and their navigations and contracts. As for this, it is well-known that Manila at least equals any other Emporium of our Monarchy by being a center where all the riches of the East and West converge. God placed the Philippines in such proportion and distance from both Indies, and their voyages, that over the course of time, and thousands of centuries, they would become the end and destination of unimaginable discoveries, miraculous conquests, and rich trades of the glorious and most invincible Nations, the Portuguese by the East, and the Castilian by the West, who, each pursuing the rising and setting Sun, having finished circling the immense spaces of this lower Globe of sea and land, met in the Moluccas Islands, a district of the governance of the Philippines. And so we shall say with good reason that they are the end and boundary of the earth, which God promises to the Catholic Monarchs as their possession and inheritance, in reward for their great zeal in the conversion of the Gentiles to our holy Faith, and for the labors, enterprises, and excessive expenditures of wealth and people they have made for it: "I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession." Psalm 2. 8. And because the nature of the boundary is to unite the extremes and partake of the qualities of both: from this it follows that the Philippines partake of the good, and the best, of the two Indies, Eastern and Western, and that to them converge, as if to a common boundary and center of their routes and voyages, the riches and curiosities of both.
The Silver of Peru and New Spain, the precious stones and pearls of India, the diamonds of Narsinga and Goa, the rubies, sapphires, and topazes of Ceylon: and from there too, cinnamon: and from Sumatra and Java, pepper: from the Moluccas and Banda, cloves, nutmeg, and other spices. From Hormuz and Malabar, seed pearls and Persian carpets of silks and fine wools: rich pavilions, bedspreads, and coverlets from Bengal: fine camphor from Borneo: benzoin, ivory, and rhinoceros horns from Cambodia: musk from the Lequios: and from great China, silks of all kinds, raw in skeins and and loose in hanks: and woven into velvets, satins, plain and worked damasks; taffetas, gorberanes, tabbies, and other fabrics of all sorts, shapes, and colors; particularly lacquer, which is among Chinese silks as cochineal is among European cloths. Grass linen and cotton mantles; porcelain, gilt work, and embroidery, with other riches, curiosities of great price, esteem, and delight. From Japan also (when trade was active) one or two ships used to come to Manila every year, which in exchange for hides, wax, and other products of the land, would leave there very fine silver, amber, some dyed woven silks, writing desks, boxes, and precious wood buffets, with varnishes and curious fittings.
Tim comments on this passage thusly.
💎 2. The Trade Proof: Musk of the Lequios
Colin lists exotic goods of the Orient traded into the region:
“…el almizcle de los Lequios…”“…the musk of the Lequios…”(Labor Evangelica, p. 187)This aligns with earlier references to “musc de Lequios” in French texts. Musk was a prized aromatic and medicinal product. This confirms that Lequios was known for valuable trade items, which again fits Luzon’s trading role with China and Japan, not Ryukyu.
Tim's analysis is wrong. The context is that Manila is a center of trade where East and West converge. Many exotic goods are traded there, one of which is musk from the Lequios. But if the Philippines are the Lequios Islands then that is not an exotic good. But I have written about this elsewhere. Interestingly, this passage is the remarkably similar to the one found in the travelogue of Gemelli.
There are four other references to the Lequios Islands in this edition of Labor Evangelica but they are in the footnotes and are not original to Father Colin. With the exception of the one passage on page 50 Father Colin does not agree with Tim's thesis that the Lequios Islands are the Philippines. As noted, to take that passage literally is to contradict page 1 of Labor Evangelica. Notwithstanding the difficulties that passage creates there is no doubt in my mind it will be seized upon by Tim as if it is a vindication of his theory that the Lequios Islands are the Philippines all the while stripping it of all context. As seen above with his duplicitous editing of Colin's text to make it appear he says the Philippines is Ophir, Tim is so unscrupulous as not to be trusted. I publish this with a warning to the reader to beware of Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture.
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