The God Culture: Father Colin Confirms Lequios Are Not The Philippine Isles Or Ophir

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.

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.

pg. 15

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.

pg. 210 of Introduction

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.

pg. 1

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.

pg. 29

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

Looks like Gemelli copied from Colin. Such a practice was not uncommon in the 1600's especially in a travelogue. 

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.

pg. 92

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.

pg. 53

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. 

The God Culture: Ryukyu Was Never A Waypoint For Missionaries to Japan

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture sincerely believes every single missionary who spoke of the Lequios islands was lying. The Jesuits, Dominicans, and Augustinians all speak of entering Japan by way of the Lequios Islands. Tim says no way. The Ryukyu Islands were never a way station to Japan. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/lequios-was-the-philippines----then-the-jesuits-moved-it/

Then Came the Rewriting: The Jesuit Colonial Trail of Tears

By the early 1600s, we see a narrative shift — not based on new discoveries, but on colonial repurposing of names.

As missionaries struggled to reach Japan:

• Ryukyu became a waypoint, it never was.

• Jesuit journals began using “Lequios” for Ryukyu — not because of fact, but out of convenience.

Both of Tim's claims contradict one another. The first claim is Ryukyu was never a waypoint for missionaries to reach Japan. The second claim is that Jesuits began calling Ryukyu Lequios out of convenience. If Ryukyu became Lequios out of convenience that means missionaries were using those islands a waypoint to enter Japan. Otherwise, what is the convenience? 

The fact is Catholic missionaries did use the Lequios Islands as a stepping stone to Japan. From there they would enter through Nagasaki. 

In the book Historia de los PP. Dominicos en las Islas Filipinas y en sus misiones del Japón, China, Tung-Kin y Formosa which was published in 1870 many stories are told of missionaries who entered Japan through the Lequois Isalands thus proving they are not the Philippines. 

Historia de los PP. Dominicos en las Islas Filipinas y en sus misiones del Japón, China, Tung-Kin y Formosa

These stories speak for themselves so I am not going to add any commentary. 

pg. 89

Along with the previously mentioned religious figures of the Order, two other Augustinian fathers and four Franciscans also embarked, and all ten set sail in April of the same year. However, and despite it being the favorable season for navigating these seas, they found themselves forced to make landfall in the Babuyan Islands; and a second storm carried them on its wings to the islands of the Lequios, or Louchou, a dependency of Japan

pg. 119-120

The tyrant Dayfusama, after having defeated Fideyori, also had designs of conquest upon it. The general of the expedition for this enterprise was to be the illustrious Tocuan; but Safioye discredited him with his intrigues in the Emperor's mind, imputing him with having been very fond of the party and cause of his unfortunate son-in-law. The choice, however, in this case did not leave his family; as it fell upon Juan Chuan, Tocuan's brother.

The imperial expedition consisted of a quite numerous army carried by three high-board ships, and many light keels with thirty oars per side, which could easily hug the coasts. It departed from Nagasaki on May 14, 1616; but it could not reach Formosa, due to a storm that cast it to the Lequios, where it was forced to winter painfully.

A large part of its people finally returned to Nagasaki, and nevertheless by November of that year they tried to continue their warlike journey. Then the setbacks were even more considerable, as the Japanese fleet had to take refuge, finally, on the coasts of China, and the flagship, with the general-in-chief, was cast by the winds onto the Cochinchinese shores. With so many unforeseen reversals, and due to the death of the famous Dayfusama, the conquest was paralyzed, and the squadron retreated to the ports of Japan.

pgs. 207-209 

In the relentless storm that had for so long furiously lashed the now dismasted ship of the Church of Japan, the Corporation always kept its gaze fixed on the needs and hardships of that glorious mission, which it sought to aid in every way. The invincible difficulties that previously prevented the Province from sending a numerous mission from these shores to the islands of Japan have already been seen, and the sinister end that, unfortunately, the last mission dispatched to those distant kingdoms met has also been seen.

Therefore, being impossible at this time to send a numerous personnel to said Church in its painful orphanage, only Father Fray Tomás de San Jacinto could be dispatched at that time. Being already well-proven in the convent of Manila and a native of those islands, it seemed convenient to assign him to the missions of Japan, directing his route through the islands of the Lequios. It is true that, being a native of those kingdoms, his person ran less danger entering through the city of Nagasaki; but this precaution was taken, not without a particular providence of the Lord; for, not only did he arrive by this route without incident or hindrance to the mission, but he also had the opportunity to ascertain with certainty a great and glorious fact, which was of great consolation to the entire Corporation in these islands.

From the earliest times when our religious passed to the kingdoms of Japan and founded their missions in that vast empire, there was among them a very zealous worker named Fray Juan Rueda de los Ángeles, of whom mention has been made more than once in the first book of this History. But when all the missionaries were expelled from the empire in 1614, he was one of those heroes who, bravely despising all dangers to his life, silently penetrated a solitary port to re-enter the empire, and continue the apostolate of the Cross in its domains.

From that long date until the year 1619, he remained "in the barrera" (on the front lines/in the breach), conquering in all battles with the powers of hell. But, the great man, afflicted upon seeing the scarce number of evangelical workers who tirelessly labored in that vineyard of the Lord, made a special trip to this Province in a supplicant demand for some religious of the Order.

However, the scarcity of personnel that the Corporation suffered from on one hand, and on the other, the difficulty of transporting them, deprived the Province at that time of being able to provide him with this consolation, and he had to return alone with a Spanish pilot, who only committed to taking him as far as the islands of the Lequios. The venerable man cherished the hope that it would be very easy for him to then transfer to Nagasaki from that unfortunate country.

But it did not happen that way, unfortunately; for having happily arrived at those shores, it was no longer possible for him to continue further. This was all that was known in Manila about this venerable religious, until a letter arrived at this Chapter from the venerable Father Fray Tomás de San Jacinto, dated January 3, 1630, in which he gave an account of his martyrdom.

According to the content of this letter, upon the venerable Rueda's arrival at the Lequios, he stayed at the house of a local chief, and having later entered a temple of the devil, he delivered a discourse to the bonze who watched over it, about the falsehood and clumsy deceit of idolatrous adorations. The ignorant minister of the idols, who perhaps had not found himself in a similar predicament until then, was cut short by the reasons and discourses of our venerable missionary, did not know how to respond, and remained confused in his sight, but without wanting to renounce his errors.

pgs. 244-245

This venerable man was a native of Hirado, the capital of the kingdom of that name, and was called Rokusayemon in the secular world. Gifted with an outstanding intellect and virtue, the Fathers of the Society of Jesus chose him as one of their dóxicos or superior catechists; and thus, even without being a priest, he already shared in a certain way the apostolic labors of the missionary Fathers.

When these were exiled from the empire, and desirous of pursuing an ecclesiastical career in one of the religious orders in Manila, he moved to this capital, and was admitted to the college of Santo Tomas in this city, where he pursued studies in philosophy and theology with remarkable progress. He had previously sought the holy habit in the convent of Santo Domingo; but as he was a recent arrival and not yet sufficiently known, it had been necessary to test his vocation before making the commitment. The time he subsequently spent in his literary career was enough to recognize his great talents, and as such, he was admitted to the habit of the Order in 1624, having professed the following year, at thirty-five years of age.

He accompanied the great conquering prelate of Formosa, with the idea of then returning to his country with the approval of his prelates. He effectively did so around the year 1629, with a stopover and without rest in the islands of the Lequios. On May 9, and before leaving Formosa, he wrote to a religious in Manila the following: "The Provincial Father came here in person and brought me as an interpreter, and from here he sends me to Japan. As I am of Japanese nationality, there is no difficulty in proceeding. I am not worthy of such a high ministry; but, being a matter of obedience, I am very content. I will remain here until the beginning of June, and then I will pass to the great Lequio... Afterwards, if there is an opportunity, I will proceed further. Indeed, on one hand, it will be a great desolation to spend much time among infidels, without confession or saying mass, and I don't even know if there will be a place to pray; on the other hand, I am consoled as it is a matter of God's service. We cannot see each other in this life; with God's favor, I hope we will see each other in heaven."

After suffering many privations and hardships in the islands of the Lequios, God provided him with an opportunity to move to Nagasaki, to present himself in the arena as a new champion of Christianity. His zeal and activity soon made him known in the empire, and the enemies of the faith, finally aware of his appearance "sobre la brecha" (on the breach/front lines), put their passions and most unworthy means into play to surprise and apprehend him. They pursued him relentlessly ("a sol y a sombra") everywhere for four years, and only succeeded in apprehending him when God had granted him to the power of darkness. We have already witnessed the terrible, yet at the same time consoling, spectacle of his martyrdom.

pgs. 273-275

In the acts of the last Chapter cited, 1637, some religious who had already been sent to the Lequios the previous year appear assigned again for the empire of Japan, where they were immediately imprisoned for confessing Jesus Christ, and finally led to Nagasaki to suffer the ultimate torment. The martyrdom of the venerable Fathers Fray Jordán de San Esteban and Fray Tomás de San Jacinto had already crowned in heaven the last religious of the Order residing in the empire, and the Corporation made it its duty to send some workers to that desolate flock, to continue there the great enterprise and the glorious apostolate of its sons. But the difficulties that stood in their way inside and outside Manila were such that it seemed impossible to divert them from their rightful path.

Governor Corcuera, to make the fatal memory of his government even more inauspicious, adopted the ill-conceived idea of favoring the pretensions of the Portuguese Fathers, which had already been rejected at court by the supreme Councils of Portugal and Castile. He forbade, by his own authority and against sovereign dispositions, any other religious institute from ever sending missionaries to Japan, and threatened with very severe penalties all shipowners who dared to transport them furtively. On the other hand, the Tonos and imperial magistrates exercised terrifying vigilance, ready to take the life at any hour, with most atrocious torments, of any unfortunate missionary who fell into their homicidal hands.

However, neither the news of these rigorous measures could halt the flight of charity in its course, nor could Corcuera's threats prevent a new expedition from being organized despite him. The heroes who now appear on the scene are Fathers Fray Antonio González, professor of theology at the University of Santo Tomas; Fray Miguel de Ozaraza; Fray Guillermo Cortet (who had also taught the same faculty in Europe); and Fray Vicente de la Cruz, a native of the kingdoms of Japan, along with a Christian also from those kingdoms, and a mestizo from Binondo named Lorenzo Ruiz. Father Vicente de la Cruz was then still a secular priest, who committed to guiding the first group via the Lequios, hoping to find an opportunity to take them ashore later.

Constant in its design, the Corporation had a light Japanese-style vessel built at its expense; but, despite the secrecy with which this project was conducted, it could not be so hidden as to escape the notice of the formidable Corcuera. He immediately ordered the timber and the commenced works to be burned and severely prohibited any pilot from Manila from daring to transport them; though he later changed his mind, as often happened to him, once the initial impulse of his impetuous temper passed.

It was July 10, 1636, when this mission arrived at the islands of the Lequios, where they remained until early September 1637, when they were imprisoned and taken to Satzuma, to be finally transferred to the city of Nagasaki, where the crown of martyrdom happily awaited them. Indeed, on the 13th of that month, the venerable Fathers Fray Miguel de Ozaraza, Fray Guillermo de Cortet, and Fray Vicente de la Cruz, who had by then received the habit of the Order, were seen entering this port and traversing its streets. Dressed in their Japanese attire, with their arms tightly bound behind their backs like great criminals condemned to capital punishment for their crimes, the three athletes were led and escorted to the city's superior tribunal, which awaited them in its chambers for the conclusion of their process.

pg. 296

Indeed, the martyrs of the Province of the Most Holy Rosary in the kingdoms of Japan came to an end, not because the charity of its sons had cooled, but because the entry of the missionary Fathers into the numerous islands of that unfortunate empire became impossible. Thirty-two were the heroes of this religious Province who were immolated for the faith and for their divine mission in that unparalleled struggle, which lasted from the year 1614 until 1637. Of this religious phalanx, twenty were Europeans, and of them, one was martyred in the Lequios Islands, and another assassinated by the enemies of the faith during that inauspicious journey from Formosa to Nagasaki.

pgs. 310-313

The latest news known from Japan, regarding religious traditions and the faith of Jesus Christ, is very scarce. It is asserted, however, that the ancient preoccupation of its government against the Church of God is still very deeply rooted, and yet, there are still those in the empire who follow it, if one is to believe those who say that in 1824 the Emperor demanded six or eight men, whom he called worshippers of Jesus, who had taken refuge in Korea.

Whatever the truth of this, there was a probability that the Korea mission could send some of its zealous ministers to the kingdoms of Japan, and this very propitious circumstance moved the sacred Congregation De Propaganda Fide to entrust the Apostolic Vicar of that illustrious mission to also seek to extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ to the closest regions, and rebuild its temple in the states of Japan.

However, many years passed without the honorable prelate being able to fully satisfy the desires of the sacred Congregation in this matter, and it seemed easier to carry out this enterprise from the port of Macau. With this in mind, he subdelegated the commission to the Procurator of foreign missions who resided there at the time, and in 1844, Mr. Augustin Forcade was already destined for the islands of the Lequios (or Louchou, as the French call its main island), and transported to those shores by a French sail.

The governor of the port resisted receiving the missionary; however, finally fearing that the commander of that vessel would support his demand with some cannonballs, he reluctantly agreed that Mr. de Forcade should stay in that port with a Chinese man he brought. He was informed that, in the event of that gentleman's death, the Chinese man would present the French commander with a certificate of having died a natural death, or otherwise, for the consequent effects.

Mr. Forcade was hosted with his servant in a house of bonzes, but always watched by visible guards everywhere, who were relieved without a set schedule after a few days, so that they could not establish any kind of relationship with him. He was not allowed to speak with anyone from the country, so that he could not learn the language of the Lequios, which was the main reason the commander had pretexted for having an interpreter of his nation in that port.

He remained in this situation for two years, anxiously awaiting some aid or a ship from France that would extract him from that truly lamentable state. Finally, he had the pleasure of seeing his wishes fulfilled in July 1846; for Admiral Mr. Cecile arrived at Louchon with three frigates of war, and left Father Leturdu as his companion, a missionary destined at that time to assist Mr. de Forcade in that enterprise, whom the Apostolic See had just appointed Bishop of Samos and Apostolic Vicar of Japan.

The French admiral believed he was in a position to command respect with his cannons and demand the freedom of the missionary Fathers, so they could communicate with the island's inhabitants. Everything he asked for was granted without the slightest difficulty; but that governor only fulfilled what was agreed upon while his promises were guaranteed by the presence of the squadron.

Soon after, Mr. Cecile received Mr. de Forcade aboard the "Cleopatra," and finally sailing from Louchon, he wished to have an interview with the governor of Nagasaki. With this aim, he presented himself in this port with his respectable squadron, and immediately found himself surrounded by local vessels, which put him in a clear predicament. Realizing, finally, that he could have achieved nothing without bombarding those ports, for which he had no orders or authorization from his government, he deemed it more prudent to withdraw.

Mr. Forcade departed with him for Manila, guided by the desire to be consecrated in these islands, given the plausible case that the papal bulls had already arrived. But here he finally learned that they were in Hong Kong, where he was subsequently consecrated with the idea of immediately returning to his mission.

Despite the official stipulations with Mr. de Cecile, both Father Leturdu and Father Ademet, who also arrived in Louchon in September of the same year, remained in the same state of incommunication with the country as Mr. de Forcade. Father Ademet had recently passed away in that port when another French frigate arrived to collect Father Leturdu, who was then alone in the Lequios, and by the end of 1848, he was transported, very ill, to the city of Hong Kong, to explain the state of affairs to the Bishop there. Such was the end and result of the Louchon mission, without those zealous missionaries having advanced a single step in four painful years of frustrated hopes.

Those are six stories about missionaries attempting to enter Japan via the Lequios Islands. The last story features a Frenchman. The islands are said to be called Louchon by the French. A seventh story, second on the list, is about the Imperial Japanese fleet headed for Taiwan which got caught in a storm and shipwrecked in the Lequios Islands.

The burden falls on Tim to prove these stories are a lie and that these missionaries, as well as the Empire of Japan, intentionally moved the location of the Philippines northward. He has not done that and he will never do it because it is not true. What Tim should do is retract his theory but at this point he is too invested in the lie that the Philippines is the Lequios Islands to admit he is wrong. This book of missionary endeavors is a testimony against the theories of Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture. 

The God Culture: La Fausse Citation Française or The Fake French Quote

Timothy Jay Schwab who is the God Culture is back in business. That business of fabricating quotes. Here is the latest. Tim claims the authors of a French history books assert that fabricated stories exist in Pinto's journal. Let's take a look. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/the-lequios-lie----exposing-the-colonial-redirection-of-southeast-asia-s-forgotten-identity/

The very compilers of Histoire générale des voyages were not blind to inconsistencies in Pinto’s account — or, more precisely, the distortions introduced by his editors. They note the questionable nature of some key details, especially regarding Pinto’s alleged departure from Siam: 

“D’ailleurs Pinto n’étoit pas parti de Siam; il s’étoit dans la Jonque d’un Corsaire Chinois... les prétentions d’éditeurs n’ont point persuadé...” 

Translation:

Pinto hadn’t even departed from Siam, as claimed. The Chinese junk story was invented by editors, whose pretensions are unconvincing.

Tim claims the authors of this history affirm that the portion of Pinto's story where he discovers Japan was invented by editors. 

Here is the original French followed by an English translation. 

L'embarras n'est qu'à concilier ce récit avec celui de Fernand-Mendes Pinto, qui non-seulement s'attribue l'honneur de cette découverte, mais qui compte Zeimoto entre ses compagnons ; avec cette différence, qu'au lieu de François, il le nomme Diego. D'ailleurs Pinto n'était pas parti de Siam ; & c'était dans la Jonque d'un Corsaire Chinois que faisant voile pour les Isles de Lequios, où le vent contraire ne leur permit point d'aborder, ils tournèrent volontairement vers une Isle du Japon. Des prétentions si contraires n'ont point empêché le nouvel Historien de cet Empire d'adopter le récit de Pinto, sans avoir éclairci le fond de la difficulté. Ses réflexions ne marquent néanmoins aucune prévention, en faveur d'un Écrivain, à qui l'on est redevable d'une partie des lumières qui servent à l'Histoire de l'Apôtre des Indes.

The difficulty lies only in reconciling this account with that of Fernand-Mendes Pinto, who not only attributes to himself the honor of this discovery, but who also counts Zeimoto among his companions; with this difference, that instead of François, he names him Diego. Furthermore, Pinto had not departed from Siam; and it was in the junk of a Chinese Corsair that, sailing towards the Isles of Lequios, where contrary wind did not allow them to land, they voluntarily turned towards an Isle of Japan. Such contradictory claims have not prevented the new Historian of this Empire from adopting Pinto's account, without having clarified the root of the difficulty. His reflections nevertheless show no bias in favor of a Writer, to whom one is indebted for a part of the insights that serve the History of the Apostle of the Indies.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t52f8sc8m&seq=658&q1=lequios 

While the first part of Tim's quote is in the text the second part after the ellipse is entirely fabricated and does appear in the French.  

D'ailleurs Pinto n'était pas parti de Siam ; & c'était dans la Jonque d'un Corsaire Chinois...les prétentions d’éditeurs n’ont point persuadé 

Tim has corrupted the original French which reads:

Des prétentions si contraires n'ont point empêché

"Contraires" has become "d’éditeurs" and "empêché" has been transformed into "persuadé." That is not a mistake, that is intentional.

Absolutely nowhere do the editors of this history write:

The Chinese junk story was invented by editors, whose pretensions are unconvincing.

The point of this paragraph is an attempt to reconcile Pinto's account with other Portuguese accounts of discovering Japan. They are not saying Pinto is untrustworthy or his journal is corrupt or filled with imagined stories added by editors. What they are saying is there are contradictions between other accounts  and Pinto that need to be reconciled. Tim doesn't care to investigate the context, forgoes nuance, and decides to fabricate a citation, misrepresenting the original authors as claiming a section in Pinto's book "was invented by the editors."

Let's take a look at the full context by adding the preceding and following paragraphs.

The Portuguese, who attribute to themselves the glory of having discovered Japan, do not even agree among themselves on the time to which this event should be reported. Some trace it back to the year 1535. Others place it in 1541, still others in 1548, and some bring it even closer to our time. In this uncertainty, Kampfer's Translator does not believe that one can refuse precedence to the opinion of Diego de Couto, Continuator of the Decades of Barros. This Scholar, who was the Historiographer of Philip II, King of Spain and Portugal, had spent the best part of his life in the Indies. The Archives of Goa were entrusted to his keeping, and it was from this source that he had drawn materials for his great Work of Portuguese discoveries and conquests, which he carried up to the end of the sixteenth century. He informs us, in his fifth Decade, that in 1541, while Martin-Alphonse de Sousa governed the East Indies, three Portuguese, Antoine da Mota, François Zeimoto, & Antoine Peixota, were cast by a storm, on the Coasts of Japan, aboard a Junk laden with leather, which was going from Siam to China.

The difficulty lies only in reconciling this account with that of Fernand-Mendes Pinto, who not only attributes to himself the honor of this discovery, but who also counts Zeimoto among his companions; with this difference, that instead of François, he names him Diego. Furthermore, Pinto had not departed from Siam; and it was in the junk of a Chinese Corsair that, sailing towards the Isles of Lequios, where contrary wind did not allow them to land, they voluntarily turned towards an Isle of Japan. Such contradictory claims have not prevented the new Historian of this Empire from adopting Pinto's account, without having clarified the root of the difficulty. His reflections nevertheless show no bias in favor of a Writer, to whom one is indebted for a part of the insights that serve the History of the Apostle of the Indies.

Let us conclude that, if the discovery of Japan by the Portuguese cannot be contested, the name of the Discoverer is too uncertain to obtain a rank in History on this title. But let us also observe that one must not judge discoveries concerning the East Indies in the same way as those made at the same time in another Hemisphere. The former, that is, those of America, had as their object truly unknown Countries, which for this reason were justly named a new World; whereas, in the East Indies, one knew the existence and even the name of most Countries, before having penetrated them. It is impossible, for example, that independently of Marco Polo's Relation, the Portuguese established in China would not have learned, before the year 1541, that to the North of a sea they frequented, there were, at a short distance, large & powerful Isles, where the Chinese carried their Commerce. Thus, to express oneself properly, the question is not who was the Portuguese who discovered Japan, but who was the one whom the chance of a storm, or other causes, caused to land there first.

Here we can see the editors are not calling Pinto an untrustworthy liar or his journal corrupt. They are saying the Portuguese accounts of discovering Japan do not agree among themselves. The authors say Diego de Couto adopted Pinto's account as being authoritative without reconciling the difficulties arising from the other accounts. The contradiction writes about is in one account the explorers left Siam for China and subsequently ended up in Japan, while Pinto left China aboard a Chinese pirate ship and then ended up in the Lequios Islands and Japan. 

That does not mean Pinto never travelled to Japan via the Lequios Islands. Here is his account.

We proceeded on our voyage in the battered condition we were in, and three days later we were struck by a storm that blew over the land with such fierce gusts of wind that that same night we were driven out of sight of the shore. And since by then we were unable to approach it again, we were forced to make with full sail for the island of the Ryukyus where this pirate was well known to both the king and the other people there. With this in view we sailed ahead through the islands of this archipelago, but since at this time we were without a pilot, ours having been killed in the recent battle, and the northeast winds were blowing head on, and the currents were running strong against us, we went tacking with great effort from one board to the other for twenty-three days until finally, at the end of that time, our Lord brought us within sight of land. Coming in closer to see if it showed any sign of an inlet or harbor with good anchorage, we noticed a huge fire burning over to the south, almost at a level with the horizon. This led us to believe that it was probably inhabited and that there might be people there who would sell us water, which we were running short of.

As we were anchoring opposite the island in seventy fathoms of water, two small canoes with six men on board came rowing out from shore. They came alongside, and after an exchange of greetings and courtesies in their fashion, they asked us whence the junk had come. Our answer was that we had come from China, bringing merchandise to trade with them, if they would give us leave to do so. One of them replied that as long as we paid the duties that were customarily charged in Japan, which was the name of that big land mass outlined ahead of us, the nautoquim, lord of that island of would readily grant us permission. He followed this up by Tanegashima, telling us everything else that we needed to know and showed us the port where we were supposed to anchor. 

pg. 274

Saying this is story is an editor's invention does not take into account the subsequent chapters which document Pinto's travels and adventures in Japan especially with the King of Bungo. Pinto's narrative extends to his return to China and ensuing shipwreck in the Lequios Islands. The editors have nothing negative to say about Pinto's shipwreck in the Lequios Islands where he writes:

That Lequian island lies situated at twenty-nine degrees.

Essa ilha léquia jaz situada em vinte e nove graus

https://fundar.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/peregrinacao-vol-ii.pdf pg. 53

Even the account of Francis Gaullé's voyage affirms the latitude of 29° for the Lequios Islands.

Being past the fair Islands, we held our course East and East and by South, for two hundred and forty miles, until we were past the length of the Islands Lequios, sailing about fifty miles from them, as the said Chinar told me, that those islands called Lequios are very many, and that they have many and very good Harbours, and that the people and inhabitants thereof have their faces and bodies painted like the Bysayas of the Islands of Luzon of  Philippines, and are appareled like the Bysayas, and that there are also mines of gold; he said likewise that they did often come with small ships and barkes laden with Bucks and Harts hides; and with gold in grains of very small pieces, to trade with them on the coast of China, which be assured me to be most true, saying that he had been nine times in the small Island, bringing of the same wares with him to China; which I believe to be true, for that afterwards I inquired thereof at Macau, and upon the coast of China, and found that he said true. The furthest or uttermost of these Islands both Northward and Eastward lie under 29 degrees.

Being past these Islands, then you come to the Islands of Japon whereof the first lying West and South is the Island of Hirado, where the Portuguese use to trade. They [the Japanese islands] are in length altogether one hundred and thirty miles, and the furthest Eastward, lies under thirty-two degrees [latitude]. We ran still East, and East by North, until we were past the said one hundred and thirty miles.

Iohn Huighen van Linschoten his Discours of voyages into ye Easte & West Indies : deuided into foure bookes, pg. 414

Yet, Tim writes:

Their conclusion?

"Le nom même de la plupart des Pays... avant que d’y avoir pénétré..."

“The names of most of these countries were known [to the Portuguese] before they ever arrived there.”

📍 Key Insight:

They weren’t discovering Lequios — they were renaming what they already knew: Luzon.

This perspective is even echoed by Rebecca Catz, who acknowledges corruption in the earliest printings and editorial insertions, yet continues to cling to the 29° coordinate and a Ryukyu identification that ignores the geography, the trade data, and the entirety of Pinto’s contextual narrative. Many scholars have followed suit — not in deception, but in inherited oversight.

This analysis is all wrong. First of all the section is about the discovery of Japan, not the Lequios Islands. Second of all the authors are saying the existence and names of countries in East Asia was known long before they were penetrated in contrast to the Americas which were wholly unknown.

The former, that is, those of America, had as their object truly unknown Countries, which for this reason were justly named a new World; whereas, in the East Indies, one knew the existence and even the name of most Countries, before having penetrated them.

The Portuguese knew the name of Japan through The Travels of Marco Polo. Even if that book had not existed they would have learned the name of Japan through their contacts with the Chinese. The editors of this history are absolutely not saying Luzon was being renamed as Lequios. Luçon is discussed in this book separately from the discovery of Japan and from any mention of the Lequios Islands. Tim cites a section of the book that explicitly describes the Lequios Islands as being separate from the Philippines. 

It is generally known that opposite Manila, on the North side, between Cape Boxeador and Cape Enganno, twenty-four miles from land, one finds the two small Islands, which are called the Babuyanes, the first of which is inhabited by Christian Indians who pay tribute to Spain, and the other by Savages, who are not far from the two Lequios and Formosa Island.

Tim's interpretation of this passage is as follows.

The Lequios are described in direct geographic relation to the Babuyanes and Formosa, confirming that they were perceived within the Northern Philippines–Taiwan arc — not over 1,000 kilometers north in Ryukyu. 

That is wrong. Lequios is grouped together with Formosa, Taiwan, and both are placed at a distance from Luzon and the Northern Philippines. If the Lequios were any part of the Philippines they would not be mentioned apart from the Philippines. 

Tim brings in Rebecca Catz as a witness against Pinto's discovery of Japan. But she does not agree with Tim.

Nevertheless, the debate on Pinto’s veracity and reliability continues. Veracity and reliability, it must be stressed, should be seen as two distinct problems. This delicate distinction becomes important when we stop to consider that if Pinto—to take the question of the discovery of Japan as an example—was not actually present on that historic occasion, he was certainly among the earliest group of travelers to arrive on the scene. As such he was close enough to events to have been in a position to pass on a fairly accurate description of the discovery, which cannot easily be dismissed by the historian as unreliable, or as any less reliable than hearsay European accounts, written long after the facts.

Pinto, pg. xlii

Tim still has no basis on which to call 29° unreliable especially since it is confirmed by another source dating to 1582 which is decades before Pinto's journal was even published. Tim loves to quote the following Bible verses as his epistemological foundation.  

Deut. 19:15 KV "at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." 

Matt. 18:16 KJV "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." 

2 Cor. 13:1 KJV "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfieRo5Pkac&lc=Ugy7pRaRww2XWoR2YPx4AaABAg

Therefore 29° is an established fact. 

Tim has two other citations on this page but in light of this fabrication and profoundly misguided analysis they are not worth looking at. This gross and deliberate error overshadows everything else on the page. It serves as a stark reminder of the lengths to which Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture will go to manipulate historical sources to fit his baseless theories.

The God Culture: The 1582 Voyage That Destroys The Philippines Lequios Theory

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has a serious problem. Tim's misrepresentation of primary sources undermines his already shaky academic integrity. His continuous distortion of facts excavated out of obscure books indicates he is less interested in the truth and more concerned with his agenda. Tim's article about the voyage of Francis de Ovalle is a prime example of his deceptive practices. 

The 1582 Voyage that Destroys the Ryukyu Lequios Theory

When geography tells the truth… and historians ignore it.

🔎 Forgotten Navigator, Critical Discovery

In 1582, a lesser-known Spanish navigator, Francis de Ovalle, unknowingly shattered centuries of cartographic confusion. His voyage from Acapulco to the Philippines and back, documented in the 1704 edition of The History of Navigation, includes a pivotal observation:

"…passed through the islands called Lequios… and came upon the coast of California in 38 degrees and a half of latitude."

(Churchill, 1704, p. 466)

Let that sink in. Ovalle sailed from Macao through the Lequios and then reached California at 38.5°N — without touching land along the way.

🧭 The Geography That Cannot Lie

We traced his route using his precise navigation data. Here's what we found:

📍 Macao sits at 22.2°N. One exits the bay South of Hainan toward the East (18°N).

📍 California at 38.5°N on a straight Northeast trajectory touching no land.

📍 Philippines lie directly in this corridor (13–21°N).

📍 Ryukyu Islands? Way off course at 24–29°N, east of Taiwan — unreachable on a straight northeast run from Macao to California.

So what? If Ovalle sailed through Lequios and never deviated from that northeast heading, there is no geographic possibility that he passed through Ryukyu. His line of travel crossed the Philippines, not Japan.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/the-1582-voyage-that-destroys-the-ryukyu-lequios-theory/

I know Tim reads this blog. On May 28th, 2025, I published an article that had the exact quote he is using from Churchill. That book leads to the original source, which is Richard Hakluyt. I included what Hakluyt wrote about that voyage in the same article. You can read all that here. This same voyage was also written about in a second article published on May 29th concerning Navarrete's "Logbook."

Hakluyt is not the primary source of Francis de Ovalle's voyage. That would be Jan Huygen van Linschoten.

Francisco Gali (1539 in Seville – 1586 in Manila) was a Spanish sailor and cartographer, active in the second half of the 16th century across the Pacific Ocean and in New Spain and Spanish East Indies, particularly Philippines. He is best known for his three trans-Pacific crossings: Acapulco to Manila in 1583, Macau to Acapulco in 1584 and in 1585 again Acapulco to Manila, where he died. At least the last trip was by order of the Spanish viceroy of New Spain, Pedro Moya de Contreras. His journeys were on the Manila galleons which had started the route in 1565.

For reasons unknown, Gali's report on the Macau-Acapulco journey fell into the hands of Jan Huygen van Linschoten who included that information in his Itinerario (1596).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Gali

Jan Huygen van Linschoten's original Itinerario can be read here. It was published in 1596. Two years later an English translation was published. That is the basis for Hakluyt which is the basis for and reference in Churchill. 

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433023691789&seq=116&q1=

That is from page 466, the same page Tim cites. Had he bothered to check the reference he would have been led to the full story just as I was. That story says Francis Guallé, which is the same as Gali and de Ovalle, sailed southwest from Macao to circumvent the strong current, then north east around Taiwan, through the Lequios Islands, past Japan, and then towards America. Tim omits ALL of that crucial information saying:

His line of travel crossed the Philippines, not Japan.

That is false and Tim knows it. Here is the rest of the story from the English translation of Jan Huygen van Linschoten.

The 54. Chapter.

The Navigation or course of the aforesaid Francis Guallé out of the Haven of Macau in New Spain, with the description and situation of the Isles, with other notable and memorable things concerning the same voyage.

When we had prepared ourselves and taken our leaves of our friends in Macau, we set sail upon the The four and twentieth of July, holding our course Southwest, and Southwest and by South, when the moon was at the full; for when the moon increaseth it is hard holding the course between the Islands, because in the river are and streams become very strong to the North, for we sailed through many narrow Channels by night, having the depth of eight and ten fathom, with soft muddy ground; until we were about the Island Oha, before we were past it, but by the height we knew we were past them.

Being beyond it, we held our course East and East by east, an hundred and fifty miles, to get above the lands called Os Bancos dos Pescadores, and the beginning of the Islands Lequios on the East side; and the Islands are called As Illas Fermosas, that is, the fair Islands; this I understood by a Chinar called, Santy of Chinchon, and he said that they lie under 21 degrees; from there it is thirteen fathom deep, although we saw them not, not withstanding by the height, by the water, we knew we were past them.

Being past the fair Islands, we held our course East and East and by South, for two hundred and forty miles, until we were past the length of the Islands Lequios, sailing about fifty miles from them, as the said Chinar told me, that those islands called Lequios are very many, and that they have many and very good Harbours, and that the people and inhabitants thereof have their faces and bodies painted like the Bysayas of the Islands of Luzon of  Philippines, and are appareled like the Bysayas, and that there are also mines of gold; he said likewise that they did often come with small ships and barkes laden with Bucks and Harts hides; and with gold in grains of very small pieces, to trade with them on the coast of China, which be assured me to be most true, saying that he had been nine times in the small Island, bringing of the same wares with him to China; which I believe to be true, for that afterwards I inquired thereof at Macau, and upon the coast of China, and found that he said true. The furthest or uttermost of these Islands both Northward and Eastward lie under 29 degrees.

Being past these Islands, then you come to the Islands of Japon whereof the first lying West and South is the Island of Hirado, where the Portuguese use to trade. They [the Japanese islands] are in length altogether one hundred and thirty miles, and the furthest Eastward, lies under thirty-two degrees [latitude]. We ran still East, and East by North, until we were past the said one hundred and thirty miles.

Running this East, and East by North for about three hundred miles from Japan, we found a very deep water, with the current running out of the North and Northwest, with a full and very broad sea, without any hindrance or trouble in the way that we passed, and whatever wind blew, the Sea continued all in one [direction], with the same deep water and current, until we had passed seven hundred miles, about two hundred miles from the coast and land of New Spain, where we began to lose the said deep sea and current, whereby I most assuredly think and believe, that there you shall find a Channel or straight passage, between the firm land and New Spain, and the Countries of Asia and Tartaria. Likewise, all this way from the aforesaid seven hundred miles, we found a great number of whale fishes, and other fish by the Spaniards called Atun [tuna], whereof many are found in the coast of Gibraltar in Spain, as also Albacore and Bonitos, which are all fishes, which commonly keep in Channels, Straits, and running waters, where to disperse their feed when they breed, which makes me more assuredly believe, that thereabouts is a Channel or Straight to pass through.

Being by the same course upon the coast of New Spain, under seven and thirty degrees and a half, we passed by a very high and fair land with many Trees, wholly without Snow, and four miles from the land you find thereabouts many roots, leaves of Trees, Reeds, and other leaves like Fig leaves, the like whereof we found in great abundance in the country of Japan, which they eat, and some of those that we found, I caused to be boiled with flesh, and being boiled, they eat like Coleworts [cabbage]. There likewise we found a great many of Sea wolves, which we call Sea dogs, whereby it is to be presumed and certainly to be believed, that there are many Rivers, Bays, and Havens along those coasts to the Haven of Acapulco. 

From thence we ran Southeast, Southeast by South, and Southeast by East, as the wind allowed us, to the point called Cape San Lucas, which is the beginning of the land of California; on the Northwest side, lying under twenty-two degrees, being five hundred miles distant from Cape Mendocino.

Along this course of five hundred miles, along the coast, there are many islands, and although they are small, yet undoubtedly they have some good harbors, as also on the mainland, where you have these harbors following, now lately discovered, such as that of Saint Augustine Island, lying under thirty and a half degrees. And the island called Cedros Island, scarcely under twenty-eight and a quarter degrees. And the island lying beneath Saint Martin, under twenty-three and a half degrees. I think all this coast and country is inhabited, and appears to be a very good country, for at night we saw fire, and by day smoke, which is a very sure sign that they are inhabited.

Iohn Huighen van Linschoten his Discours of voyages into ye Easte & West Indies : deuided into foure bookes, pg. 414

This entire chapter contradicts Tim's theory on every level and he omitted it. He purposefully omitted the route, which follows Macao-Taiwan-Lequois Islands-Japan. That makes the map Tim has added with a route bypassing Japan, wholly fictitious. The map is a visual manifestation of Tim's selective interpretation and misrepresentation of the primary source material.

He also left out the description of the Lequois Islands' inhabitants who are clearly described and compared to the Visayans of Luzon. They are not Filipinos. Lastly, he discarded the fact the Lequios Islands extend to 29° which agrees with Pinto who wrote:

Essa ilha léquia jaz situada em vinte e nove graus

https://fundar.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/peregrinacao-vol-ii.pdf pg. 53

The voyage of Francis Guallé predates Pinto's published journal by decades. That is two independent eye-witnesses to the Lequios Islands being at 29°. Tim loves to quote the following Bible verses as an epistemological foundation.  

Deut. 19:15 KV "at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." 

Matt. 18:16 KJV "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." 

2 Cor. 13:1 KJV "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfieRo5Pkac&lc=Ugy7pRaRww2XWoR2YPx4AaABAg

Therefore 29° is an established fact. 

I challenge Tim to publish the full story of Francis de Ovalle's voyage. It is doubtful he will do so because there is no way he can twist it to fit his thesis. It would also expose his article for what it is: a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts. 

As I said, I know Tim reads this blog. He has responded to it directly in the past. In this case, he took a source I cited first and has deliberately misrepresented it to fit his false thesis that the Philippines are the Lequios Islands. That thesis is fundamentally misguided and his article is a deliberate fabrication. No amount of crying libel and defamation will change the fact that the intellectual integrity of Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture is severely compromised.