Manila: The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) refuted and condemned on Friday the recent claims of some scholars that Batanes apparently belongs to China.
According to Philippines News Agency, the claim was reportedly made by researchers during a symposium at the Jinan University last June 30. Among the claims was that the Batanes Islands constitute a natural geographic extension of Taiwan, were under the jurisdiction of Taiwan Prefecture during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and form a natural geographic extension of the Taiwan archipelago.
"Like a post that circulated in social media in 2025 over Palawan, these 'claims' have no rational basis in substantive research and operate from evident bad faith," the NHCP, the national agency mandated with promoting history and preserving cultural heritage, said in a statement.
The NHCP argued that "current satellite and oceanographic data by the Philippines and other nations clearly show a continuous shelf extending from Northern Luzon through the Babuyan and Batanes Islands, and into parts of the Taiwan archipelago. The Philippines claims a greater right over the subject territories from this perspective."
In addition, the NHCP said the earliest known extensive documentation of the Batanes Islands by British explorer William Dampier in 1687 noted no trace of Chinese governance over the islands. "The natives of Batanes, the Ivatan people, lived in protected communities and traded with other maritime trading nations. This is clear in the archeological and historical evidence produced by more than a hundred years of research," it said.
The Philippine government and its legal predecessors have held continuous and undisputed sovereignty over Batanes since 1783, according to the NHCP. "The Spanish Empire, which had already imposed its sovereignty over the rest of the Philippine archipelago near the Batanes Islands, formally claimed them as part of the Province of Cagayan in 1783. Their struggle against Spanish rule, as with other parts of our country, is remembered and celebrated, especially the uprising led by Aman Dangat from 1785 to 1791."
Batanes, according to the NHCP, was already recognized as an integral part of the Philippines' territory with Ivatans rising up once again and claiming independence against the Spanish during the 1896 Philippine Revolution and the First Philippine Republic.
Meanwhile, on the apparent claim that the Batanes Islands were part of the territory that was to be returned to China by Japan following the end of World War II, the NHCP said Japan cannot give to China what clearly belongs to the Philippines. "The people of Batanes had already liberated themselves from Japanese rule by early 1945. This only proves beyond any doubt that Batanes has always been Filipino," the NHCP said.
"The NHCP stands with the people of Batanes in proclaiming their right of allegiance to the Philippines, faithful to our constitution and the flag that continues to proudly fly over our northern provinces. We also call on all parties, especially reputable academic institutions, to be true researchers and academics," it added.
