#OnThisDay May 11, 1956, Boholano lawyer, journalist, educator, businessman, founder and president of PMI Colleges, and father of maritime education, Tomas Arbolente “Admiral” Cloma formally claimed ownership of what he named as “Freedomland,” – “a group of islands, islets, atolls, reefs, shoals, fishing grounds and adjacent waters, with a total area of 64,976 square miles” located from 100 to 300 miles west of the island-province of Palawan in western Philippines. The Freedomland is also known as the Kalayaan (Freedom) Islands, a part of the Spratly Islands, situated within the West Philippine Sea.
From 1947 to 1950, Cloma’s fishing vessels led by his younger brother, Capt. Filemon Cloma, and his crew fishermen from the Visayas and PMI cadets, were fishing in the seas around northern Palawan. As their catch dwindled, they ventured beyond Palawan where they discovered a vast area that he would later name and claim as Freedomland.
Tomas Cloma became curious about Filemon’s reports regarding their new fishing frontier. One day, Tomas set out on an expedition with Filemon and his crew to explore the rich fishing site and the islands in the area. They were thinking of setting up a fish cannery there. Upon returning to Manila, they checked, but could not find the islands on any of the available maps. Tomas surmised that they had discovered a vast uncharted area, possibly as large as if not larger than Luzon. One of the countless islands they saw had abandoned structures with Japanese markings. It might have been a Japanese base in World War II.
Tomas joined another fishing trip and exploration to the discovered sea and islands. This time, he brought a movie camera to record the event. He was in a good, expectant mood, dressed in short pants and a T-shirt. On the way there, he caught a tuna and his companions caught even bigger fish. When they reached the place, their ship ran aground in shallow waters. Later, they were surprised to see more land as the water receded.
Tomas was fascinated by the beauty and vastness of the territory, which he viewed with his binoculars, and the possible richness of the islands and surrounding waters. They could of course have enormous potential if there were oil deposits beneath them, Tomas Cloma speculated. With his companions, Cloma planted a flag and some mohon (concrete markings) to symbolize his claim to and occupation of the area which later he would call “Freedomland,” and more formally, “The Free Territory of Freedomland.”
Cloma informed his friend and ‘paesano’ (fellow Boholano), then Senator Carlos P. Garcia, about the uncharted sea and islands that he had discovered and asked his advice on the technicalities of making a claim to the territory. In 1953, Carlos p. Garcia was elected Vice President, with Ramon Magsaysay as President of the Philippines. As concurrent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Vice President Garcia was interested in Cloma’s discovery and intent to claim the territory.
On May 15, 1956, Tomas Cloma wrote to Vice President and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P. Garcia, informing his exalted province-mate and ‘paesano’ that forty Filipino citizens were undertaking a survey of a group of islands that they were occupying off the western coast of Palawan.
Attached to Cloma’s letter to Garcia was a “Notice of Claim” addressed to the whole world. This was sent to newspapers of general circulation, as well as to foreign embassies in Manila. The notice ran:
GREETINGS:
Notice is hereby served to the WHOLE WORLD that the undersigned in his behalf and in behalf of his Associates, and as citizens of the Philippines, claims ownership over a territory bounded as follows: (pointing latitudes, longitudes, areas, distances and coordinates)
This territory is composed of islands, sand cays, sand bars, coral reefs, and fishing grounds with a total area of about SIXTY FOUR THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY SIX (64,976) square nautical miles.
This claim is based on the rights of discovery and/or occupation open, public and adverse as against the whole world.
Manila, Philippines, May 15, 1956
Tomas Cloma
PMI Nautical School.
Tomas Cloma was formally claiming the island group that he had discovered with his younger brother. Six days after the release of the Notice, he issued a “second representation” informing the Secretary of Foreign Affairs that the territory claimed had been named by the claimants as “The Free Territory of Freedomland.” Cloma had launched his daring international adventure.
In the excitement, the media, covering the dramatic event, dubbed Cloma as “the discoverer of Freedomland,” and, partly in jest, “Admiral Cloma” and “Admiral without a fleet.” Cloma’s action generated a lot of interest in the Philippines and international media. Some foreign officials belittled his claims to the islands, which, according to them, had no practical value even during low tide when more islands would appear. However, some neighboring countries did not take his claim lightly. Vietnam issued a claim statement. France, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China lodged their formal protests and assert their own right to the Islands. This was to be yet another chain of events that would escalate the threats to peace in the region at the height of the East-West Cold War.
Meanwhile, on September 21, 1972, President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared martial law and assumed supreme powers over all branches and agencies of government. He abolished the Congress, emasculated the judiciary, controlled the media, and arrested and detained thousands of his opponents and critics.
In 1974, as Tomas Cloma was dubbed as “Admiral,” President Ferdinand E. Marcos ordered that Tomas Cloma would be thrown into a Camp Crame prison cell, on grounds of “usurpation of authority.” Cloma was released several months later when he turned over all claims to the islands under a “Deed of Assignment and Waiver of Rights” to the Philippine government – for one peso.
Right after President Marcos got Cloma’s “deed of assignment,” the Armed Forces of the Philippines under Defense Secretary Enrile quickly and covertly transformed the uninhabited island into a fortification and named it “Pag-Asa Island.”
When the martial law regime of President Marcos took over Cloma’s claim for its own, it renamed as Kalayaan Islands. This was probably meant to erase its original identity as Cloma’s Freedomland.
The Government described Freedomland – which it renamed the Kalayaan Islands – as a group of 53 islands within the national territory and the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone in terms of the International Law of the Sea.
The islands and seas of Freedomland are regarded by a number of countries in Asia as part of the so-called Spratly Islands or the Spratlys, actually a vast area of islets, reefs, shoals and rocky outcrops in the West Philippine Sea. In whole or in part, the Spratlys are being claimed by various countries in Asia. On the other hand, the Philippines claims Freedomland as belonging exclusively to its national territory.
However, Tomas Cloma was not fully aware of these facts when he set out on his great adventure and declared The Free Territory of Freedomland as his own. His initial concerns were simpler and even mundane. It was his original intention to utilize the island’s resources for business. Not everybody gets the opportunity; he contemplated, to build a society anew according to his personal ideals and principles. He would plan to establish a new nation and government “of peace and tranquility, devoid of sham, violence and cutthroat living…”
Tomas Cloma y Arbolente was born on September 18, 1904, in Panglao, Bohol to Ciriaco Cloma, a Spanish settler, and Irena Arbolente, a native of Bohol. Freedomland/Kalayaan Islands by their very name are a testament to the indomitable courage and boundless vision and aspirations of a heroic Boholano. As a young boy on the beaches of Panglao, Bohol, Tomas Cloma dreamed early on just to set foot on the next island of Cebu, and later Manila, to seek his fortune and fulfill his destiny. He had done much in his quest, much more than he could have imagined.
Sources and References:
1. Jose V. Abueva, Arnold P. Alamon, Ma. Olivia Z. Domingo, 1999, “Admiral Tomas Cloma, A Biography.” University of the Philippines, Diliman, pp. 33–40, 51–55
2. Tomas Cloma - the man who “discovered” the Spratly Islands
3. Wikimedia Commons
#TomasCloma
#FilemonCloma
#Freedomland
#KalayaanIslands
#SpratlyIslands #Spratlys
#PagAsaIsland
#WestPhilippineSea
#Admiral #Boholano
#FreeTerritoryOfFreedomland
#PhilippineHistory #WorldHistory
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