Maps by JC

18/02/2026

rect bounds are 4.5-21.5N, 111.8-127.5E
ang ganda ng aspect, portrait na square ish!

OFFICIAL AND UNMISTAKABLE

The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) on Wednesday, Feb. 18, reminded the public that the West Philippine Sea label has been used in all official Philippine maps since 2012.

The agency clarified that the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is shown as a continuous curved boundary, in line with international law.

“In light of ongoing public discussions, NAMRIA wishes to clarify the manner by which the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone is represented,” NAMRIA stated.

NAMRIA explained that under international law, the EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles from the country’s archipelagic baselines, creating a continuous curved boundary rather than a polygon with straight lines.

Because of this, a short list of coordinates would not accurately show the maritime limit; instead, the boundary is mapped using precise geospatial data from RA 9522, allowing navigation systems and mapping software to determine it correctly.

Check the official map posted by NAMRIA ⬇️

04/12/2025

LOVE LOVE this style!

“𝐈𝐒𝐋𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐈Á𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐎” — 𝐀𝐓𝐋𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐒 (𝟏𝟖𝟗𝟗)

This rare 1899 map reveals a fascinating detail about Mindoro’s past: it was officially labeled as “ISLA MANGUIÁNES,” a direct reference to the Mangyan peoples who formed the island’s oldest and most enduring communities.

The close-up view shows Mindoro’s rugged heart—steep mountain ridges, winding rivers, and isolated valleys—terrain that protected and shaped Mangyan culture for centuries. While coastal towns appear along the shores, the map makes clear that the true center of Mindoro was its ancestral Indigenous homeland.

It’s a remarkable reminder that before modern boundaries and cities, Mindoro’s identity was rooted in the Mangyan world—its languages, lifeways, and mountain landscapes. This map doesn’t just show geography; it preserves a memory of how the island was understood and named over 120 years ago.

📜 Source: Atlas de Filipinas (1899), Observatorio de Manila — Biblioteca Nacional de España

26/10/2025

So many ugly and irresponsibly designed maps lately in my feed. I wanna fill it with better, cleaner ones!

27/09/2025

Timor-Leste is at risk of disasters from cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, and heavy rainfall, exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and widespread poverty.

Anticipatory action allows early action based on early warnings, knowledge of those at risk, and plans ready to activate when triggered by a forecast or early perception of an event. This highly effective type of response depends on a wide range of skills and partnerships to have the necessary local and technical knowledge and resources for immediate, targeted intervention.

The Timor-Leste Civil Protection Authority, National Directorate for Meteorology & Geophysics, Timor-Leste Red Cross, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) are working in partnership to fill in geospatial and risk data gaps, providing vital information for anticipatory action planning.

Learn more ➡️ https://ow.ly/i8C450VWsek

19/08/2025

A good map is clean and informative, but a GREAT map can shake your perspective!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HoKZexn84/?mibextid=wwXIfr

🌎 Are there world oceans– or one world ocean⁉️

This Spilhaus Projection might help you decide! It was originally created by geophysicist and oceanographer Athelstan Spilhaus, who is best known for developing the bathythermograph to measure ocean depths and temperatures in the late 1930s.

Illustration by Natalie Renier, WHOI Creative © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

02/08/2025

THE VISAYAS TRANSPORT NETWORK

As seen in Peralta JCA, Reyes RC and Lim MT. 2023. Transport Network Efficiency during Typhoon Relief Operations. Philippine Journal of Science 152(S1): 185–195.
https://doi.org/10.56899/152.S1.14

This is the map from my first local journal article back in 2023, together with Dr. Reinabelle Reyes and Dr. May Lim to analyze the transport network of the Visayas region in the Philippines using complex network theory. We started this

We constructed the Visayas land and sea transport network using open data. For the road networks, we used available OpenStreetMap (OSM) data from June 2024 and cleaned it up so only vehicle-passable roads are kept. Sea routes connecting the islands of Visayas were identified from three sources in 2018: ferry routes in (1) OSM (2) Google Maps, and (3) the Visayas General Logistics Planning Map created by Logistics Cluster of the United Nations World Food Programme (UN-WFP) from long-term engagements with LGUs in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan hitting the region in November 2013.

We also obtained (manually!) the coordinates of the local government municipal/city hall (or the market/plaza if latter is not available), to serve as the town center for the simulations. It is assumed that all disaster relief efforts start in these town centers and aid is received on this location.

This study has received its fair share of attention, including a meeting at Congress in the Philippine House Committee on Visayas Development, a NEDA (now DepDev) brownbag session, a UP Diliman conference, and a keynote presentation at PyCon PH 2024.

We have an accompanying web app to this, which I link in the comments thread below.

26/07/2025

CLIMATE MODEL EVALUATION RESULTS- MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES

Those who worked with me during my time in the academe know how crazy I get during conference season when I design my posters! For us doing climate simulations, posters are the only truly tangible output that we have, so I make sure that mine best showcases our best results

This one is my favorite so far. I made it for a recent conference in Beijing back in 2018. It looks very technical, but the core message is simple: it shows which configuration of a climate model best simulates rainfall and temperature patterns in Mindanao. There’s a lot to unpack, but for now, I want to highlight the design choices.

Most posters use a white or light background because it’s the standard, the “way things are done” as my senior has said. But I remembered seeing some 🌌 astronomy posters in a previous conference that used dark backgrounds. They stood out and felt easier on the eyes, and I really wanted to do it, so I decided to take on the challenge.

I already had the maps and figures from a previous presentation, but switching to a dark background meant redesigning everything. Here are a few things I quickly learned:
• 🌈 Colors reverse in value on dark backgrounds. Lighter colors appear stronger or more dominant.
• But its not enough for a color to be light—it has to contrast and pop, almost like it’s glowing 💡💡💡 . It must fight the darkness!
• To organize into sections, slightly lighter gray boxes can give that subtle structure ⬜.

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole and started watching mobile UI/UX design tutorials 📱 on dark mode and I applied some of that to this poster. The final result is a dark-themed, highly readable poster with maps that stand out even from a distance. 💫✨

Was I a little obsessive? Probably. But it was worth it. I’m really proud of how this turned out.

25/07/2025

DALOY NG TUBIG SA ANGAT RIVER BASIN

Reworked map from the original post of Mayor Vergel Meneses' page https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19AyAymRdn/

Ang mapa na ito ay nagpapakita ng daloy ng tubig sa Angat River, mula sa Sierra Madre tungo sa Manila Bay. May 3 dam na nakatayo sa ilog: ang Angat, Ipo at Bustos.

Sa panahon ng tag-init, tungkulin ng mga dam na ito na magtabi ng tubig para sa kuryente, patubig at inumin ng mga taga Bulacan, Pampanga, at Metro Manila.

Mahalagang malaman na ang mga dam na ito ay HINDI DIREKTANG NAGDUDULOT NG sa low-lying areas. Bagkus, sila ang nag-iipon ng tubig upang hindi ito agad bumagsak sa mga bayan sa ilawod, gaya ng Plaridel, Pulilan, Calumpit at Hagonoy.

Ngunit kapag nalampasan na ang tinatawag na Normal High Water Level, kailangan nang magpakawala ng tubig ng mga dam upang hindi ito masira at magdulot ng mas malaking pinsala.

Ang proseso sa pagpapakawala ng tubig ay hindi basta-basta-- ito ay mahigpit na binabantayan ng mga ahensya ng gobyerno kagaya ng -PAGASA, NDRRMCC, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Irrigation Administration at National Power Corporation upang matiyak ang kaligtasan ng mga tao lalo na sa panahon ng tag-ulan.

Bukod sa dami ng ulan, marami pang ibang aspekto ang dapat isaalang-alang kung bakit tayo binabaha, gaya ng kapal ng kagubatan sa iraya, overdevelopment at kawalan ng mga espasyo na nakakasipsip ng tubig (permeable surfaces), at mga baradong drainage systems.