Regrets, old maps, and Carpio

My Inquirer column today is a companion to my post last week of Mr. Justice Carpio showing me Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys on the 1734 Murillo-Suarez- Bagay map of the Philippines where they were named: Los Bajos de Paragua and Panacot.
That post invited over 5k likes and had a very lively discussion thread that inspired the column. Take note that while "historical claims" have no basis after UNCLOS and in our territorial dispute against China. It was China that claimed "historical rights...