Free Territory of Freedomland | |
|---|---|
| Micronation (unrecognized entity) | |
 | |
| Area claimed | Spratly Islands,South China Sea |
| Claimed by | Tomás Cloma |
| Dates claimed | May 1956 (1956-05)–September 1974 (1974-09) |
TheFree Territory of Freedomland was amicronation that covered theSpratly Islands in theSouth China Sea from 1956 to 1974. It was established by Tomás Cloma.
WhileChina,Japan, thePhilippines, and many other nations have been in theSouth China Sea for many centuries, this article discusses Tomás Cloma Sr.'s claim to Freedomland for the Philippines.
In January 1935, the Committee of Reviewing Water and Land Maps of theRepublic of China published both Chinese names and English names of 132 insular features in the South China Sea.[1]
In 1947, it was reported that Captain Filemon Cloma (Tomás Cloma Sr.'s brother) was fishing offPalawan[2][3][4] when Typhoon Jennie forced him to seek shelter, leading his group of fishing vessels west of Palawan, into theSpratlys.[5] The group discovered a vast frontier which served as good fishing grounds.[3][4] Filemon and his brother Tomás consulted their maps, but could not find the islands on them. Tomás Cloma Sr. hoped to set up a fish cannery[3] and mine forguano.[citation needed] Japan had considered the area a potential source for extracting guano since the 1920s[6] and agreed to fund an expedition led by Filemon and his crew to explore the islands.[3]
In 1950,Philippine PresidentElpidio Quirino said that "as long as Taiwan held the Spratlys, the Philippines would not press its own claim".[1]
On March 15, 1956, Filemon Cloma, funded by his brother, landed on the islands with a group of men.[citation needed] On May 11, 1956, Filemon Cloma led 40 men in taking formal possession of the islands,[7][8] lying some 380 miles (612 km) west of the southern end of Palawan and named themFreedomland.[1] Tomás Cloma Sr. then issued his "Notice to the Whole World."[9] Filemon Cloma led a 40-man Filipino crew in hoisting a Filipino flag on one of the islands of Freedomland, and posted copies of that notice, along with possession notices on each of the islands[10]– 53 islands and islets with a total area of 64,976 square miles.[10] Tomás Cloma Sr. asserted that the territory was without owner since Japan renounced ownership in the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951.[citation needed]
On May 21, 1956, Tomás Cloma Sr. declared the establishment of the Free Territory of Freedomland. Ten days later, he sent his second representation to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs informing the latter that the territory claimed was named Freedomland. Tomás Cloma Sr. also appointed a government to Freedomland.[citation needed]
On July 6, 1956, Cloma declared to the world his claim and establishment of a separate government with its capital onFlat Island (also known as Patag Island).
On October 1, 1956, atNorth Danger Reef[11] in theSouth China Sea,[12][13] two Taiwanese ships—[14][15] namely, the Ning Yuan (寧遠) flotilla of the Taiwanese Navy,[12] containing naval vessels Taihe and Yongshun–[13] approached Filemon Cloma's expedition with the boat PMI-IV[8][10][2] and invited Captain Cloma (and Chief Engineer Benito Danseco, and other crew members[13]) aboard the naval vessel Tai He[13] for a conference.[16]
After the Taiwanese government burned buildings and confiscated property, Tomás and Filemon Cloma agitated for theGovernment of the Philippines to support their claims to Freedomland.[7][8][16][17][6]
In 1972, Tomás Cloma Sr. was jailed by Philippine PresidentFerdinand E. Marcos for four months for "impersonating a military officer by being called an "admiral".[18] In August 1974, Tomás Cloma Sr. and the Supreme Council of Freedomland drafted a new Constitution, declaring the country to be aPrincipality and encouraging its colonization. New citizens were naturalised, and some of them were elected to the Supreme Council, John de Mariveles among them. In August, Cloma changed the name of the country fromFreedomland toColonia and retired as titular head of state in favor of John de Mariveles with the title ofPrince.[19]
In December 1974, Tomás Cloma Sr. was arrested and forced to sign a document to convey to the Philippines whatever rights he might have had in the territory forone peso.[20][8] There are Philippine claims that they acquired the territory through that document.
In 1978, the Philippine presidentFerdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 1596 to include the majority of the Spratly Islands as being Philippine territory.[1][8]
The Freedomland principality later became known as the Kingdom of Colonia St. John, Cloma stepped down as leader of the micronation in August 1974 and was succeeded by John I, the first king of Colonia.[21]
On June 11, 1978, Philippine presidentFerdinand E. Marcos issued a decree formally incorporating the Kalayaan Island Group, an area of theSpratly Islands which covers the land claimed by Freedomland or Colonia St. John, into its national territory as theMunicipality ofKalayaan.[22] Republic Act No. 9522, which defined the archipelagic baselines of the Philippines, also claimed sovereignty over the Kalayaan Island Group.[23]
Tomás Cloma | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tomás Cloma y Arbolente (1904-09-18)September 18, 1904 |
| Died | September 18, 1996(1996-09-18) (aged 92) |
| Education | Philippine Maritime Institute |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman Lawyer |
Tomás Arbolente Cloma Sr. (bornTomás Cloma y Arbolente; 18 September 1904 – 18 September 1996) was the leader and founder of Freedomland. He was aFilipino lawyer and businessman from theprovince ofBohol. Cloma was born inPanglao to Ciriaco Cloma y Arbotante, a Spanish immigrant, and Irenea Arbolente y Bongay, a native ofPanglao,Bohol.[18] He was the owner of a fishing fleet, and owner of a private maritime training institute, thePMI Colleges (formerly known as Philippine Maritime Institute). He aspired to open a cannery and developguano deposits in the Spratlys. It was principally for economic reasons, therefore, that he claimed islands in the Spratlys.[5]
Filemon Cloma | |
|---|---|
| Born | Filemon Ciriaco Colma (1921-03-21)March 21, 1921 |
| Died | April 14, 1979(1979-04-14) (aged 58) |
| Education | Philippine Maritime Institute |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman Soldier |
Filemon Ciriaco Cloma (21 March 1921 – 14 April 1979) explored Freedomland. He was aFilipino soldier and businessman who served in the US Army Corps. under GeneralDouglas MacArthur, duringWorld War II (WWII). Cloma was born inPanglao to Ciriaco Cloma y Arbotante, a Spanish immigrant, and Irenea Arbolente y Bongay, a native ofPanglao. He faked his age and US citizenship to fight in theSignal Corps (United States Army) during the WWII Japanese invasion of thePhilippines and was chosen by Gen. MacArthur to serve as a code and cipher specialist. He escaped theBataan Death March and was engaged inguerilla warfare under the command of Lt. Col.Wendell Fertig in the 10th Military District (Tenth United States Army) until the end of World War II. After the war, he founded a sea exploration business that hired the soldiers trained byPMI Colleges, owned by his brother Tomás Cloma Sr.[citation needed] Filemon Cloma later led men on an expedition funded by Tomás Cloma Sr. to explore Freedomland and claim it for the Philippines.
Cloma introduced a distinction between hisFreedomland and the Spratlys further west. This distinction later became part of the Philippines' foreign policy. This distinction was never fully clarified. It seems that Freedomland encompasses most of what others call the Spratly Islands, but not Spratly Island itself, nor the banks and reefs lying to the west of it.[17]
Cloma's declaration was met with hostile reactions from several neighboring countries, especially Taiwan. On September 24, 1956, Taiwan reoccupied nearbyItu Aba Island (also known asTaiping Island), which it had left in 1950, and intercepted Cloma's men and vessels found within its immediate waters. ThePeople's Republic of China also restated its own claim afterward.[17]
In 2014 The Philippines sought adjudication of a territorial dispute with China at theInternational Court of Arbitration.[24] In its pleadings, the Philippines abandoned efforts to assert succession to the Cloma Claim and instead asserted a 200-mile territorial claim as anexclusive economic zone under theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.[citation needed] As a consequence, Freedomland (AKAColonia) became the only successor claimant to the Cloma territory.[25][failed verification]
The Free Territory of Freedomland should not be confused with the Principality of Freedomland or the Republic of Koneuwe which was set up by a French swindler also in the Spratlys but not on the same islands.[citation needed]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: ignored DOI errors (link)| Africa | |
|---|---|
| North America | |
| South America | |
| Antarctica | |
| Asia | |
| Atlantic islands | |
| Europe | |
| Oceania | |
| Extraterrestrial | |
| Related | |
| In popular culture |
|
