At a recent conference The God Culture, Timothy Jay Schwab, spouted off more incredible lies about the existence of elephants in the Philippines.
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4:12:19 Are there elephants in the Philippines? Did you see any elephants on your way here today? Were there any elephants out there dancing with their tribes this morning? Naw, no elephants in the Philippines. Not today, not today. But in Solomon's time absolutely 100%. Now, do you know why we know that? Because of Kalinga. Because you have archeology that proves ancient elephant bones have been found and they pre-date history. You had elephants in this nation all along. They went extinct, again, the fault of the Spanish because they were in charge in the 16th century, 17th century sometime around then. But even then Father Alcino drew pictures of elephants that he saw in that time.Even Pigafetta in his journal when Magellan came in 1521 tells you he saw elephants in at least three different islands. They were here. Now, academia will then come along and tell you guys when you go to school you guys when you go to school, "Well that's because the Sultanate of Sulu, uh, brought 600 elephants to the Philippines." Ok, that's a true statement and a complete absolute lie all at once and this is the trick.
Yes, he brought them to one island the island of Jolo and that's it. Those 600 elephants were there and we can track them. Those elephants then were taken to Sabah, to the kingdom of Sabah. Now, some may have stayed on Jolo but still, why are we finding them in Kalinga? And the ones in Kalinga are older than the 1300's when the Sultanate of Sulu lifted.
There are three lies in this excerpt from Tim's presentation. Let's take them one-by-one.
1. In King Solomon's time there were Elephants in the Philippines
The whole point of even mentioning elephants being in the Philippines is because the Bible tells us King Solomon's fleet brought back ivory from Tarshish and Tim believes the Philippines is Tarshish as well as Ophir. In fact he says quite clearly that is Ophir and Tarshish are the same area.
4:20:17 Ophir, Tarshish, Sheba are the same area
Luzon is Ophir and Mindanao is Tarshish.
Where is Tarshish? Mindanao, Philippines. This is the Philippines.
Solomon's Treasure, pg. 91
That means what Tim has to prove is not the mere existence of elephants in the Philippines during the time of King Solomon. He has to prove there was a bustling trade in Philippine ivory. This he does not do. He is very quick to show his audience samples of Filipino gold work but not once has he shown any Filipino ivory work which dates to the time of Solomon or earlier. Instead his proof that Solomon's navy sailed all the way to the Philippines for ivory are the bones of prehistoric elephants.
4:28:26 Ok, uh elephants. By the way not just Kalinga but also Apyao, Cagayan, Pangasinan, Metro Manila, Panay, Palawan. You got some found in Cebu, actually buffalo but same thing they have ivory in their horns and uh also in Mindoro. And then you have Davao, and, uh, Jolo, which they should be found in Jolo, that's the history, that's ok. But even Stegodon the giant dinosaur elephant has been found in the Philippines. Both in Manila at Fort Bonifacio as well as down in Davao. So, ivory in the Philippines? Absolutely. Pre-historic times. 100%
Pre-historic times? You gotta be kidding me! Tim is using the bones of pre-historic elephants, elephant dinosaurs even, as proof that King Solomon's navy sailed to the Philippines regularly to trade for ivory. But all those animals were dead long before they arrived! Suffice to say ancient, pre-historic fossils are no proof that there were elephants in the Philippines during the time of Solomon or that his navy sailed to the Philippines for ivory.
2. Jesuit Father Alcina Drew Pictures of Elephants in the Philippines
In his book Solomon's Treasure Tim mentions Father Alcina on page 100.
Elephants were still roaming the Philippines in the 17th century according to Jesuit Ignacio Francisco Alcino in his multivolume “Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas” (1668) in which their “ivory was used for bracelets, ear pendants, daggers and sword hilts, and even jewelry boxes” at that time.
Solomon's Treasure, pg 100
Elephants were still roaming the Philippines in the 17th century? That is actually what Tim's source says though his source is not Alcina's book but an OPINION column by Philippine historian Ambeth Ocampo.
It seems that elephants roamed the Philippines not just in prehistoric times but as late as the 17th century, as described by the Jesuit Ignacio Francisco Alcina in his multivolume “Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas” (1668) as a “torre de carne” (tower of flesh) that some Christian saints referred to as “Goliath” because of the size.
Alcina noted that the Visayan word for elephant was “gadya,” and that the ivory (“garing” in Tagalog, hence one of the attributes of the Virgin Mary, “Tower of Ivory,” is “Torre ng Garing”) was used for bracelets, ear pendants, daggers and sword hilts, and even jewelry boxes.
According to Alcina, elephants were not to be found in the Visayas but in Jolo.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/75278/a-jesuit-elephant-in-17th-century-manila
Can it really be said elephants were roaming the Philippines when they were not to be found in the Visayas? Ocampo is most certainly using hyperbole to describe Alcina's description of elephants and even adds the qualifier "it seems" while Tim gives the impression the Philippines was full of elephants in the 1600's. In fact he accuses the Spanish of causing Philippine elephants to go extinct! Where is the proof of that? He has none of course!
Ocampo also mentions nothing about Alcina making any drawing of elephants. So where does Tim get this idea that Alcina drew pictures of elephants? He does not cite from Alcina and wrongly calls him Alcino. Is that the work of a man doing in-depth research? Is that the work of a TEAM doing in-depth research? Surely if there was actually a The God Culture team one of the members would have been tasked with finding Alcino's book which is available in a 3 volume hardcopy set from UST. Well it didn't happen because there is no The God Culture team. It's Timothy Jay Schwab all by himself. What a joke that Tim's "monumental case for the Philippines no one can disprove" is an OPINION column and not the actual primary source.
Alcina's History of the Bisayas is not fully available online and I do not have access to a hardcopy but it appears he did draw a picture of an elephant.
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However seeing as not only did Tim not include this picture in his book or his presentation but also Alcina's History of the Bisayas does not prove King Solomon's navy sailed to the Philippines to trade for ivory all of this is impertinent. The lie here is that the testimony of Alcina means anything for Tim's "monumental case for the Philippines no one can disprove" when it absolutely does not.
3. Pigafetta Saw Elephants on Three Islands in the Philippines
The third and most stupid lie here is Tim's claim that Antonio Pigafetta saw elephants on three islands. In his book Tim tells us only that Pigafetta saw elephants in the Philippines.
Even history agrees as in 1521, Pigafetta witnessed elephants as he mentioned them multiple times especially in Palawan.
“When we arrived at the city (Palawan), we were obliged to wait about two hours in the prahu, until there came thither two elephants covered with silk...” –Pigafetta, 1521
Solomon's Treasure, pg. 102
But now he tells us he saw them on THREE islands. See how the lie has now been embellished?
The fact is he did not see any elephants in the Philippines whatsoever. Pigafetta does not mention seeing elephants until after leaving Palawan and going South West to Borneo. Tim falsely inserts Palawan as the name of the city which completely contradicts Pigafetta.
Section 110: Going from Palaoan towards the South-west, after a run of ten leagues, we reached another island.
Section 111: When we arrived at the city, we were obliged to wait about two hours in the prahu, until there came thither two elephants covered with silk, and twelve men, each of whom carried a porcelain vase covered with silk, for conveying and wrapping up our presents. We mounted the elephants, and those twelve men preceded us, carrying the vases with our presents
It's simply a straight up lie to say that Pigafetta saw elephants in the Philippines when he very clearly did not. But even if he did see elephants that does not prove that King Solomon's navy sailed to the Philippines to trade for ivory or that Filipinos circumnavigated Africa for 1,000 years to trade with Greeks and Israelites as Tim claims.
These false claims about elephants in the Philippines form a core part of Tim's argument for the Philippines being Tarshish and Ophir. He calls this part of his "resource test" and he acts like he is the only one who has ever made this test. Samuel Purchas, a historian Tim absolutely despises and slanders, did this same test and came out with India as the winner. Even Tim claims India has all the resources of Ophir. But Ophir is not Tarshish and the ivory came from Tarshish. It is very clear from the Bible that Tarshish and Ophir are not the same region or place and that Tarshish is to the west of Israel somewhere within the Mediterranean basin.
Despite wherever Tarshish was located the fact remains The God Culture, Timothy Jay Schwab, continues to lie about elephants in the Philippines.
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