17 February 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to Mexico Catalino R. Dilem, Jr., led the members of the Philippine Embassy in attending the second of the lecture series being held at the Regional Museum of Cuauhnahuac, Palacio de Cortes, in Cuernavaca, State of Morelos, on February 11.

The second of the lecture series was conducted by Mexican Archaeologist Roberto Junco, a Researcher at the Sub-Division for Aquatic Archaelogy of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH). He spoke on the topic “La Ruta del Galleon de Manila y Su Descubrimiento Acapulco a Manila” (The Manila Galleon Route and the Discovery of the Acapulco-Manila Route).

Mr. Junco discussed the Manila Galleon trade route which started in 1565 after navigator Andres de Urdaneta discovered the tornaviaje or return route from the Philippines to Mexico.    He said that the discovery of the return route from Cebu to Acapulco, served as a catalyst in the Manila Galleon trips which lasted from 1565 to 1815, and was considered to be the longest maritime route that has ever existed.

He also talked about the Port of Manila and the Port of San Diego as the docking stations of the galleon in the Philippines and Mexico, respectively.  He enumerated  the types of  goods which the galleon carried and exchanged at these ports such as silk, perfumes, chests, chinawares, corn and spices.  Pictures of archaeological items dating back to the Galleon trade period were shown during the presentation.

During the open forum, Ambassador Dilem, Jr. answered questions from the audience about the various cultural influences that Mexico and the Philippines shared through the Manila Galleon trade. END