The National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) sees the 500 years of the victory of our ancestors against colonizers in the Battle of Mactan in 2021 as an opportunity to massively introduce today’s generation to the world of our ancestors.

Part of understanding the civilization our ancestors had before the arrival of the Armada de Maluco (Magellan-Elcano expedition) lies is the understanding of Philippine Muslim history.  To achieve this, the NQC has partnered with the Mindanao State University Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT).

On 11 April 2019, MSU IIT History Department signified its interest to help the NQC and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to retrieve pre-Hispanic sources in the archives in Brunei, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Tehran, and Istanbul.

Among the agenda of the partnership is the sponsorship of academic conferences, exhibits, joint publications, and research in time for the National Quincentennial Commemorations.

Emphasizing this unique aspect of the celebration is the conversion of the old Agusan Casa Real (Spanish-period provincial capitol) in Butuan City into the Museum of Philippine Pre-Hispanic History.  The NQC, through the NHCP, is also dealing with various institutions abroad to gather pre-Hispanic sources on the Philippines.  An initial benchmarking was made with the Society of Indonesian Scholars in October 2018, the Malaysian Historical Society in January 2019, and the Portuguese scholars through Philippine Ambassador to Lisbon Celia Anna Feria.

The NQC and the NHCP are also exploring possibilities of linking with the scholars and academic institutions in Thailand, Vietnam, China, India, and Japan for possible pre-Hispanic sources.