If you’ve ever wondered how the shapes of the islands, the elevation of peaks, the depths of seas are measured and translated into easy readable maps that common people can understand, it’s all about the science of geodesy and datums. Even before Google Maps ever existed, surveyors and scientist uses datums or geodetic reference points to collectively gather information on the lay of the land and sea in longitude and latitudes. That is why I had much appreciation to finally visit the Luzon Datum of 1911 site in Marinduque . A pivotal refernce point used to triangulate networks of different datums in the country. It is, literally the center of the Philippines in a geodetic sense.
