Schadow1 Expeditions - the web presence is now a Decade old!

Schadow1 Expeditions - the website (but not the mapping advocacy) will be turning a decade old on November 26. 

This is after over 35 mapping expeditions in the country, calculating more accurate heights of mountains we have mapped, placing over several hundred thousand kilometers of roads and trails, mapping over 2 million structures, and introducing several previously unknown tourist attractions in the country.

We reminisce how we have turned our hobby and passion of mapping roads and sharing these mapping data and information into words and experiences as well as videos. 

Initially, to bring experiences and faces to the men and women who have been building our maps in the Philippines.

Specialized CoViD-19 Luzon Lockdown Navigation Map Released

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its effect on the Philippines, Schadow1 Expeditions has released a specialized navigation map for front liners and consumers during the Luzon Lockdown. The map includes the features of the Humanitarian Activation map which we provide to our partner responders and at the same time, including some of the functionalities of the Donation version which includes opening hours and contact numbers of establishments.

Elevation and 3D Terrain Map of the Philippines 2020 Update

With the aim to provide our supporters and collaborators with the best available map for the country, aside from expedition-accurate navigation maps, we also provide a highly accurate topographical map of the Philippines for scientific, explorational, and military purposes. And so we released our latest high accuracy map this year based on NASADEM.

Taal Volcano Eruption and the Mapping Initiatives

On the noon of January 12, 2020, a Sunday, coming from an escalated level since March 2019, the Taal Volcano has erupted and billowed out ash plumes up to 17 kilometers up in the atmosphere, spreading its ash clouds from its crater up north to Batanes in just 4 hours. This eruption has enveloped most of South Luzon and Metro Manila with light-brown colored ash from its phreatic-magmatic eruption. The massive evacuation took place and there is a need for a navigation map for efficient response.

Tip: How To Install Schadow1 Expeditions GPS Map On Navigation Systems

Schadow1 Expeditions shares its mapping data with the open source and crowdsourcing community. Hence from its numerous expeditions all over the Philippines for the past decade, over 2.5 million of its data has been shared and integrated to OpenStreetMap. Data from our expeditions are being compiled for offline use to Garmin™ GPS devices. The following is a guide on how to install our maps to your device so that you will never get lost in the Philippines.

3D Terrain GPS Navigation Map of the Philippines - Newest GPS maps in PH

Schadow1 Expeditions released stunning and highly functional offline GPS navigation map for the Philippines upon the arrival of the new year for its advocacy on assuring that a Filipino would not be a stranger to his own motherland. With these maps, you would never get lost in the Philippines. With enormous accuracy and functional elevation details for road trips and hiking, the offline GPS map for the Philippines has never been this accurate.

Aftermath of the Battle of Marawi

 

Marawi is the capital city of the province of Lanao del Sur in the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. It is considered the center of commerce in the region, being the gateway to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. On May 23, 2017, the Abu Sayyaf and Maute Group, both ISIL-inspired extremists factions in the Philippines, has held the city hostage which resulted to a 5-month long battle with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

LIST: 99 Villages and Subdivisions Traversed by the Valley Fault System

The Valley Fault System is a dextral strike-slip type fault that traverses primarily in the eastern portion of Metro Manila and other provinces such as Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna that sums up to a total length of 146.71 kilometers. It traverses a densely populated area in southern Luzon piercing through over 90 private villages and subdivisions with over 6,000 buildings on top of the fault line.

Barangays and Buildings Traversed by the Valley Fault System

The Valley Fault System, which is composed of the West and East Valley Fault traverses to several provinces all the way from Bulacan in the north to Laguna in the south with a total length of 146.71 kilometers. This also includes the whole length of Metro Manila from Quezon City all the way down to Muntinlupa City. About 80 barangays are affected and more than six thousand structures sitting on top of the fault line with over 2 million people in the danger zone.

10 Longest Sandbars of the Philippines

Sandbars are one of the sought-after and picturesque tourist sites in the Philippines. Normally characterized with a fine white sand emerging mid-sea or extending out of an island that reveals itself during low tide. Sometimes they are also called shoals, but a sandbar is specifically made up of sand. The best thing about the Philippines, being an archipelago composed over 7,400 islands, is that there are thousands of sandbars and pristine beaches. And these are 10 of the longest sandbars in the Philippines.

The Breathtaking Mardanas Island of Tawi-Tawi

Midway between the water-world town of Sitangkai in Tawi-Tawi to the Philippine-Malaysian border lies an uninhabited island. An island gifted with fine white sand, green grass and palm trees at its inner areas and vibrant turquoise seas with rich underwater ecosystem. This is Mardanas!

Panguan Island, the most remote island paradise of the Philippines

Panguan Island is the most remote island of the southernmost province in the Philippines, Tawi-Tawi. It is located just at the edge of the border between Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It is also called Malamanok Island by some locals. A white-sand beach and turquoise waters getaway.

Bud Bongao, Tawi-Tawi's Overwatch and Sacred Peak

Tawi-Tawi is composed of 107 highlands and is known for its numerous sandbars that are spread along the shallow waters of the northernmost extremities of Celebes Sea. A mountain, in solitude, towers at 342 meters above sea level amidst the flat island of Bongao. It is a masterpiece of nature as it shows its prowess with vertical limestone rocks and lush forests. Bud Bongao stands as the sacred mountain of the land.

Tawi-Tawi: A mapping expedition to the Philippines Southernmost Sojourn

Tawi-Tawi is the southernmost province of the Philippines with about one hundred seven (107) islands scattered across the Sulu archipelago. It is bounded on the north by the Sulu Sea and the south by the Celebes Sea. The province is known to possess beautiful islands with powdery white and pink beaches, shallow turquoise waters, flourishing ecosystem and numerous sandbars. Hence, our original mission was to map the province for tourism development. Chain of events has made this expedition more complicated as we have originally planned.

Mapping Expedition to Palawan's Southern Frontier - Balabac

Bordering Philippines and Malaysia, there lies a group of islands at the southernmost tip of the province of Palawan. Unknown to many, these islands have one of the best and fine beaches in the country and probably the world. Composed of over thirty islands and numerous sandbars including endemic species such as the Philippine Mouse-Deer and the Philippine Eagle. Schadow1 Expeditions was there to map it and see for ourselves the beauty that these islands possess.

Taking Risks on Advocating Change Through Mapping

Change is the only constant existence in the world. It is inevitable. And change can lead to the betterment of society and can also lead to its destruction. Yet as citizens, we are tasked as humans, to contribute to uplifting the quality of lives of people. We owe this for sharing our time in this world through co-existence. In this ever changing world; paths, directions, and locations may change. And people must remain to be informed of such changes and so we may adapt. We need a map to graphically visualize them. We need expeditions to experience them, and we need stories to live by them.

What led me from Mapping Advocacy to Disaster Risk Reduction Management

"My name is Ervin Malicdem, a Superman and a Scientist". This is how I call my self like an answering machine whenever someone ask my name when I was only four years old.

It has been my childhood dream to fly and become a scientist as far as my memory takes me back. I've been exposed to encyclopedias and been reading them instead of watching cartoons in TV. And when my parents gave me shopping money during Christmas season, instead of buying toys, I went to the bookstore to buy any hard-bound book about space, constellations, and maps. What led me from Mapping Advocacy to Disaster Risk Reduction Management?

Cyber-libel Case for Exposing Hazards Information

October of last year, I was challenged by a real-estate developer to which its mother-project is located at a large swath of land in Cavite by filing a complaint against me for allegedly committing a crime on this newly minted RA10175 law including cyber-libel on one of its sections. This is amidst using facts from scientific data and observations. This is with a purpose to make people aware on all aspects of its reality so as to help future buyers discern what they are about to undertake or for current homeowners to make preparations with the impending dangers of living in the community.

Mount Madjaas Mapping Expedition

Rivaled as by Nangtud as the tallest mountain of Panay Island in the Visayas, situated at Culasi, Antique, Mount Madjaas is one of the difficult climbs in the country yet provides one of the best views at its summit. Probably with its romantic scenery, this mapping expedition turned to a romantic twist which will forever be a memory to behold and to re-live.

Mozilla - OpenStreetMap Philippines - Map the Philippines Talk

November 17, 2015

It is Geography Awareness Week in the Philippines... where geography and maps provide a vital role for the community and the whole country itself. The Mozilla Foundation in the Philippines has realized the importance of the combination of opensource, crowdsource, and a map. And with this, they have partnered with the Map the Philippines Project and OpenStreetMap Philippines to provide and introduction talk to maps and its importance to the country.