 History of the people in the area took on a new significance in modern times owing to the Spratly Islands dispute.A gold Ornamental Pendant, from the Tabon caves in the island of Palawan, is an image of Garuda, the eagle bird who is the mount of Hindu deity Vishnu.The discovery of sophisticated Hindu imagery and gold artifacts in Tabon caves has been linked to those found from Óc Eo archaeological site in Thoại Sơn District in southern An Giang Province of Vietnam in the Mekong River Delta.