The balangay replica docked at CCP Harbor Manila after its South East Asian expedition.

The Balangay (formerly synonymous with Butuan boat) is a plank boat adjoined by a carved-out plank
edged through pins and dowels. It was first mentioned in the 16th Century in the Chronicles of Pigafetta,
and is known as the oldest watercraft found in the Philippines. The oldest known balangay has been
carbon-dated to 320 CE.

The balangay was the first wooden watercraft excavated in Southeast Asia and is evidence of early
Filipino craftsmanship and their seamanship skills during pre-colonial times. The Balanghai Festival is
also a celebration in Butuan, Agusan del Norte to commemorate the coming of the early migrants that
settled the Philippines, on board the Balangay boats. When the first Spaniards arrived in the 16th
century,they found the Filipinos living in well-organized independent villages called barangays. The
name barangay originated from balangay, the Austronesian word for "sailboat".

The word balangay

Barangay, or Balangay, was one of the first native words the Spaniards learned in the Philippines. When
Antonio Pigafetta went ashore to parley with the ruler of Mazua, they sat together in a boat drawn up
on shore which Pigafetta called a balangai. This word appears as either balangay or barangay, with the
same meaning, in all the major languages of the Philippines, and the earliest Spanish dictionaries make it
clear that it was pronounced "ba-la-ngay."

On the other hand, when the Spaniards reached Luzon, they found this word for boat also being used for
the smallest political unit of Tagalog society.

This article is restricted on the terms Balangay or Barangay referring to the boat only and not the
‘barangay’ as community.

The use of the balangay

Ipanitika, a type of balangay used by the Austronesian Tao people of Orchid Island, Taiwan

Illustration of an armed merchant biroko by Rafael Monleón (1890)

As in Northern Luzon particularly in the province of Cagayan, balangay is used as a medium in getting
food for the Ibanags. The Cagayan river system and the Babuyan Channel provided the Ibanags with fish
as well as avenues of trade as far as Ilocos coast, so that boats were an ordinary part of daily life. The
common word for boat was barangay, a term sometimes extended to the crew. Large vessels were
called Biray or Biwong.
The Visayans and Mindanaons had a different way of using balangay compared to that of the people of
Northern Luzon. Large ones were used for carrying cargo and were called bidok, biroko, balutu, baroto,
biray, or lapid.

With the balangay’s size, it was used for cargo and raiding purposes giving proof that Butuan played a
central role in trade throughout the region of the Philippine islands and with neighboring area. Today,
Balanghai Festival is a celebration in Butuan, Agusan del Norte, it is to commemorate the coming of the
early migrants that settled in the Philippines, on board the Balangay boats.

It is also held that the balangay also helped spread the settlement of the Austronesian people around
the Philippines and neighboring regions of Maritime Southeast Asia.[7] The Tao people of Taiwan have
traditionally been adept at crafting balangays, a tradition that still continues in modern times. Balangays
are held as a symbol of their people. They are regarded as descendants of the vessels used by the
ancestors of the Tao people when they settled Orchid Island from Batanes at approximately 1200 CE.

Boat-making: Tradition and Process

The balangay was the first wooden watercraft excavated in Southeast Asia. The well known barangay
was an edge-pegged, plank-built boat constructed on a keel.

The balangay was basically a plank boat put together by joining the carved out planks edge to edge,
using pins or dowels. The planks, which were made from a hardwood called doongon in the Philippines
(Heritiera littoralis), were fastened together every 12 centimetres, also by hardwood pin measuring
some 19 centimetres long, which were driven into holes on the edge of each plank. On the inner side of
the boat the planks were provided, at regular intervals, with raised rectangular lugs, carved from the
same plank, through which holes were bored diagonally from the sides to the surface.

Rib like structures made of lengths of wood were then lashed against these lugs to provide a flexible
bulkhead, to reinforce and literally sew the boat together. Cordage known as cabo negro (Arenga
pinnata) was used for the purpose. The hull, measuring about 15 meters long and 4 meters wide, was
ordinarily semicircular in cross section and with no marked keel. Provided with huge outriggers, the boat
was propelled either by a sail or by paddling.

The boats were finely manufactured without any blueprints and were taught to be made from one
generation to another and uses a technique still used by boat makers of Sibutu Island in the Southern
Philippines.
Early Boats in Butuan

Since the 10th century, Butuan appeared to have been in good relations with the Srivijaya. Being located
on the coast of Mindanao, balangays were often docking at Butuan bay keeping good business between
the local people of Butuan and traders from the neighboring empire and neighboring islands. Various
goods, extending to the statue of Avalokiteśvara and the Golden Tara of Butuan, were traded across
Maritime Southeast Asia.

The balangay boats were discovered in the late 1970s in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte. A total of nine
wooden boats were accidentally found by locals searching for alluvial gold on land near the Masao River.
The site was in Sitio Ambangan, Barrio Libertad within an older dried-up river channel, perhaps a former
tributary of the Masao River.

Three of the nine balangays discovered have been excavated by the National Museum and are currently
preserved. The first balangay or Butuan Boat One, was discovered in 1976 and is now displayed in
Balangay Shrine Museum in Libertad, Butuan City. It was radiocarbon tested and was dated to 320 CE.
The Butuan Boat Two was dated to 1250 CE and is now located at the Maritime Hall of the National
Museum in Manila. The Butuan Boat Five, excavated at Bancasi, Libertad in 1986, has been dated to
1215 CE and was transferred to the Butuan Regional Museum and is undergoing preservation. The six
other boats, which are yet to be excavated, remain in their original waterlogged condition which is
proven to be the best way to preserve the said artifacts.

In 2012, National Museum archaeologists discovered what seems to be a massive balangay "mother
boat", estimated to be 25 meters long, versus the average 15-meter length of the other balangays at the
excavation site. The leader of the research team, Dr. Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia, reported the treenails
or wooden pegs that were used in the construction of the mother boat to be around 5 centimeters in
diameter. As of June 2013, excavations of the find are still ongoing.

The first wooden watercraft excavated in Southeast Asia, the balangay is only found in the Philippines
where a flotilla of such prehistoric wooden boats exists. Nine specimens were discovered in 1976 in
Butuan, Agusan Del Norte, Mindanao, and 3 have already been excavated.

Declarations

National Cultural Treasures

The balangays of Butuan was declared by President Corazon Aquino as National Cultural Treasures by
virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 86 on 9 March 1987 and the vicinity of excavation as
archaeological reserves.
National Boat

In November 2015, the Balangay was declared as the National Boat of the Philippines by the House
Committee on Revisions of Laws. The Balangay was chosen so that the "future generations of Filipinos
will recognize the invaluable contribution of their forefathers in shaping the country’s maritime tradition
and in passing on the values of solidarity, harmony, determination, courage and bravery.

House Bill 6366 declares the Balangay as the National Boat of the Philippines.

The Balangay Voyage

In 2009, the Kaya ng Pinoy Inc. that conquered Mt. Everest in 2006 announced plans to re-construct the
Balangay boat, with the help of Badjao and other tribal members. The Balangay will be sailed, tracing
the routes of the Filipino Ancestors during the waves of Austronesian settlement through Maritime
Southeast Asia and the Pacific.[18] The special wood for construction came from the established
traditional source in southern Philippines, specifically Tawi-Tawi. The team have pinpointed Badjao
master boat builders, whose predecessors actually built such boats, and used traditional tools during the
construction. The balangay was constructed at Manila Bay, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Complex.

The Balangays, named Diwata ng Lahi, Masawa Hong Butuan, and Sama Tawi-Tawi, navigated without
the use of modern instruments, and only through the skills and traditional methods of the Filipino Sea
Badjao people. They Journeyed from Manila Bay to the southern tip of Sulu, stopping off at numerous
Philippine cities along the way to promote the project. The journey around the Philippine islands
covered a distance of 2,108 nautical miles or 3,908 kilometers.

The second leg saw the balangay navigate throughout South East Asia through to 2010, then Micronesia
and Madagascar the following year. The Balangay then ventured across the Pacific onward to the
Atlantic and all the way around the world and back to the Philippines in 2012 to 2013.

The balangay was navigated by the old method used by the ancient mariners – steering by the sun, the
stars, the wind, cloud formations, wave patterns and bird migrations. Valdez and his team relied on the
natural navigational instincts of the Badjao. Apart from the Badjao, Ivatan are also experts in using the
boat. The organisers say that the voyage "aims to bring us back to the greatness of our ancestors and
how colonialism robbed these away from us and produced the Filipino today".Their vessel, named
"Ngandahig" can also be compared to the Hokulea voyages, and the voyages of the Polynesian Voyaging
Society.
'Balangays' arrive after 14-month historic voyage

ABS-CBN News

Posted at Dec 13 2010 09:47 AM | Updated as of Dec 13 2010 09:34 PM

MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) - The flotilla of "balangay," consisting of 3 replicas of pre-Spanish
Filipino boats, which sailed the Philippines and Asia for over 13 months arrived in one piece at Manila
Bay before 9 a.m. on Monday.

The primitive boats sailed their final leg today from Sangley Point in Cavite and docked at the Cultural
Center of the Philippines (CCP) harbor center.

The 3 boats arrived at the harbor at around 8 a.m., and its 39-member crew welcomed by former
President Fidel Ramos and Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa.

Ramos said the message of the historic voyage is clear: that the Filipino people can conquer any
challenge if they stand united.

"We can confront any challenge. Kaya mo kahit na anong hamon basta magkaisa, nagtutulong at lahat
ng Pinoy ay sama-sama sa isang hangarin. Whether it’s Mount Everest, economy, fighting corruption,
peace in Mindanao - kaya natin iyan. Kaya ng Pinoy ito," he told radio dzMM.

Team leader Art Valdez said the voyage proves that old wooden boats can still be used to cross
seas and visit other countries.

He added that the voyage also proved that with a dedicated crew, anything is possible. "We are
all on the same boat. We must stand together and be united," he said.

The balangay was built using no steel, just bamboo, wood and fiber, almost the same way it was
when originally used way back in the year 320 A.D.
 
The historic voyage started last Sept. 1, 2009. The team was able to travel to 6 Southeast Asian
countries namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore.

It was said to be an impossible task, but the crew never gave up. The crew survived on rice, dried
fish, saging saba. Many times, they fished for their food.

The balangay was ushered to the CCP harbor square by the world champion dragon boat team.

Ochoa praised the team for their sacrifice and love for country.

A huge crowd gathered to welcome the balangay. Celebration ceremonies were held to thank all
those who supported the expedition.
The crew gave thanks to God for keeping them safe and alive all throughout the dangerous
journey. A Filipino fiesta was enjoyed by all to close the program.

The Balanghai or Balangay or Butuan Boat is a plank boat adjoined by a carved-out plank edged
through pins and dowels.
It was first mentioned in the 16th Century in the Chronicles of Pigafetta, and is known as the
oldest pre-Hispanic watercraft found in the Philippines.

The first wooden watercraft excavated in Southeast Asia, the Balangay is only found in the
Philippines where a flotilla of such prehistoric wooden boat exists throughout the world.

Nine specimens were discovered in 1976 in Butuan City, Agusan Del Norte, Mindanao, 3 of
which have been excavated.

Examination and extensive investigation reveals that the extant boats found in the excavation site
date back to 320, 990 and 1250 AD. - with a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News
Massive balangay 'mother boat' unearthed in Butuan

Published August 9, 2013 4:04pm

Updated August 16, 2013 12:00am

By TJ DIMACALI, GMA News

The largest sailing vessel of its kind yet discovered is being unearthed in Butuan City in Mindanao, and it
promises to rewrite Philippine maritime history as we know it.

Estimated to be around 800 years old, the plank vessel may be centuries older than the ships used by
European explorers in the 16th century when they first came upon the archipelago later named after a
Spanish king, Las Islas Felipenas.

The find also underscores theories that the Philippines, and Butuan in particular, was a major center for
cultural, religious, and commercial relations in Southeast Asia.

'Nails' the size of soda cans

National Museum archeologist Dr. Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia, who leads the research team at the site,
says almost everything about the newly-discovered "balangay" is massive.

She holds up her hand and curls her fingers into a circle, as if grasping a soda can. "That's just one of the
treenails used in its construction," Bolunia says.

An aptly descriptive term, a "treenail" is a wooden peg or dowel used in place of iron nails in
boatbuilding.

So with "nails" that size, exactly how big is this boat?

Bolunia produces a piece of onionskin paper with a carefully-inked map of the archeological site. On the
upper corner is a roughly pea pod-shaped boat wreck, about 15 meters long, one of eight similarly-sized
balangays discovered at the site since the 1970's.
But right next to it, discovered only in 2012, are what seem to be the remains of a ninth balangay so
wide that it could easily fit the smaller craft into itself twice over – and that's just the part that's been
excavated so far.

Although the boat has yet to be fully excavated, it's estimated to be at least 25 meters long.

Aside from the treenails, the individual planks alone are each as broad as a man's chest – roughly twice
the width of those used in other balangays on the site. The planks are so large that they can no longer
be duplicated, because there are no more trees today big enough to make boards that size, according to
Bolunia.

Visiting the site

GMA News visited the site on August 14, and found the excavation site waterlogged pending further
digging and study. However, Bolunia assured that keeping the artifacts in this condition for now is
actually beneficial for their conservation.

"We just let the water seep in and leave it at that because it's more protected than if you dry it. If you
expose it without proper conservation then it will disintegrate," she told GMA News.

Jorge Absite, officer-in-charge of the Butuan Museum, is hopeful that the new discovery will yield more
insights about our Filipino ancestors.

The Butuan Museum is tasked with supervising the care and protection of the balangay excavations and
any artifacts found therein.

"Ito ang kasagutan sa 'missing link' ng kultura natin, kung ano ba talaga ang uri ng pamumuhay meron
ang mga ninuno natin (This is the answer to a 'missing link' in our culture, on what kind of life our
ancestors really had)," Absite said.

"(Filipinos') ability to construct or build big boats is not something new... Even before the Chinese came
to the Philippines, the Filipinos went to China through the Butuanons," Bolunia underscored.
Proceeding with caution

Historians, and Bolunia herself, caution that much work still needs to be done before the boat can be
conclusively dated and identified.

"(The newly-discovered boat) will need more technical verification to establish its connection and
relationship with the other boats already excavated, so that we can know its date, boat typology, and
technology," said Dr. Maria Bernadette L. Abrera, professor and chairperson of the Department of
History at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, in an email interview.

"We have to be careful," said Ramon Villegas, a scholar who has done extensive research on pre-colonial
Philippine history. "There has not been enough time to study (the artifacts). It could be a Spanish boat or
Chinese junk."

Aside from carbon dating to determine the age of the wood, the construction techniques used and even
the type of wood itself need to be ascertained before anyone can come to a definitive conclusion.

"Everything depends on the construction, on how the boat was built, before you can properly call it a
'balangay'," explains archeologist and anthropologist Dr. Jesus Peralta. He said he has yet to see the
newfound boat for himself.

Nevertheless, the boat's proximity to previous sites of buried balangays promises to send ripples
through the academic world.

"It's a 'mother boat'," Bolunia says with little hesitation, "and it's changing the way we think about
ancient Filipino seafarers."

Rewriting Philippine history

It has long been established that Filipinos traveled across Southeast Asia as early as the 10th century,
reaching as far as Champa – what is now the eastern coast of Vietnam – in groups of balangays.
These groups or flotillas have always been thought to consist of similarly-sized small vessels, an idea
perpetuated by the term "barangay" – the smallest administrative division of the present-day Philippine
government.

But, according to Bolunia, this new discovery suggests that these may just have been support vessels for
a much larger main boat, where trade goods and other supplies were likely to have been held for
safekeeping.

The discovery also suggests that seafaring Filipinos were much more organized and centralized than
previously thought.

Butuan as a major center of culture and trade

"This balangay reinforces the findings of the earlier excavations about the role of Butuan as a
commercial and population center in precolonial Philippines," Abrera told GMA News.

"Butuan seaport had long-time trade links with Champa and Guandong (China). You can retrace the
importance of (the newly-discovered boat) by utilizing it as an archeological key to that period when
Butuan was a busy link to the pan-Asian cultural and commercial intercourse," historian Arnold M.
Azurin told GMA News via Facebook chat.

In fact, Filipino seafarers from Butuan were already exploring Asia over a thousand years ago, well ahead
of our Chinese neighbors: as early as 1001, the Song Dynasty recorded the arrival of a diplomatic mission
from the "Kingdom of Butuan."

"In 1003 AD, a Butuan chieftain petitioned the Chinese Imperial Court to allow it to bring its products
direct to Guandong—instead of using Champa as the entrepôt (main trading post)," Azurin added.

However, according to Azurin, the petition was declined because the Court insisted on regulating trade
via Champa.

He also says that Butuan may also have played a major role in the spread of culture and religion in the
Philippines long before Christianity and even Islam came to the islands.
"The boat's possible deeper significance is that it may be one of the carriers of Hindu-Buddhist cultural
influence in the Philippine Archipelago long before Islam and Christianity arrived here. Many scholars
also say that the baybayin script arrived here through the same connection with Champa. Hence, you
can deepen the cultural legacy of our ancestors," Azurin said.

Older than Magellan and Jung He

While the newfound boat has yet to be accurately dated, its construction and position directly alongside
a balangay from the 1200's strongly suggest that it is also a balangay from the same time period.

If so, then the boat predates by hundreds of years Magellan's arrival, and death, in the Philippines in
1521 and even the Chinese explorer Zheng He's expedition across Asia in 1400.

"For more than a thousand years, the trade and settlement patterns and routes across Asia connected
certain islands (of the Philippines), especially those with good harbors and steady supply of local
products," Azurin said.

"Highly interesting is the mention of slaves-for-sale in (Magellan's chronicler) Pigafetta's account of the
first circumnaviation: Raja Humabon boasted to Magellan that some boatloads of slaves had just left
Cebu for Cambodia and Champa—likely in need of warm bodies for their wars of succession, or for new
stonecutters for their megalithic shrines," he added.

Could Filipino craftsmen, sent abroad on balangays, have helped build ancient Asian monuments like
Angkor Wat?

"That's a possible conjecture, considering that archeologists like Robert Fox, H. Otley Beyer and others
have pointed out that some islands in southern Philippines had communities linked to (these places),"
he said.

Continuing a seaworthy tradition

In any case, the "mother boat" and the smaller balangays in Butuan were definitely made for exploring
the high seas, according to Dr. Bolunia.
She says their overall shape and construction are suited to navigating deep ocean waters more than
shallow rivers. The presence of a quarter rudder and sails would also indicate a sea-going vessel,
although these have yet to be found, Dr. Bolunia says.

"That's especially true for a boat this size," she says of the giant balangay.

Even today, the Sama-Badjao of Sulu still practice boatbuilding techniques that are strikingly similar to
those used in constructing the Butuan boats.

In 2010, replica balangays built by Sama-Badjao craftsmen and manned by Filipino adventurers
completed a 14,000-km journey across Southeast Asia, proving the seaworthiness of the original
balangays and the traditional woodcraft used to construct them.

One of the boats, the 15-meter-long "Diwata ng Lahi," is now on permanent display outside the National
Museum in Manila.

Textual evidence of large boats

Villegas believes it was only a matter of time before a boat of this size was found, pointing out the
historical accounts about similarly grand Filipino vessels.

For example, Pigafetta also documented the existence of a boat fit for a king: "We saw come two long
boats, which they call Ballanghai, full of men. In the largest of them was their king sitting under an
awning of mats," he wrote.

Native boats "intended for cargo capacity or seagoing raids" could be "as long as 25 meters," said noted
historian Dr. William Henry Scott in his book, "Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and
Society".

Scott also hinted at the existence of even more impressive vessels: "The most celebrated Visayan vessel
was the warship called karakoa, (which) could mount forty (meter-long oars) on a side."
"The care and technique with which (Filipinos) build them makes their ships sail like birds, while ours are
like lead in comparison," Scott quoted a Spanish priest as having written in 1667.

However, no large Filipino vessels have been discovered and excavated – until now, if the Butuan
"mother boat" is indeed of ancient origins.

"Historians have always known there were other (large) boats. We should expect to find big boats
because (we know) they existed," Villegas said.

"It's just that the National Museum only now has the funds to do the excavations. There's a lot to be
found even just in Butuan," he added.

Lingering mysteries of Butuan

Dr. Bolunia and her team plan to return to Butuan in September to complete the excavation, and
hopefully to date the massive new find.

They also plan to take a core sample from the ground in the hopes of answering one of the biggest
mysteries surrounding the Butuan balangays.

Dr. Bolunia explains that the archeological site, although now inland, was once an alcove that opened
out to the sea. She says that all the balangays were found "drydocked" on what was once the Butuan
seashore.

That the vessels were so well preserved is largely because they were buried intact, and the submergence
of the area over succeeding centuries kept the wood from decaying.

But exactly how did the Butuan balangays get buried there in the first place?

Dr. Bolunia says there are two competing theories: either the boats were intentionally buried, or they
were left behind after a sudden cataclysm – such as a landslide from an earthquake.
If the boats were purposely abandoned, why did the builders take the trouble of burying them? But, on
the other hand, where is the evidence of any natural calamity that might have befallen the boats and
their builders?

These are among the many remaining questions that face probers of the Philippines' ancient past. If Dr.
Bolunia's hunches are correct about the latest find in Butuan, the mother boat could be the key to
unlocking answers about how our Filipino ancestors lived, explored, and fought. — with Howie
Severino/ELR, GMA News
Archeologists to resume excavation of remaining Balangay boats in Butuan

Monday, May 28, 2012 05:27 AM Views : 1555by:Robert E. Roperos

BUTUAN CITY, May 28 (PIA) -- Six field archeologists from the National Museum of the Philippines in
Metro Manila arrived here recently to resume the excavation of the remaining six out of nine balangay
boats in Ambangan, Barangay Libertad, this city; three had already been excavated in the late 70s.

Erlisa Magdale, museum guide and curator of the Caraga region's national museum said the field
archeologists were given one month to finish the excavation of the remaining balangay boats in
Barangay Libertad believed to be the site of the old Butuan River where these Balangay boats traversed,
and used by the neighboring empires and islands to trade with the natives.

The new excavation activity was made early this year following the excavation mapping conducted in
December 2011 with personnel from the National Museum, Magdale said.

The realization of the project was made possible because in the entire Asian region, it is only in the
Philippines, particularly in Barangay Libertad, where Balangay boats were discovered and excavated.

There were actually nine balangays recovered here but only three were already excavated. The first
balangay, now preserved and displayed in the National Museum-Caraga established right at the
excavation site in Purok Ambangan, Brgy. Libertad, was radiocarbon tested and was dated to year 320
AD.

The second boat was dated 1250 AD, and is now located at the Maritime Hall of the National Museum in
Manila. The third balangay was transferred to the Butuan Regional Museum and is still preserved.

The six other boats, which are yet to be excavated, remain in their original waterlogged condition which
is proven to be the best way to preserve the said artifacts. These are the boats which the archaeologists
will excavate.

The first wooden watercraft excavated in Southeast Asia, the balangay is only found in the Philippines
where a flotilla of such prehistoric wooden boats exists. Examination and extensive investigation reveals
that the extant boats found in the excavation site date back to 320 AD, 90 AD, and 1250 AD.
The discovery of the balangay boats made Butuanons claimed that "In the beginning, there was no
Philippines but there was already Butuan," thus tagging the city as "The Ancient Kingdom of Butuan."

Because of these historic events, the Balangay Festival was adopted by the city government to promote
this historic city in Northeastern Mindanao region, and is held every month of May, in time with the
city's annual fiesta celebration in honor of patron saint – St. Joseph the Worker.

This year, the city government declared "Balangay Festival Silver Year" after former President Corazon C.
Aquino declared the balangays of Butuan as National Cultural Treasures through Presidential
Proclamation No. 86, dated March 9, 1987.

As per Proclamation No. 1, series of 2012 signed by Butuan City Mayor Ferdinand Amante Jr., March 9,
2012 to March 8, 2013 was declared Balangay (wooden boats) Festival Silver Year.
Butuan's 'mother boat' untouched since 2013

Historic giant balangay remains unexcavated

Published August 2, 2017 7:13pm

By TJ DIMACALI, GMA News

Four years since it was discovered in a marshy plain in northern Mindanao, the largest ancient Filipino
boat ever discovered lies unexcavated.

Despite its immense cultural and historical significance, the "mother boat" balangay has been practically
untouched since 2013.

Submerged under barely waist-deep brackish water, it remains tantalizingly beyond reach—at least for
now.

The giant balangay can be clearly seen in the freshly-drained excavation site in 2013 (left). A visit by the
author to the site in June 2017 (right) shows the site filled up with water from a recent rainshower.
PHOTO: National Museum (L) and TJ Dimacali (R)

The giant balangay can be clearly seen in the freshly-drained excavation site in 2013 (left). A visit by the
author on June 29, 2017 (right) shows the site filled up with water from a recent rainshower. PHOTO:
National Museum (L) and TJ Dimacali (R)

Raising the balangay from private land

National Museum archeologist Dr. Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia, who headed the initial digs, says that
raising the boat is tricky because it's buried in private land.

"The National Museum has been in constant communication with the lot owners where the balangays
are found because we would like to acquire them to establish a maritime heritage park in that area of
Butuan," she said.

The establishment of such a park, or any museum for that matter, is no easy undertaking: it's important
to present artifacts in a way that encourages viewers to learn more about their historical and cultural
context.
The potential role of modern technology

It's worth noting that a growing number of museums around the world are looking to modern
technology, including CT scans and 3D printers, to make replicas that look and feel like the original
artifact.

"You can, for example, scan and print an artifact that's accurate down to the tiniest cracks and flaws.
This allows scientists and the public alike to appreciate the original without the risk of damaging it,"
notes archaeologist Vito Hernandez.

In the case of the Butuan balangays, he says that such technology could be used to make replicas to take
the place of the originals.

"(Theoretically,) you could exhume everything, make scientific replicas, and put back those replicas and
conserve the original in safer conditions," he said.

Appreciating the balangays' history

Seeing what the boats looked like buried in the ground could give the public a better understanding not
just of the boats themselves but also of the conditions in which they were found.

Hopefully, according to Hernandez, this could spark intelligent conversation on the balangays' history—
how they were used, how they came to be buried, and how they came to be found and preserved.

"Museum curation should impact the curation of knowledge itself," Hernandez underscored.

Temporary preservation underwater

But all that would have to wait for the time when the "mother balangay" can be safely exhumed.

For now, according to Bolunia, it remains protected in its watery crypt.

"Yes, we can keep the boat in situ. The present status of the balangay being submerged in water and
mud is actually a form of preservation. It does not look nice though," she admitted.

The biggest balangay ever found

At 25 meters long—more than the length of two city buses laid end-to-end—Butuan's "mother boat" is
the biggest balangay ever found.

Discovered in 2013, the immense vessel promises to change our understanding of how our ancient
ancestors once sailed the open seas.

"'Balangay' is a name given to the plank-built, edge-pegged boats discovered in Butuan since the 1970s.
The only major difference is its size, which is twice that of the earlier boats," explains Bolunia. — GMA
News
Balangay replicas back from China, Thailand

Published May 23, 2018 3:43am

Three replicas of the ‘balangay’ boat returned to Philippines on Tuesday after a three-month journey to
China and Thailand.

The balangay or "Butuan boat" is known as the oldest pre-Hispanic watercraft found in the Philippines.

According to a report on State of the Nation with Jessica Soho, the boats disembarked from Ilocos last
April 28 and set sail for Xiamen, China before heading to Bangkok in Thailand.

On Tuesday, the boats that carried 34 crew members made it back safely and docked at the Manila
Yacht Club.

The expedition as a tribute to the Philippine’s friendship with China and Southeast Asian neighbors.

The dry season allowed a sound voyage over calm seas. — Margaret Claire Layug/ BAP, GMA News
Metal Age

Libertad, Butuan City

320 AD

Prehistoric boats were recovered in Butuan, Agusan del Norte in 1978. There are nine existing
prehistoric boats. The first boat dated 320 A.D. is in the site museum in Libertad, Butuan. The second
boat dated to 1250 A.D. was transferred to the Pinagmulan Gallery (The Origin), in the 2nd floor of the
Museum of the Filipino People in Manila. The third boat dated 990 A.D. is in the Butuan Regional
Museum (Agusan del Norte, southern Philippines).

The Butuan boat is an edged- pegged plank type of boat. The planks were made from hard wood like
‘doongon’ (Heriteriera littoralis). Built to withstand long-distance voyages, the boat can seat 25 people.
Early merchants purchased goods from foreign traders and sailed the small waterways redistributing the
commodities to remote communities in the archipelago. The presence of glass beads and metals in the
sites where the boats were discovered shows that Philippine coastal communities were active in Asian
maritime trade during that time. Evidence of a flourishing maritime trade placed the early Filipinos’
seamanship and boat- building skill on equal footing
with other Asian countries.
http://nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/Collections/Archaeo/Butuan.html

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/654247/balangay-replicas-back-from-china-
thailand/story/

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/620423/historic-giant-balangay-remains-
unexcavated/story/

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/321334/massive-balangay-mother-boat-
unearthed-in-butuan/story/

https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/12/13/10/balangay-dock-after-14-month-voyage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balangay