By Fung Yu

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ANOTHER great dream is being unfolded in a little corner of space near the grounds of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Led by Art Valdez, the man behind the success of putting Filipinos on the summit of Mt. Everest, the new project will embark on a maritime adventure across the Philippine archipelago using a traditional wooden boat called the “balangay.”

The aim of this endeavor is to re-trace some of our ancestor’s journey in the Indo-Pacific during pre-colonial times in the effort to rekindle Filipino pride and spirit in the long forgotten maritime heritage.

First excavated in the late 1970s in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte by the National Museum, the balangay (also called ‘Butuan boat’), is a plank boat adjoined by carved-out planks edged through pins or dowels. Nine balangays were actually discovered. The first one was preserved and displayed in the excavation site, carbon-dated at year 320AD. The second was dated to 1250 and is now displayed in the National Museum. The third was moved to the Butuan Regional Museum for preservation works, while the remaining six balangays remained in their original waterlogged condition, and are yet to be excavated.

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