Adventist Medical Center College

Brgy. San Miguel, Iligan City

School of Nursing

Readings of Philippine History

Second Semester, SY 2020-2021

Reaction Paper

(Massive balangay ‘mother boat’ unearthed in Butuan)

By:

Trangia, Riann Leigh

BSN 1-B

March 13, 2021

 The Massive balangay ‘mother boat’ unearthed in Butuan

Balangay is an ancient Filipino wooden watercraft, and when the Spaniards entered

Luzon, they also considered the term "boat" to be used for the smallest political unit of the

Tagalog society. For their historical and cultural value, the found and excavated balangays

are treasured by archeologists and historians alike.

The Balangay, the oldest pre-Hispanic watercraft in the Philippines, and our history has a

lot to do with this curiosity. It's a positive indication. Why? Well, for one thing, being the

first wooden watercraft to be excavated in South East Asia, the Balangay offers evidence of

the early maritime experience and abilities of the Filipinos in the pre-colonial era of boat-

building. Also known as the Butuan boat, the Balangay was first mentioned in the

Chronicles of Pigafetta around the first time our islands had been landed in the 16th

century.

Of the nine balangay boats discovered in 1976 in Butuan City, three were excavated,

investigated and found to have occurred in AD 320, 990 and 1250. An article written by

science journalist Timothy James Dimacali and it was released by GMA News in 2013 is

about a huge "mother ship" balanga discovered in Butuan. It is believed to be about 800

years old and may be centuries older than the ships used by European trailers and

pathfinders when they arrived in our islands in the 16th century. It's so huge that "treenails

of the size of coda containers" were used to create it. With treenails that are so high and

planks that each one is as thick as a man's chest, the boat itself is measured to be around 25

meters long.

Obviously, scholars are suspicious of leaping to conclusions before enough facts are

collected. Still, the location of the ship, is too close to the previous sites of the submerged

balangays, clearly indicates the likelihood that it is actually a mother ship. In an interview

with GMA News, the National Museum Archeologist Dr. Mary Jane Louise Bolunia, head of

the on-site research unit, said, "It's changing the way we think about the ancient Filipino

seafarers." The appearance of a large mother ship in the middle of smaller balangays that
could have given assistance to the mother ship might suggest that the seafaring Filipinos in

the old days were more coordinated than was previously thought.

In short, the Philippines trade system had already been founded well before the

Spaniards had arrived. Butuan City may be the docking place of this balangay. Moreover,

this mothership balangay has been used for trade with neighboring countries and, because

of its size; it can hold a lot of goods and resources. And lastly, it can change the course of

history since it connects to the missing link of trade and commerce in the Philippines.

References

 Salinas, C. C. (2019, August 6). The balangay: Its historical significance and

relevance. The Manila Times.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/08/07/business/maritime-business/the-balangay-its-

historical-significance-and-relevance/596245/

 By TJ DIMACALI,GMA News. (2013, August 16). Massive balangay 'mother boat'

unearthed in Butuan | SciTech |. GMA News Online.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/321334/massive-balangay-

mother-boat-unearthed-in-butuan/story/