3 September 2010 - The Philippine Embassy in Brunei Darussalam reported that a flotilla of three balangays arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan last August 26 as part of their regional tour.
The three vessels are the Diwata ng Lahi, Masawa Hong Butuan, and Sama Tawi-Tawi. Dropping anchor on the shores of Serasa Beach, the Filipino voyagers were welcomed by officials from the Embassy led by Chargé d' Affaires Celeste Vinzon Balatbat, members of Filipino community, Brunei Tourism Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohamed and senior management of the Royal Brunei Yacht Club in Serasa.Members of the welcoming committee were met by expedition leader Arturo Valdez on board the Masawa Hong Butuan, the largest of the three vessels.
A former undersecretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications, Mr. Valdez is also a veteran marathon runner and mountaineer, having led the first Philippine expedition team to Mount Everest.
He emphasized that main purpose of the voyage of the three balangays was to commemorate and promote the common bond of kinship and friendship shared by the people of Southeast Asia.
During their stay in Brunei Darussalam, the crew was given a tour of the Royal Brunei Yacht Club and various museums in the capital. They were also welcomed through a get-together with key Embassy officers.
The flotilla left for Miri, Malaysia on August 27.
Leaving Manila on 1 September 2009, the three ships have been traveling around the islands of the Philippines for 11 months and 15 days, having covering a distance of 3,000 kilometers.
The 39-member Filipino crew has been relying on ancient navigational methods such as getting their bearings through the reading of positions of the sun, stars, clouds and bird migrations in crisscrossing the Philippines.
The international leg of the voyage will take the balangays through Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Vietnam.
The team intends to reach Vietnam in time for the ASEAN Summit in September. Later, the crew plans to head for Shanghai, China in mid-October 2010.
The balangays (also called balanghays or Butuan boats) were built using traditional methods and materials of ship-building employed by the ancestors of the Filipino people.
The vessels are plank boats adjoined by a carved-out planks edged through pins and dowels and measures 15 meters long and three to four meters wide. The balangays are propelled by sail made of buri or nipa fiber or padding.
These boats were first mentioned in the 16th century in the Chronicles of Pigafetta and is one of the oldest wooden vessels ever to be discovered in Southeast Asia. END