Balangay

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 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".

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 Limasawa, 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.

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 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, biray, or lapid.

...
Wikipedia