The Coming Of The Boat People, A Malayan Odyssey

Bimbo Cabidog 

What may be considered as the first Pinoy epic was that of the Bornean boat people who came to the country in a long distant past. Escaping from the tyranny of a certain Datu Makatunaw, they sailed on boats called a balangay and travelled at sea for several weeks until they reached the island of Panay. The ten datus with their families and followers settled here, 300 years before the Spanish and Portuguese explorers set foot on the archipelago on March 16, 1521.

A datu was the Malayo-Polynesian title of a chieftain. Ten of them would be said to be the fathers of the archipelago before the Spanish colonial times. Datu Puti then was neither a Caucasian nor a commercial vinegar. He was the leader of the expedition. He was with his wife, Piangpangan.

The others were Datu Sumakwel (and wife, Kapinangan), Datu Bangkaya (and wife, Katurong), Datu Paiborong (and wife, Pabilaan), Datu Paduhinogan (and wife, Tibongsapay), Datu Dumangsol, Datu Libay, Datu Dumangsil, Datu Domalogdog, and Datu Balensuela. All were of fair complexion.

Legend has it that upon arrival the foreigners encountered the short, black and kinky-haired natives who inhabited the island, the Aeta. They were terrified of the arrivals. Datu Puti convinced them not to fear. He told the native chief Marikudo that his group came in peace. The two parties then struck a trade deal later.

Marikudo held a feast for the datus. During the revelry the Borneans negotiated for the buying of Panay with a golden salakot. Since the land was immense for their own settlement, the Aetas consented and went to the forest in the uplands and mountains. The Datus partitioned the purchased estate among themselves, namely Aklan, Irong Irong (Ilo-Ilo) and Hamtik (Antique).

The epic is accounted to have given birth to the Filipino people and culture. Some say the story was just legend, and is not backed by concrete historical evidence. But it stuck, and much of it anyway resonates up to present day historical conversation. 

The balangay patterned the village communities that would emerge in the country throughout the past. The boat community originated the DNA for the basic political-administrative subdivisions that the country has today. They are called barangay, a noun coined from the word balangay.

The authenticity of the epic may be contested. But the oral historical account has become part and parcel of the Pinoy culture down the centuries. It would also be an indelible mark of the Ilonggo and Panay people's identity.

And by the way, the head of the basic unit of governance that compose the Filipino nation state now is called a barangay captain. Isn’t the title after the fact that the head of the community in that remote past from which the barangay of today originated was also a captain of the boat called balangay?