FROM OUTRIGGERS TO BIG SHIPS: Serving the Archipelago
(Aug 2, 2007)
No matter what mode of transport is popular, there is no denying that an archipelagic nation like the Philippines has the best medium for conveyance: water.
The country has five rich bodies of water embracing it. Even if it is a collection of islands, it does not however enjoy the honor of having the longest aggregate coastline in the world. Canada does, with 56,453 miles of coastline. Indonesia is next with 33,987 miles. Nevertheless, the Philippine archipelago is far blessed than thirty landlocked countries whose citizens can only pine for sea breezes, sand and shells.
It is therefore reasonable to accept that Filipinos from all points of history took to the waters when communicating, trading, or transporting. It also makes sense that in the globalization scheme of things, we are a country of seafarers, the way we always were. After all, our community origins historically began with the balangay, a boat. Rafts, two-masted ships, outrigger bancas and practically any conveyance buoyant and sturdy enough, took us to other points across our home turf.
Up until the 30s, the landed gentry from Iloilo visited their vast sugar farmlands across the Iloilo river aboard lorchas or batels, those crude, flat-bottomed but functional barges that transported sugar workers and piculs of sugar, which during those years fetched handsome prices in the international market.. The sailboat voyage, which today takes less than an hour on sleek fastcraft, took a day and a half, depending on the waves and the wind.
Out of exasperation, the ilustrado planters one day thought they had enough discomfiture in checking their haciendas in Negros Occidental so they bought a more sophisticated boat, to bring the family and their sacadas with more speed and greater comfort. Thus started Negros Navigation, which this July marks 75 years of service.
Negros Navigation, besides having been a faithful ferry service to many Negrenses and Ilonggos , has filled in the travel needs of millions of Filipinos. At various points of its storied existence, it has called on ports near and far; from Masbate to Zamboanga. It has ferried cargo, staged parties, hosted TV tapings, Anak TV jury screenings, run social service and charity trips. Some of its vessels have even been commissioned to bring international visitors to the country. The Dona Monserrat was the country’s first luxury cruise liner which was way ahead of its time.
Some of its ships have even been enlisted for patriotic service, over and above its standard duties to serve the riding public. During the wartime period, the sparkling white Princess of Negros transported trainees of the 72nd Division. The same ship was secretly “chartered” by the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) to ferry President Manuel Quezon and his party from Iloilo to Bacolod. While the ship was docked at Fort San Pedro, the USAFFE loaded it with Quezon’s provisions, clothes, books and medicines. The vessel was however ordered wired for explosion should the enemy capture it, lest the Japanese find out the identity of the important passenger it kept.
Today, after many years of smooth sail and turbulence, the shipping company is poised to confront more decades serving the archipelago and its people. Sulficio Tagud, the company CEO and chair, commends Negros Navigation’s people and concedes that “we are not the biggest in the industry but we have no equal in safety records and in responsive, innovative services.”
Tagud adds: “As we celebrate 75 years, we will continue to champion employee welfare despite limited resources because the company believes that its greatest asset is neither its fleet nor properties but its people. We will not forget that it was the people in the organization who turned the company around during critical times.”
By Mag Cruz Hatol
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