Our paraw

Reviving our heritage

Built by master Palaweño craftsmen and adorned with intricate carvings by Pala'wan artists, Balatik is the largest traditional paraw still sailing in the Philippines.

Her twin outriggers and shallow draft are the result of centuries of island ingenuity – a design refined to navigate the reefs and shifting tides of the Palawan seas. Before her maiden voyage, she was blessed by indigenous elders, anchoring her story in both the past and the future.

Seafaring culture in Palawan

Palawan's 1,700 islands were once home to a thriving seafaring culture. But by the 1970s, the arrival of cheap engines had all but overtaken the sails. Traditional boatbuilding and navigation – skills once passed down through generations – were fading fast.

We will be shipbuilders

In 2009, while crewing a yacht around the world, Tao engineer Gener Paduga saw the traditional sailboats of other island nations and dreamed of bringing the craft home. Descended from Cuyonon boatbuilders himself, he imagined a new kind of vessel – one that could carry both travellers and tradition. "Learning to sail again will help Palaweños escape dependence on gasoline and diesel," Gener says, "while deepening their respect for the sea."

The Balatik today

That vision became Balatik: a revival of ancient knowledge, built plank by plank on the shores of Palawan. Today, Tao's barefoot sailors are once again learning to read the wind and tides. Each voyage aboard Balatik is part of that living legacy – an act of remembrance and renewal, reconnecting a seafaring people to their ocean home. When Balatik first set sail in 2013, she was more than a boat. She was a promise to remember.