10/05/2026
Grin McFly International Museum
For EDUCATIONAL FIELD TRIPS
RESEARCH CONFERENCE
LECTURE ON UNESCO HERITAGE SITES
Find out the historical significance of UNESCO HERITAGE CITY OF VIGAN the existence of the Biray Maritime Trade at the GRIN MCFLY INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM through the Grin McFly International Research and Development on Social Sciences at GRIN MCFLY INTERNATIONAL BEACHFRONT GUEST HOUSE at Fuerte Beach Caoayan, Ilocos Sur.
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Vigan’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999 provides a powerful legal and international framework that extends beyond the cobblestone streets to include its surrounding maritime history, like the Pandan biray.
1. Protection of the "Cultural Landscape"
UNESCO recognizes Vigan not just for its buildings, but as a uniquely preserved trading town.
Integrated History: The biray vessels are protected because they are the "missing link" that explains how Vigan became wealthy. Without the port at Pandan and the boats that navigated the Mestizo River, the city’s grand mansions wouldn't exist.
Buffer Zones: The UNESCO status encourages the local government to maintain "buffer zones" around historical sites, preventing modern construction from destroying submerged archaeological remains like those at Pandan.
2. Legal Safeguards (Republic Act 10066)
Because Vigan is a World Heritage site, it receives priority protection under the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.
Underwater Heritage: This law specifically protects underwater cultural property. It is illegal to move, excavate, or loot the biray remains without a permit from the National Museum.
Mandatory Conservation: The government is required to fund conservation efforts, such as the 2011-2012 archaeological surveys that mapped the biray's hull.
3. Boosting "Heritage Tourism"
UNESCO status turns the "old boats" into a valuable asset rather than just abandoned wood.
Educational Focus: The National Museum Ilocos (housed in the Old Carcel in Vigan) uses its UNESCO-backed resources to educate tourists and locals about the burnay trade and maritime routes.
Community Pride: Local fishermen and residents in Pandan and Caoayan are increasingly seen as "guardians" of the heritage, recognizing that preserving the site brings researchers and cultural tourists to their area.
The Enduring Legacy of Vigan
These videos highlight how Vigan’s heritage is meticulously preserved, from its Spanish-era architecture to the living traditions that date back to the height of the biray trade:
The trading wealth of Vigan was built on its maritime connectivity. You can retrace the biray’s journey and the city’s commercial history by visiting these key sites:
1. Pandan Port (Caoayan)
Start where the open-sea trade began. This was the primary docking point for the biray fleet.
The Biray Site: At low tide along the riverbanks in Caoayan, you can see the partially buried remains of a traditional biray (Site Code I-2011-I1). It stands as a silent monument to the 19th-century trade boom.
Gateway View: Stand by the river mouth to see where deep-sea vessels once anchored to transfer cargo into the flat-hulled birays for the journey inland.
2. National Museum Ilocos (The Old Carcel)
Located near the Provincial Capitol, this museum complex is essential for understanding the cargo the birays carried.
Abel Iloko Exhibition: Dedicated to the durable handwoven textiles that were a major export and even used for galleon sails.
Basi Gallery: Showcases the history of the Iloko sugarcane wine, traditionally fermented and transported in burnay jars.
Maritime History: Keep an eye out for temporary exhibits like "300 Years of Maritime Trade in the Philippines," which often feature artifacts from northern shipwreck sites.
3. Pagburnayan (The Jar Factories)
Vigan’s status as a trading hub was inseparable from its stoneware industry.
Burnay Jars: Visit the pottery shops (like RG Jar Factory) to see artisans use the same manual wheels and massive kilns that produced the jars birays hauled by the thousands centuries ago.
Hands-on Experience: You can try molding the local clay yourself, a tradition introduced by Chinese traders who settled in the city.
4. Calle Crisologo & the Mestizo River
The "Island of Vigan" (Isla de Bigan) was once surrounded by the Mestizo River, the actual "highway" for the birays.
Calle Crisologo: This iconic street was the residential and commercial heart for the affluent merchant families who owned the biray fleets.
Syquia Mansion: Explore the ancestral home of a wealthy Chinese-Ilocano merchant family (later the home of President Elpidio Quirino) to see the luxury goods—Chinese porcelain and European furniture—brought in by maritime trade.
Mestizo River Walk: Near the end of the cobblestone area, you can view the silted remains of the river that once allowed birays to dock right at the back of these merchant houses for easy unloading.
The biray vessels at Pandan Port in Caoayan (near Vigan, Ilocos Sur) were essential, 18-meter-long traditional flat-hulled cargo boats that supported Northern Luzon trade, particularly from the 19th century to the 1960s. As the gateway to Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan via the Mestizo River, this port was central to transporting agricultural goods, ceramics, and textiles (like damili jars).
Key Historical Aspects of Pandan Biray Vessels
Role in Commerce: Biray vessels facilitated trade between Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, and La Union, transporting up to 1,000 cavans of rice and local merchandise.
Structure and Design: These were flat-bottomed, rib-constructed, shallow-draft vessels (roughly 18m long and 5m wide) designed to navigate the mouth of the Mestizo River, with a pointing bow and stern.
Historical Timeline: While the port served trade for centuries, the specific biray remains in Pandan are estimated by local oral history to be 80–150 years old. They were active in the late 1960s before fading out by the 1970s.
Cultural Significance: They are considered significant underwater cultural heritage, connecting the pre-Hispanic trading, Spanish colonial commerce, and post-war economic activity.
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
An abandoned, submerged, or, more accurately, partially buried, traditional biray is located along the Mestizo River in Caoayan, often visible during low tide, highlighting the area's rich maritime history.
The site serves as a vital artifact for studying Philippine shipbuilding and local trading routes.
This photograph provides a rare visual look at the historical biray vessels once used at Pandan Port in Caoayan, Ilocos Sur.
Based on the image and historical records, these vessels are a testament to the region's specialized maritime engineering and trade history:
Design and Features
Hull Construction: You can see the characteristic flat-bottomed, shallow-draft design that allowed these boats to navigate the silted and tidal waters of the Mestizo River.
Masts and Rigging: The image clearly shows the tall, slender masts typical of a biray. These were used to support sails for open-sea travel between Ilocos and other northern provinces like Cagayan and La Union.
Cargo Capacity: The substantial size visible in the photo aligns with descriptions of these boats as 18-meter-long cargo carriers, capable of hauling up to 1,000 cavans of rice, damili (ceramics), and to***co.
Historical Context
Trade Connection: These vessels served as the primary link between the open sea and the inland trading hub of Ciudad Fernandina (Vigan). Goods were unloaded at Pandan Port and then often transferred to smaller rafts or lighters to reach the city.
Era of Operation: While biray vessels were active for centuries, this style of photography suggests the image likely dates from the late 19th or early 20th century, a peak period for Ilocano maritime commerce.
The "Pandan Biray" Site: Today, the remains of boats similar to these are submerged or partially buried at the Pandan site. They are considered critical underwater cultural heritage, representing the transition from traditional Ilocano shipbuilding to modern commerce.
The vessels are shown moored at the riverbank, likely awaiting a favorable tide or cargo transfer—a scene that would have been common at Pandan Port until the trade declined in the 1970s.
Would you like to know more about the archaeological efforts to preserve the submerged biray remains at the Pandan site?
The archaeological study of the biray at Pandan Port, officially designated as NM Site Code I-2011-I1, is a significant effort by the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) to document the region's "vanished" maritime technology.
Key Archaeological Findings
Systematic Documentation: Surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012 by the NMP and researchers from the University of the Philippines focused on measuring and assessing the vessel's remains.
Physical Features: The excavated ribbing and hull segments confirm a length of 18 meters and a width of 5 meters. Notably, researchers found no evidence of a keel, which supports the historical description of birays as flat-bottomed boats designed for shallow river mouths.
Cultural Mapping: The site is being used to re-evaluate trade routes that once connected Ilocos Sur to Manila and the Babuyan Channel, helping historians trace how local products like damili (earthenware) were distributed.
Preservation Challenges
The biray is considered a highly vulnerable Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) site due to its unique location and environment:
Tidal Exposure: The vessel is only visible during low tide, exposing it to alternating wet and dry cycles that accelerate the decay of its wooden structural remains.
Sedimentation: It lies within the abandoned delta of the Abra River, where active land and marine shifts can bury or uncover sections of the hull unexpectedly.
Protection Efforts: The National Museum emphasizes non-destructive study and is working on a management plan to protect the site from environmental threats and potential looting, similar to other major maritime finds in the Philippines.
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
While the Pandan biray remains in situ (on-site) for ongoing study, the NMP continues to feature related maritime artifacts in exhibits like "300 Years of Maritime Trade in the Philippines" at the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila.
The construction of the traditional Ilocano biray was a specialized craft that balanced the need for open-sea durability with the ability to navigate shallow river mouths like that of the Mestizo River.
Hull Engineering
Sewn-Plank Technique: Historically, biray vessels utilized an ancient plank-built method. Before metal nails became common, planks were joined using hardwood pegs or dowels and then "sewn" together with durable fibers like cabo negro (sugar palm fiber).
The "Tambuko" System: On the inside of each plank, boat builders carved raised rectangular lugs called tambuko. These were used as lashing points to secure transverse ribs, providing a flexible but strong internal skeleton.
Flat-Bottomed Design: A key architectural feature was the absence of a central keel. This flat hull allowed the 18-meter vessels to sit high in the water, making them perfect for crossing the silty sandbars at the mouth of the Pandan Port.
Rigging and Materials
Abel Ilocos Sails: The sails (layag) were traditionally made from Abel Ilocos, a thick, handwoven cotton cloth unique to the region, known for its extreme strength and wind resistance.
Select Hardwoods: The hull was often crafted from Doongon (Heritiera littoralis), a local hardwood prized for its natural resistance to rot and saltwater, which is why remains like those at Pandan can survive for over a century submerged in silt.
Rigging: For the ropes and rigging (arsia), builders primarily used Abaca fiber, which maintains its integrity even when constantly exposed to seawater.
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Ancient Maritime Craftsmanship
The following videos demonstrate the labor-intensive techniques and traditional tools used in Filipino boat building that have been passed down through generations.
The biray vessels of Pandan Port were at the center of a bustling maritime network that connected Vigan to local and international markets for centuries. Their routes were defined by the unique geography of Northern Luzon and the seasonal monsoon winds.
Local and Regional Routes
The biray was the primary "workhorse" for trade within Northern Luzon, moving goods across several key provinces:
Northern Destinations: Vessels regularly sailed north to Ilocos Norte and Cagayan, reaching as far as the Babuyan Channel. They transported surplus rice, cotton, and the famous burnay (stoneware jars) to these regions.
Southern Destinations: To the south, they frequented ports in La Union, Pangasinan, and even as far as Manila.
The Manila Exchange: During the dry season (February to March), when the northeast winds (amihan) were favorable, fleets of birays would transport Ilocano agricultural products, especially rice and cotton, to Manila.
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
The "Isla de Bigan" Gateway
The Port of Pandan served as a critical entrepot (a transshipment port) because of the silting of the Mestizo River: l
Transfer Point: Large deep-sea vessels (including Chinese junks and later Spanish galleons) would anchor near the coast or at Pandan Port. The shallow-draft birays would then ferry the cargo into the inland trading posts of Ciudad Fernandina (Vigan).
Strategic Geography: Located between the Abra and Mestizo rivers, the port was a major link in the pan-Asian trade route long before Spanish arrival, connecting Ilocos to China, Japan, and Southeast Asian kingdoms.
Principal Cargo by Route
Inbound to Vigan: Exotic goods from Asian kingdoms, Chinese porcelain, silk, glass beads, iron, and eventually silver from the Galleon Trade.
Outbound from Vigan: High-demand Ilocano products like gold and beeswax from the Cordilleras, fine cotton textiles (Abel Ilocos), to***co, and damili or burnay ceramics.
At the height of its activity, the biray trade at Pandan Port was the lifeblood of the Ilocos economy. These vessels carried a wide range of goods, but a few specific types of cargo were exceptionally valuable and defined Vigan’s status as a premier trading hub.
1. Burnay Jars and Damili Ceramics
The most iconic cargo from Vigan was the burnay jar. These heavy, unglazed stoneware jars were introduced by Chinese immigrants and were essential for several reasons:
Utility: They were the primary vessels for fermenting local specialties like basi (sugarcane wine), sukang Iloko (vinegar), and bagoong (fish paste).
Durability: Their extreme strength made them perfect for long-distance maritime transport, as they could withstand the rough movements of a ship much better than standard terracotta.
Trade Value: Highly sought after by both local and foreign traders, they were often used as exchange items for luxury goods from other Asian kingdoms.
Abel Ilocos Textiles
The handwoven cotton fabric known as Abel Ilocos (or Inabel) was another high-value export:
Galleon Trade Demand: The fabric was so durable that it was used for the sails of Spanish galleons.
Luxury Status: In the 18th century, Ilocano textiles were in high demand in European markets and were once considered as luxurious as French lace.
Competitive Edge: It was such a high-quality product that it was seen as a threat to the Spanish domestic weaving industry.
Raw Materials from the Interior
Because Vigan was the gateway for the Cordillera region, birays also moved high-value raw materials:
Gold and Beeswax: Indigenous people from the mountains traded these for salt, beads, and iron brought in by the birays.
Surplus Rice: During the dry season, Ilocos exported massive quantities of surplus rice to Manila, a trade facilitated entirely by the flat-hulled biray fleet.
