Massive balangay 'mother boat' unearthed in Butuan
Filipino seafarers were already exploring Asia over a thousand years ago, well ahead of our Chinese neighbors: in 1001, the Song Dynasty recorded the arrival of a diplomatic mission from the "Kingdom of Butuan."
While the newfound boat has yet to be accurately dated, but its construction and position directly alongside a balangay from the 1200's strongly suggest that it is also a balangay from the same time period.
If so, then the boat predates by hundreds of years Magellan's arrival, and death, in the Philippines in 1521 and even the Chinese explorer Zheng He's expedition across Asia in 1400.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/321334/scitech/science/massive-balangay-mother-boat-unearthed-in-butuan
