Taipei and Manila are more closely related than we think. If a Filipino has ever been a tourist in Taiwan, they’ve likely experienced a few “Uy, Pilipins!” moments.
That’s because on weekends, Filipino workers flock to St. Christopher’s Church in Taipei.
In some public schools, Tagalog classes are even offered as a language elective. At the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, visitors might stumble on the Order of Sikatuna medal given to the late statesman, or spot some photos of the People Power Revolution.
There are even two Cadillacs gifted by the Filipino Chinese community. At Taipei’s sleek Jut Art museum, their most recent exhibition even spotlights Filipino artists Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan alongside Mark Salvatus.
And while there are so many connections you’ll stumble across in a few days, the relationship between Taiwan and the Philippines stretches much further back.
Earlier this month, this relationship came into focus when 20 Indigenous Tao people (just 3% or 5,120 of Taiwan’s population) mounted a traditional Tao boat that sailed from Taiwan’s Orchid Island to Batanes.
Navigating the notoriously rough waters of the Bashi Channel purely through the stars, they replicated the first journey believed to have been made more than 4,000 years ago, and last attempted 300 years ago.
Supported by the Taiwanese government, Maraos (who goes by a single name), chairperson of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation, says, “This is not only a significant day for the Pacific Ocean but also a day of commemoration for the Austronesian people.”
Carrying the voyage was the tatala, a traditional Tao boat painstakingly carved from wood and decorated with intricate patterns.
Historically, these vessels were used to catch flying fish, an important source of food for communities on Orchid Island.
The boat, called the Golden Friendship, arrived at Mahatao Shelter Port in Batanes on June 16, after leaving Lanyu (Orchid Island) two days earlier.
The Tao people of Orchid Island and the Ivatan people of Batanes are regarded as cultural relatives who share closely related languages, similar boat-building traditions, and a way of life shaped by the sea.
“The high-level diversity suggests that Taiwan was the original dispersal of the family,” Victoria Chen, a senior lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, said of the migration of Austronesian culture and language.
One of the oarsmen, Wu Hsi-lung, expressed his motivations to join the expedition: “I’ve always wanted to visit the place where my ancestors once went and see what it’s like there.”
“I feel that I carry the blood of this place and want to do something for my community,” he added.
According to participant Hsiao Chun-hsiang, the tatala was once primarily “a tool for survival.” Hsiao described the vessel as being “like a member of the family.”
Beyond reconnecting two island communities, the voyage has also renewed interest in the wider Austronesian story.
Echoes of these ancient connections can still be felt across the Philippines, with many of the people in the North of the Philippines, especially the Cordilleras, believed to have been from Taiwan originally, with evidence of archeological and DNA records.
And while the voyage may have lasted only a day and a half, it implied thousands of years of history that link the two countries.
And it makes one think, too, of how Filipinos cross oceans in different ways today, as workers, travelers, students, and migrants.
Such an epic trip shows that sometimes, the shortest distance between two people isn’t necessarily by a road, but by the sea. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
