Victory Belano (Boat Making)

Overview

Victory Belano is a boat-making operation in Barangay Manga, Tagbilaran City, listed in the BPTO provincial tourist-attraction inventory under Industrial Tourism / Arts and Craft. Boat building is one of the traditional marine industries of Bohol, and the Manga area — adjacent to the waterfront — has historically supported small-scale vessel construction.

The operation is tied to Victor Belano, described in available sources as a multi-generational boat builder who constructs large pump boats up to 24 meters long, at a pace of roughly one boat every two months, for an estimated output of about 30 vessels a year. [FACT NEEDED: independent confirmation of these production figures — the original source article could not be retrieved; see Notes.]

Location

Barangay Manga, Tagbilaran City, Bohol. Manga is a coastal barangay on the northern edge of Tagbilaran, near the Manga Public Market. [TO ENRICH: confirm exact street address or landmark reference]

Getting There

From Tagbilaran City center, Manga Barangay is accessible by tricycle or on foot along the coastal road. [TO ENRICH: confirm travel time from city hall or wharf]

Practical Info

• Visitor access: [FACT NEEDED — a good-faith search (Bohol Chronicle’s 2019 feature on Manga boatmakers, which appears to be the original source of the Victor Belano production figures in this file, could not be retrieved — the page returns a 404 and an archive.org copy could not be reached) did not confirm whether the facility accepts walk-in visitors or requires advance arrangement]
• Admission fee: [FACT NEEDED — not confirmed in sources checked. This is a working boatyard rather than a ticketed attraction, so a formal entrance fee is unlikely, but that is not independently confirmed.]

What to Expect

Manga’s boat-building trade is described in a 2012 field account as knowledge passed down father to son. That account (focused on a Manga builder named Alberto Belano — possibly a relative of Victor Belano, though this could not be confirmed, so treat the two names as potentially but not confirmably the same family/operation) notes a shift in materials away from whole hardwood logs: builders increasingly buy commercial plywood and other milled lumber from lumber stores, and now also use fibreglass, because large trees suitable for whole-log hulls are no longer available on Bohol.

Outside Manga, Bohol’s boatbuilders more typically shape local hardwoods into outrigger bangka hulls suited to inter-island fishing and transport, rather than the larger plywood-and-fiberglass pump boats described above. [FACT NEEDED: confirm specific vessel types and construction methods used at Victory Belano specifically, and current operating status]

Notes

• Nearby industrial tourism sites in Manga include Reputana Guitars
• The Manga Public Market and Balai Cacao are within the same barangay
• [FACT NEEDED: whether the establishment still operates and under what name — the Bohol Chronicle source article (“Bohol craft: Manga boatmakers,” 2019) that appears to underlie this file’s existing production figures is no longer accessible online]
• manga boat building — Balik sa Dagat Bangka Journey (2012 field account), accessed 2026-07-17.