Poblador, Karl Friedrik K. 2023. “The First Shipping Magnates of Cebu: A History of Domestic Shipping in the Philippines.” Journal of Philippine Local History and Heritage 9 (2): 116-161.

While the precolonial balangays and Manila-Acapulco galleons are etched into our historical narrative as a maritime nation, hardly anything has been written about domestic shipping. Accounts about companies such as William Lines or Aboitiz Shipping may seem trivial in the context of Philippine economic history, but they are part of a narrative that actually dates back to the Spanish colonial era when Cebu was opened up to foreign trade in 1860. This article will therefore give an account of how domestic shipping transformed from the colonial era until the present day. Specifically, it will also highlight the historical agency of certain personalities from Cebu who created institutions that were part of everyday life, yet remain invisible in the historiography of our development as an archipelagic nation.

Keywords: Domestic shipping, Maritime disasters, Aboitiz, William Lines, Gothong, Superferry