Photos courtesy of Minda Ponce-Rodriguez
Seven countries, 17 months, 42 people, one love story.
The way JP Rodriguez and Minda Ponce met is the kind of story straight out of a romantic movie: girl goes on a trip, girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, boy secretly loves girl from a distance, boy and girl came home from the trip starting as strangers and ending up as lovers.
Minda, a film producer and photographer, joined the Voyage of Balangay to document the whole journey in stills. The voyage, which aimed to retrace the migration of Filipino ancestors, was a 17-month journey around the islands of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries using the native sea craft known as balangay. She was there for work.
of the Balangay, where they spent more than a year
sailing around the Philippines and six other Southeast
Asian countries in a native sea craft.
JP, a member of the Philippine Coast Guard Special Operations Group, was dispatched to accompany the group, man the sails, and be the mainsail trimmer for Masawa Hong Butuan (one of the balangays). He was there for work.
They may be on the same boat, but they were on different missions. “We didn’t really get to casually speak as he was always left to tend to the boat when we dock, while I was off exploring the islands we visited,” relates Minda.
Not only were they separated by their duties but being opposites, it also seemed unlikely for them to get along. Minda shares, “He was the silent type and I liked to goof around.”
old church by the beach in Cuyo, Palawan.
Born and raised in Palawan, JP had a simple upbringing and while growing up “worked his ass off,” from which he learned to live simply and not to fuss about things. Minda, on the other hand, admits that she can be worldly and complicated at times. “I always look for the deeper meaning of things.”
The two were opposite and yet the connection between them was so powerful it drew them to each other. Prior to their meeting, Minda had come out of a 10-year relationship with a guy “totally opposite” from JP. Despite her long relationship, she says it never dawned on her that she’ll ever get married. But this changed when she met JP. “I realized that he was the kind of guy that you marry,” she enthuses.
It took Minda a few months into the Balangay trip to notice and eventually get to know JP. Using her long lens, she secretly took photos of him on the side. But it was a different case for JP who instantly took notice of Minda right at the beginning of their journey.
“He admitted that he had a crush on me while we were still in the Philippines,” shares Minda. But being the shy guy that he was, and with her strong and boyish personality, he didn’t approach her. “He told me that he approaches someone if he considers her a friend, but if he likes someone, he chooses to stay away.”
process where a man got down on his knees with
a ring; they just decided it was time and asked for
their parents’ approval
With the urging of their companions and JP’s obvious glances, Minda approached him and they have been together since. Technically, together for work – but Minda admits it wasn’t like her to have a relationship with someone while on the job. “With my job, I travel a lot and I’m always surrounded by men, but I’ve never had any relationship with the people I worked with.” But it was different with JP with whom she found refuge and happiness.
After more than a year on the sea, the two continued their journey together. They dated for two years until they decided to get married on May 30, 2012 at an old church by the beach in Cuyo, Palawan. Two years is a shorter time compared to Minda’s previous relationship, but they believe that when the feeling is right, you just do it. Or as JP puts it: “If I knew you earlier I would have married you sooner.”
“He believes that when you’ve found that person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you start spending your life with that person as soon as possible,” shares Minda.
Married for three years, the couple continues to explore the world together (they look forward to backpacking around Europe soon and experience snow for the first time) as it was their curiosity to discover new things that made their worlds collide.
coins made by a blind man from Maasin,
an island in the Visayas.
“When we talk about the times we’ve shared on that boat, we smile knowing we were meant to meet, fall in love, and spend the rest of our days remembering that once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Minda.
That’s why It’s one of their goals to relive some of those moments when they were stripped of all comfort, and yet found themselves “happy in the midst of fear and uncertainty.” And if there’s one special place they want to visit again, it would have to be the island of Sibutu in Tawi-Tawi where they first kissed.
Sure, finding that someone in the most unexpected place sounds scripted or too good to be true, but JP and Minda’s tale proves that when love finds you, it will hit you wherever you are.
