Lack of planning

BASCO, Batanes – Batanes, with all its beautiful landscapes and seascapes, is such a waste.

My first visit to this remotest part of the Philippines, at a time when the investigation into the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman (Itbayat Island was only 190 km from Taiwan), was a mixture of good and bad experiences, the bad probably outweighing the good.

Of all the places I have visited, the Ivatans are probably the most friendly and trustworthy people I’ve met.

There is of course the Honesty Café in the Southern part of Batan Island, a small store selling stuff ranging from colas to souvenir items where there are no storekeepers nor CCTV cameras. The price of each item is either written on it or listed in a piece of paper posted on the wall. There is a box with a hole small enough to insert coins or bills. You have to insert the exact amount because nobody is around to give back the change.

But honesty is not only present in the Honesty Café. In at least two lodging houses I’ve visited, small items like coffee sachets and instant noodles are left just lying around, also with the price of each item written on them. One just has to leave his money and get the change from the bills and coins left there by other customers.

In one of the places I went to, I remember one of the tourists asking a local resident if she can leave her bag there so she doesn’t have to bring it with her on her way to the cliffs. The resident laughed and said the tourist can leave her money and nobody will touch it. “This is Batanes, not Manila,” the resident said.

Our tour included the northern part of Batan where one can see famous landmarks and sights like the Mt. Carmel Chapel, the DOST / Radar Station which offers a magnificent view of the landscapes, Fundacion Pacita, Batan Idjang, the Japanese Tunnel, the Valugan Boulder Beach, the Vayang Ranch or Rolling Hills and the Lighthouse of Basco or Naidi Hills; the southern part of Batan where we were taken to the Chuwa Viewdeck, the San Carlos Borromeo Church and Spanish Lighthouse of Mahatao, the Blue Lagoon, the Spanish Bridge of Ivana, the house of Dakay, the White Beach, Honesty Café, Uyugan Town, the Songsun Ruins, Alapad Ranch, Marlboro Country, among others.

The whole of Batanes has a very small population of around 12,000 to 14,000, most of who reside in Batan Island. Sabtang Island has around 2,000 while Itbayat has over 1,000 residents. Because most of the lands are not arable, the people are mostly engaged in fishing,  cattle and livestock raising, and planting of root crops. The situation of the ports is very bad, the roads are undergoing repairs, there is no mall or theater but many residents have access to the Internet where they they just download their movies. There are no good restaurants and the very few ones that we saw, one has to reserve and order in advance. Because I was starving, I was forced to eat at a cafeteria beside the provincial capitol. The roads are very small and because the place is so tiny (Batan Island is actually big enough but most of the lands are uninhabited and are pasteur land.

It was almost perfect (even the weather was perfect except for a few rainshowers) until we had to cross to Sabtang Island, which is an hour and half by boat from Batan Island. The boat was jampacked and had a capacity of 35 people but we did not notice because we were excited to see this part of Batanes, which is famous for its famous stone houses made of limestone and coral, and thick layers of cogon grasses for roofing, designed to protect against the province’s hostile climate.

It is just unfortunate that Sabtang Island, particularly its community of stone houses, did not qualify as a world heritage site because the people were unable to preserve the culture. Some houses are already made of cement, painted, spoiling the old look. Is this due to lack of foresight and planning among the leaders of Batanes?

Nakabuang Beach were we had our lunch was full of trash and most of the visitors refused to take a dip because the waters were full of seaweeds and the waves were unpredictable.

The horror began when we were about to return to Batan Island. We were informed that there were two boat ride trips going back, one at 2 p.m. and the other at 4 p.m. We were at the port by 2 p.m. but the boat that took us there was nowhere to be found. Someone then informed us that the boat had to go back to Batan to bring sandbags. By 4 p.m., the other group that was supposed to take the 4 p.m. boat ride was also waiting at the port. There were probably more than 70 people waiting to take a ride back to Batan.

We then heard that there was no second trip so everybody was going to ride on our boat which again can only accommodate 35 people. Are you kidding me? Finally, the boat arrived together with the passenger manifesto. The first batch of 35 passengers signed, including me, so I asked our guide what happens to the remaining 35. She said they will take the same boat but will not sign the manifesto. Take note that in all the commotion that was already ensuing, the Coast Guard was not there. And according to our guide, it was a common practice, for boats to be overloaded.

It was then that we learned that when we left Batan Island for Sabtang, there was no signed manifesto nor a Coast Guard present, and that including the boat crew and freeloaders, we were overloaded. So we demanded for the presence of the Coast Guard. When he finally decided to show up, we asked him to call the names of each of the 35 passengers who were listed in the manifesto.  He obliged and called the first four or five names after which he asked everyone to just board. We then noticed that passengers from the second batch were already in the boat so we asked everyone to disembark and for the Coast Guard to again call the names. Of course some of the passengers refused to leave the boat so again we demanded that the Coast Guard make sure that the boat wasn’t overloaded. Finally, he gave an ultimatum that he will not permit the boat to leave unless everybody disembarks. And so everybody went down and each of the names in the manifesto was called. We finally left when the waters were already rough and the sun was almost setting. Of course, we were more than 35 because the manifesto did not list down the crew and freeloaders probably numbering 10. But I’m glad we were not 70 or 80 on that boat. I don’t know what happened to the second group of passengers but what I know is that they were able to get a ride back.

Our Coast Guard officials better do something about the situation here in Batanes, where their representatives seem to be busy doing other things other than doing their jobs.

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