EDITORIAL - Traditional beacons

With the advances in maritime navigation and communication technology, lighthouses may seem to belong to a bygone era. In this archipelago, however, there are still many fisherfolk who set out to sea on small outriggers, without access to any Global Positioning System. At night they can be spotted in the dark waters through their portable kerosene lamps bobbing up and down with the waves.

These are the folks who can use lighthouses to guide them in the night. Light aircraft and even modern vessels equipped with high-tech navigation equipment can find lighthouses useful, especially when their devices fail or during foul weather. Lighthouses can also help in monitoring coastal areas, deterring smuggling, poaching and other intrusions into the country’s waters. Lighthouses can be useful particularly in the West Philippine Sea, and in coastal areas that lie along the path of powerful tropical cyclones from the Pacific Ocean.  

In a country with 7,100 islands, however, there are only 561 lighthouses. Only 420 were found to be working in the latest inventory taken by the Philippine Coast Guard. Most of the defects in the 141 lighthouses that need repair were found in batteries, solar panels and light bulbs. The structures themselves will have to be restored and fortified against extreme weather disturbances arising from climate change.

Earlier this month, the Department of Transportation and Communications opened for bidding a P246-million procurement contract for equipment to modernize 143 lighthouses around the country. Apart from refurbishing existing lighthouses, the government should consider building new ones. Some of the oldest lighthouses have been turned into tourist attractions and should be retained as historical sites, without modernization.

In a country battered regularly by typhoons and, most recently, by powerful storm and monsoon surges, a lighthouse can be invaluable for guiding ships safely back to port. Developments in recent months have also highlighted the importance of improving the nation’s capability to monitor its territorial waters. The government should consider all options for this, including revitalizing the traditional beacon for ships, the lighthouse.