Category Archives: PHILIPPINE PROVINCES

A Sabtang Welcome (Batanes)

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The third day of my 5-day stay in Batanes was reserved for a visit to the 40.67 sq. km., beautiful, mountainous and extremely rugged Sabtang Island.  According to a coffee table book published by the DOT in 1994, Sabtang Island was chosen as one of the 12 best destinations in the country.  I wondered why.  Having left Mama Lily’s Inn very early in the morning, I was able to hitch a ride, via Batanes Gov. Vicente Gato’s van, to Radiwan Port in Ivana, the gateway to the island.   I was to travel with distinguished company.  Joining me in the falowa (a round-bottomed boat) for the nearly 1-hr., 5-km. and fairly rough crossing across the Ivana Channel was Gov. Gato himself and Congresswoman Henedina Razon-Abad (wife or former Education Secretary and Congressman Florencio “Butch” Abad), both inaugurating a school library on the island, plus guests Ms. Carol Pobre and Ms. Bing Talla, both of DOT Region II, and Ms. Margarita Garcia, a Fil-American Fullbright scholar teaching art to Ivatan schoolchildren (I later found out she was living at the lighthouse at Naidi Hills in Basco).

The scenic, winding road to Chavayan

Sabtang’s beautiful shoreline is similar to Batan Island, having intermittent white sand beaches, deep canyons, sand dunes that rise up to a hundred feet and steep, 200 to 350-m. high mountains that run down the island’s spine, making the island slope outward to the coast.  Small level areas are sporadically found along the northeast coastline and mountains have to be terraced to accommodate communities.   The only town, the picturesque Sabtang (also called Centro or San Vicente), is located on the island’s eastern seaboard.  The waters around the islands are said to have one of the richest fishing grounds in all of Batanes.

Church of St. Vincent Ferrer

It seems one half of the island’s 1,678 Isabtang population came out to greet our party upon our arrival.  I, however, mistook the town’s parish priest for the mayor but soon corrected myself and paid my respects to the boyish-looking Mayor Juan “Johnny Caballero, smartly attired in a Hawaiian-style polo shirt. The blessing soon got underway.  

Uyugan and Back (Batanes)

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Songsong Ruins
Old LORAN Station

Entering Uyugan, we passed by the old LORAN (Long Range Aid to Navigation) Station, in Alapad Point in Brgy. Imnajbu and the ruins of Songsong, a cluster of roofless old stone houses of a once thriving community of fishermen that was abandoned in 1955 after the inhabitants experienced severe famine as a consequence of the strong typhoons and tsunami in 1953 and 1954. The villagers resettled to Maramag, Bukidnon. Some of the ruins are now being restored while others are already inhabited.

Entry to Dipnaysujuan Tunnels

Along the Vajangshin Road, we passed by one of the 5 openings of the the Dipnaysujuan Tunnels, an abandoned Japanese-built World War II network of 8-ft. high and 6-ft. wide bat-filled tunnels. Too bad, we didn’t have kerosene lamps or flashlights to explore the dark tunnels.  Finally, on the way back to Basco, we also passed by an idjang (one of 17 throughout the province), a rocky castle-like natural fortress where pre-Hispanic Ivatans lived.

Basco idjang

Florestida Estrella and the House of Dakay (Ivana, Batanes)

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Posing beside the House of Dakay

During my 1.5-hr. tour of Batan Island with my 2 guides Ms. Joy Gabaldon and Mr. Jose “Boging” Astudillo and Toyota Revo driver Mr. Luciano “Anong” de Guzman, we passed by many of the Ivatan’s small, quaint, squat and low but ingeniously designed and typhoon-resistant houses, liken to those in the Scottish Highlands or France’s Provencal region. Locally called sinandumparan, these squat, low, solid stone and lime cottages are found all over the province and nowhere else in the country, as the lowland bahay kubo simply could not survive the harsh Batanes environment.

Ivana

First built around 1795 by imported stonecutters, masons and carpenters from Cagayan, they have meter-thick lime and stone walls (sometimes with wood reinforcement for earthquake resistance), are built directly to the ground and are laid out on narrow, cobbled streets that follow the contour of the land.  They are cool during the warm season and warm in the cold months.  The gabled roofs have foot-thick cogon (which keeps the house cool in the hottest weather) tightly bound and woven together to make it water proof and fastened with reeds to sturdy wooden rafters.  The roof is held down by a panpet (a thick rope roof net) fastened to strong pegs on large, half-buried stones. The small, narrow door faces the east or northeast, away from the worst typhoon winds.  The tiny, square windows are located on three walls only.  The wall that doesn’t have it faces the direction of the strongest winds during typhoons.

Sinandumparan ceiling

We made one long stopover at one such house, the Vahay ni Dakay (House of Dakay).  The oldest sinandumparan in Batanes, it is included on the UNESCO Heritage Building list and expected for grading.  Now resided in by octogenarian Florestida Estrella, it was built in 1887 by Elena Estrella, cobbled together with corals washed from the shore and stones that are abundant in the coastal town of Ivana.  Elena later bequeathed it to her nephew Jose Dacay (Florestida’s grandfather).  This traditional house withstood the September 13, 1918 (one of only 5 houses that survived in Ivana) and the July 16, 2000 (magnitude 7) earthquakes.

Lola Ida

The friendly Florestida, fondly called Lola Ida, has an easy smile and weather-beaten face.  She was formerly only used to a quiet village existence. During the early years, her family moved the Visayas, returning to the area when she was 12.  She had stayed ever since, never marrying and many of her childhood friends have since died. Now, her tiny world has been opened to many foreign (including Australians and Canadians) and local tourists who give her donations and take her picture (she is the most photographed Ivatan in Batanes), making her the subject of many articles, postcards and promotional calendars. These same tourists also urge authorities to help preserve her house. Lola Ida keeps a blue logbook containing the names of visitors (mine now included) over the past years.  Like Lola Ida, the Ivatan’s tiny world may soon be open to tourism.  Let’s just hope it doesn’t destroy the very character that made it known in the first place.

Tour of Batan Island: Ivana (Batanes)

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Church of St. Joseph the Carpenter

The next town we visited was Ivana.  In front of the town port is the Church of St. Joseph the Carpenter, built in 1785 and renovated in 1844. It has 3-m. thick walls and is the only church not built in the espadana style. Its separate fortress-like campanile, the only one in the province, has a crenellated top.  Here, Filipino revolutionaries hoisted their flag after renouncing their loyalty to Spain on September 1898. Due to its elevation, the church offers a panoramic view of the sea and the surrounding countryside.

Honesty Coffee Shop

Near the church is the Honesty Coffee Shop, opened in 1995 and owned by retired public school teacher Ms. Elena Gabilo.  Perhaps the only one of its kind in the country, Elena still believes that people are generally honest and therefore leaves nobody to tend to her store, concentrating, instead, on farming and cane vinegar production. A plaque inside is inscribed with the words “The Lord is my Security Guard.” The store sells snacks, candies, soft drinks, bottled water, souvenir items (vakuls) and Batanes T-shirts.  Here, we picked out soft drinks and snacks from the shelf, listed them in a logbook and dropped our payment into a drop box.  

Radar Tukon
The hilltop Radar Tukon, about 300 m. above sea level and 2.75 kms. from Basco, was formerly a pre-war U.S. weather station that presently houses the PAGASA Radar Station (the last weather station in the north) where typhoons (Basco is a reference point for all typhoons that enter and leave the country’s area of responsibility) are monitored. Its huge satellite disk was ripped off by gale-force winds even before it was put to effective use.  The hill offers a magnificent view of Batan Island, the South China Sea, Mount Iraya and the magnificent pastoral beauty of hedgerows and fields on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other side. Also nearby is the beautiful house cum gallery-museum of the late great Ivatan artist Pacita Abad.

Tour of Batan Island: Mahatao (Batanes)

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Batan Island circuit road

On my second day in Batanes, I paid a courtesy call and asked for assistance from Gov. Vicente S. Gato and Tourism Officer Elmo Merin at the Provincial Capitol (built from 1794 to 1798 as the Casa Real or Spanish Governor’s residence) in Basco.  The Capitol fronts the grassy plaza leading down to Kanyuyan Port and Beach in Baluarte Bay.  Gov. Gato, a keen promoter of Batanes’ tourism potential, gladly allowed me the use of a Toyota Revo to be driven by Mr. Luciano “Anong” de Guzman.  He also assigned Ms. Joy Gabaldon and Mr. Jose “Boging” Astudillo as my guides.

The Provincial Capitol

Our route around the 35.5-sq. km., generally mountainous Batan Island skirted the west coast through Mahatao and Ivana to Uyugan. The winding circuit around the island took nearly 1.5 hrs. This included stopovers for photo ops and a longer wait to replace a flat tire.  All throughout, I was rewarded with a vista of sheer limestone cliffs alternating with gently rolling hills, great boulder beaches and some black and white sand beaches hemmed in by a broad fringing reef.  

Reliving the “Sound of Music” at Payaman

The wind-swept, vast and sprawling Racuh a Payaman, at Mahatao’s outskirts, is a huge track of communal pastureland preserved by the villagers.  Popularly called the “Marlboro Country of Batanes,” cattle, carabao and horses grazed at its endless array of rolling hills.  A photographer’s and nature lover’s delight, the hills have a breathtaking view of Mt. Iraya, the Pacific Ocean, the Mahatao Lighthouse and nearby fields hedged with trees that break the wind’s full fury, allowing root crops to grow.   They say this the place to catch a breathtaking Batanes sunrise.  Here, I can’t help but do a “Sound of Music  pose. 

Church of San Carlos Borromeo
At Mahatao town proper is the venerable San Carlos Borromeo Church, in Mahatao, one of 26 churches listed as National Cultural Treasures by the National Museum.  First built by Dominican friars in 1789, the present church dates to 1873.  It has an espadana-style façade (with two round arches at roof levels for the bells) and massive buttresses at the outer walls (which serve as stairways for servicing its then cogon-covered roof).    At the church courtyard and at the elementary school grounds are Spanish-era stone lampposts used as guiding lights to guide fishermen and early mariners safely to the anchorage just beyond the town’s seaport.   The town’s Spanish-era bridge also retains its centuries-old features.  

Naidi Hills (Basco, Batanes)

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Come late afternoon, I decided to hike up the nearby Naidi Hills, northwest of Basco proper.  Here, I had a unique view of Baluarte Bay, Basco, mist-shrouded, 1,009-m. high  Mt. Iraya (Batanes’ highest mountain), the sunset and the rolling hills.  The hills used to be the site of the Philippine’s tallest wireless communications facility, bombed by the Japanese planes on December 8, 1941.  Only the base remains.  Also on the hill are the damaged buildings and bunkers that used to house the communications facilities. 

The bucolic Naidi Hills

The hill is now home to the new 6-storey, 66-ft. high conical Basco Lighthouse (also called Naidi Lighthouse), one of 3 lighthouses proposed by former Congressman Florencio “Butch” Abad.  Built in 2003, it is located a few meters away from Radyo ng Bayan station  and standing on the same site of Basco’s first lighthouse.  It has a view deck on the fifth floor.  Beside it is an Ivatan stone house constructed of native materials and essentially of vernacular architecture.  The hill is also home to grazing cattle.  On one occasion, one bull gently prodded me to vacate the grass I was sitting on. 

One of Naidi Hills resident cattle

Naidi Hills: Sitio Diajang, Brgy. San Antonio, Basco, Batanes.

Batanes: A Dream Fulfilled

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Postcard-pretty Basco

Even for a seasoned traveler like me, getting to remote Batanes has always remained a dream.  However, winning a round trip Asian Spirit plane ticket, via a raffle draw during my college’s Golden Anniversary celebration, made that dream a reality as I could choose from any of its destinations served.  I chose the farthest – Batanes.  After reserving and paying the other charges for the ticket (around PhP1,700), I wasted no time in making plans, summer having just ended and the rainy season just about to begin.  This would be my first local trip alone, without family or friends to accompany me.  I left Manila for Basco the morning (9:40 AM) of June 1, Thursday.  The trip took all of 2 hrs., Basco being 483 air kms. from Manila.  The plane also made a 30-min. stopover at Tuguegarao (Cagayan) Airport.  It was just about lunchtime when I arrived in Basco Airport, tired, hungry and with a queasy stomach, the result of a very bumpy flight (now I know why the stewardess gave us mint candies prior to the flight).   

Asian Spirit plane at Basco Airport

From the airport, I took a tricycle to the town center and checked in at one of Mama Lily Inn’s 3 fan-cooled rooms with common bath.  This was to be my home for the 5 days I was to stay in this beautiful province. Basco, the lovely provincial capital and the center of commerce, is the  biggest and most urbanized among the 6 towns of the province. It houses the provincial offices of most national government agencies as well as the larger business establishments and collegiate institutions.  Formerly called Vasay, the town was renamed after Spanish Gov.-Gen. Jose Basco y Vargas. 

Jose P. Laurel Museum and Memorial Library (Tanauan City, Batangas)

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From the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Jandy and I moved on to the nearby Jose P. Laurel Museum and Library, the home of Jose P. Laurel, the president of the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic (October 14, 1943-August 17, 1945).  Laurel was born here on March 9, 1891.  The Laurels, being a prominent family, built their residence just walking distance from the cathedral and town hall and 100 m.  from the national road. 

Jose P. Laurel Museum and Memorial Library

Built in 1880, this ancestral house was restored by Jose P. Laurel’s son Mariano and daughter-in-law Alicia on March 9, 1964 and was donated to the national government to serve as a public library.  It also houses Jose P. Laurel’s memorabilia.  The 2-storey house has a ground floor of stone and an upper level of wood with wooden posts, sliding capiz windows and a floor of brightly polished wooden planks. 

The dining room
The living room
Laurel’s office

It was a holiday (Labor Day) during the time of our visit but the caretaker gladly allowed us free rein to tour the areas of the house – the living room (with its prominent bust of Laurel), dining room (with its 8-seater dining table and mounted photo of Laurel delivering a speech) and Laurel’s bedroom (with its antique 4-poster bed) and office (with Laurel’s desk and chair).    Beside an oil painting of Laurel is a wooden harp.  Outside the house is an antique church bell.

Laurel’s bedroom
A wooden harp
The old church bell

Jose P. Laurel Museum and Memorial Library: A. Mabini Ave, Poblacion, Tanauan City, Batangas. Open daily, 8 AM-5 PM.

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (Tanauan City, Batangas)

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Jandy and I were now on our way home from our overnight stay in Lipa City.  At a KFC outlet in Tanauan City, we made a short stopover for an early fried chicken lunch.  After lunch, we walked over to the city’s beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist for some sightseeing.  First built with wood in 1690, it was replaced with stone from 1732-67 and later rebuilt in 1812 by Fr. Ramon Cosio.  
 
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
The present structure was built from 1881-98 by Fr. Jose Diaz.  The church was damaged in 1944 and rebuilt in 1948 by Monsignor Marino and Arch. Jose L. Zaragoza in the Romanesque style.  The convent, built in 1872 and also destroyed in 1944, was rebuilt together with the cathedral.
      
The unremarkable modern interior
The cathedral’s simple, High Renaissance and Romanesque facade, resembling the original one, has an ornate Romanesque-style recessed main entrance (resembling layers of lace) supported by 6 sets of elaborately decorated semicircular arched windows, a triangular pediment with a semicircular statued niche and a balustrade supporting statues of saints projecting over stone bases from the frieze.   The rounded arches tapering down to the strong pillars harmonize with the uncluttered lines of the central ceiling.  The church is also noted for its wide open central nave and circular niches. The churchyard has life-size tableaus of the 14 Stations of the Cross.  Its bell tower, mounted on the horizontal extension of the facade, is topped by a Baroque-style dome.
 
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist: A. Mabini Ave., Brgy. 1, Poblacion, Tanauan City, Batangas.

Mt. Malarayat Golf & Country Club (Lipa City, Batangas)

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While in Lipa City, we made a short visit to the 200-hectare Mt. Malarayat Golf & Country Club where my brother Frank plays golf.  This private proprietary club, developed by the Active Group, is nestled at the foot of the mountain range for which it was named.  It has a 27-hole, flood-free, all-weather championship golf course designed by  Bob Moore of the internationally renowned J. Michael Poellet (JMP) Golf Design Group.  
 
It consists of three courses named  for peaks in the Malarayat Range -the 18-hole, 6,284-yard, par 72 Mt. Lubo and Mt. Malepunyo golf courses and the 9-hole, 3,168-yard par 36 Mt. Makulot golf course.  The tight and challenging layout is complemented by beautiful scenery. The rough and fairways are Tifton 419 bermuda grass.  On the first 18 holes, water hazards are found on Hole No. 1, 7, 8, 9 and 18 and, on the third nine, Hole No. 6 and 9.  There are sand traps on the fairways and on the greens.  The 591-yard Hole No. 4 is the longest hole.
       
Facilities here include a 40-room hotel adjacent to the golf course, a driving range, practice putting green, clubhouse with restaurant, bar, pro shop, function room, tee houses, lounge, lockers, jacuzzi, sauna, massage areas, gym, boutique, children’s center, equestrian center, indoor sports club (basketball, billiards, darts, badminton, tennis, squash, pingpong and bowling) and golf clinic.  Guest must be accompanied or introduced by a member.
 
Mt. Malarayat Golf & Country Club: Brgy. Dagatan,
Talisay Sapac & Munting Pulo, Lipa City, Batangas.  Tel: (043) 756-7000. Fax: (043) 756-7008.