Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Chapel (Tukon Chapel)
After checking in and having a breakfast of fried dibang (flying fish) with pako salad, fried egg and rice at Bernardo’s Lantia Hotel, we were all picked, at 12 noon, by our guide Harvey Gutierrez for our North Batan Tour on board a Toyota van of A.A.B. Travel and Tours.
Check out “Hotel and Inn Review: Bernardo’s Lantia Hotel”
Harbour Cafe
A short 2.3 km. (5-min.) drive brought us to Harbour Café where we had lunch before starting our tour. The café has a good view of Basco Port.
After lunch, we again boarded our van for another short, 2.9-km. (7-min.) drive to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Chapel. Parking along the road, we climbed a short flight of steps to get to the chapel.
Grace and Jandy
Also known as Tukon (tukon means “mountain” in the Ivatan dialect) Chapel, this project of the late Henedina “Dina” R. Abad (former Batanes Congresswoman) and her husband Florencio “Butch” B. Abad (former Department of Education Secretary) was built to help Tukon’s residents, especially the older ones, avoid the long walk to Basco to attend church services.
Interior of the chapel
Adopting the design of a traditional Ivatan house (stacking and bonding boulders to make a wall), local craftsmen, masons and carpenters built the church and it is the only chapel embodying such design. Noted architects Jose Ramon “Joven” Ignacio and Cristina “Tina” V. Turralba (our UP College of Architecture professor) helped complete the design.
The altar
The beautiful chapel was officially opened on May 3, 2008, in time for the wedding of Rep. Abad’s daughter Julia, who is also the Presidential Chief of Staff, to Englishman Andrew Parker.
Wooden spiral stairway leading to choir loft
Stations of the Cross – The Crucifixion
The stained-glass windows and the hardwood pews are contributions from the Abads’ friends and family. The ceiling of the chapel was once covered with paintings, painted by scholars of the Pacita Abad Center for the Arts, of the patron saints standing in front of the churches of the six municipalities of Batanes. The chapel was featured in the 2015 film You’re My Boss, starring Toni Gonzaga and Coco Martin.
Coco Martin and Toni Gonzaga at Tukon Chapel
Coco and Toni about to enter the chapel. The lianas at the pergola, destroyed by the 2016 typhoon, are currently being regrown.
Unfortunately, Mt. Carmel Chapel was one of the churches destroyed during the strong super typhoon Ferdie (international name: Meranti) that hit Batanes on September 13, 2016. The interior ceiling collapsed, including the image of St. Joseph the Worker, their patron saint.
Coco and Toni inside the chapel. The painting behind the crucifix is no longer there.
Sitting humbly atop a foothill, Tukon Chapel, a perfect wedding venue, has stunning and gorgeous views of Mt. Iraya, and the waves of both the West Philippine Sea, on the left, and the roaring Pacific Ocean, on the right. It was featured in the 2015 movie You’re My Boss (starring Toni Gonzaga and Coco Martin).
Our tour group
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Chapel: Sitio Tukon, Brgy. Chanarian, 3900 Basco. Sunday masses are held for the community at 4 PM.
How to Get There: The easiest way to get to the chapel is via tour provider or a tricycle. From the Basco Municipal Hall, take the National Road till you reach the chapel on top of the hill.