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Breathtaking Batanes is unlike anything I have been used
to in a sprawling metropolis. Crime, like the traffic
and its dust and pollution, is almost nonexistent. No
drugs, no smuggling, no kidnapping. Here, they leave the
doors of houses open all day (and even at night). Here,
I can sleep overnight in the park or along the shore
without fear of mugging. Bikes, scooters and occasional
jeepneys and tricycles are the only means of
transportation. There are no rich or poor; no squatters
or beggars. The brilliance of the moon, the stars and
even some of the planets are not blocked by smog or
glaring neon lights. The air I inhaled, as well as the
fish, fruits, vegetables and meat I ate were fresh, with
no preservatives added. I can also drink directly from
the faucet without fear. The “ordinary” food fare I ate
consisted of spiny lobster (payi), coconut crabs
(tatus), flying fish (dibang) and Spanish
mackerel (tanigi), complemented by delicious
yellow rice (supas), all served on leaves of a
local bread fruit tree called kabaya.
Everybody is likely to know everybody and youngsters
here are respectful. Ivatans take hospitality to its
highest level, welcoming the ipula (outsider)
with open doors and a Sumdep kamu (“Please come
in”) or greet him with a Kapian ka nu Dios (“May
God be with you”). The traditional community spirit or
bayanihan (locally called yaru) remains
high here. There are no moviehouses, no bars or beer
joints, no markets (food is sold door-to-door) or
shopping centers. After sunset, the streets are unlit
and practically empty. This 10-island miniarchipelago
is also a study in contrast. It is the smallest province
in terms of area and population yet the literacy rate
and professional education index among Ivatans is a high
95 percent. Truly like the Utopia of Sir Thomas More,
or the Shangri-La in The Lost Horizon. However,
change came in the form of a 24-hour power source, cable
TV, cell sites and Internet access.
Such a
province, with its landscape of unsurpassed beauty,
needs to be preserved. On January 5, 2001, by virtue of
RA 8991, the islands were proclaimed a protected area by
the DENR. Recently, the Unesco listed Batanes as the
country’s sixth World Heritage site due to its mix of
unique and ancient archeology and architecture. The
listing could help raise awareness about the
preservation of the heritage sites and local authorities
may receive financial assistance or expert advice from
Unesco on ways to maintain the site.
As a
result of the listing, Batanes’ reputation as a new
frontier tourist destination has grown but this has been
greeted with mixed feelings by the local government. The
number of local and foreign tourist arrivals has
increased, providing additional revenues as professional
employment opportunities here are scarce. However, these
same tourists may overwhelm preservation sites such as
pre-Hispanic burial sites and idjangs and the
traditional houses. Gov. Vicente Gato hopes that from
this listing, the national government, as well as other
groups, will provide more assistance and endowments or
grants to preserve these fragile Ivatan sites. If the
governor would have his way, he prefers quality tourists
who appreciate Ivatan culture or those who would help
preserve this heritage. Besides, Batanes’ existing
tourism infrastructure simply can’t support and
accommodate too many tourists.
What has
made Batanes so deserving of such an honor? For one,
Batanes is unique among Philippine provinces. The people
(the honest, hardy and inscrutable Ivatans trace their
roots to prehistoric Formosan immigrants with their
almond eyes and latter-day Spaniards with their aquiline
noses), the language (the Ivatan dialect is peppered
with pidgin Spanish and spoken with the tonal musicality
of the Chinese language), the weather (generally cooler,
balmier and quite windy with practically 4 seasons
including a “winter”), the crafts, and even the boats
used (the wide, round-bottomed, bathtub-shaped and
plank-built boat called falowa and not the
banca is used) are all different.
The
Ivatan’s ingeniously designed, typhoon-resistant houses
(locally called sinandumparan) are found all over
the province and nowhere else (the lowland bahay kubo
simply will not survive here). These squat, low, solid
stone-and-lime cottages, not unlike those in the
Scottish Highlands or France’s Provencal region, have
meter-thick walls, 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 tightly bound and
woven together to make it waterproof 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. 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.
One such
house, the House of Dakay, the oldest in Batanes, is
included on the Unesco list and expected for grading.
Now resided in by octogenarian Florestida Estrella, it
was built in 1887 by Jose Dacay (Florestida’s
grandfather). The friendly Florestida, with her easy
smile and weather-beaten face, was formerly only used to
a quiet village existence. Now, her tiny world has been
opened to many foreign and local tourists who take her
picture, making her the subject of many articles,
postcards and promotional calendars. Florestida keeps a
blue logbook containing the names of visitors over the
past years.
Like
Florestida, 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. |
