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Biographical Information
PROVINCIAL PROFILE OF BATANES
FAST FACTS
Click Here To See the List Of Towns.
LOCATION
Batanes is the Philippines' northernmost province, lying in a vast expanse of water wheree the Pacific Ocean on the east merges with the South China Sea on the west. Its other boundaries are Bashi Channel on the north and Balintang Channel on the south. Its capital town of Basco is about 280 km north of Aparri, Cagayan, on the northern tip of Luzon Island. Though some 860 km north of Manila, it is only 190 km south of Taiwan.
THE LAND
Batanes is made up of three major islands, Batan, Sabtang, and Itbayat and seven islets, including Y'ami, the northernmost point of the Philippines. Although its land area is small, its territorial waters is vast, about 4,500 sq km. The terrain is quite rugged, with 42% of the land being steep hills and mountains. Sabtang Island is dominated by steep mountains and deep canyons. Itbayat has gentle rolling hills and relatively flat lands, while Batan has the largest share of level and near-level lands.
All the islands have intermittent stretches of sandy beaches and rocky shorelines. Itbayat and Dinem are surrounded by continuous massive cliffs rising 20-70 m above the sea. The weather is generally cool and the place is quite windy. Typhoons occur at an average of eight times a year.
A BRIEF HISTORY
The Batanes archipelago was formally annexed to the Philippines under Spanish rule on June 26, 1783. The evangelization of the natives, started by the Dominicans, took almost a century. The name of the province was derived from the major island of Batan where Basco is located. The capital town itself beats the name of Governor General Jose Bargas Basco, who brought the islands under Spanish rule. When the Americans established their rule in the Philippines, Batanes was classified as a municipality of Cagayan. It was recognized as an independent province in 1909.
THE PEOPLE
The natives of Batanes, called Ivatan, are of Malay stock. The Ivatans trace their roots to early immigrants from Formosa (now Taiwan) and latter-day Spanish conquistadores. To this day, they bear the features of their forebears - the Formosans' almond eyes and the Spaniards' aquiline nose. The Ivatans live in communities of stone houses laid out along narrow streets that follow the contour of the land. These houses are built to withstand even the strongest winds. They are secured with a rope net as added precaution against typhoons.
The insular and isolated character of the province is most pronounced within the Ivatan communities. There are no moviehouses, no markets, and no shopping centers. Newspapers are available only on days when Philippine Airlines has a flight to Basco. Radio program from Tuguegarao, if not garbled, reach Batanes. Broadcasts from Taiwan are clearer, but they are in Chinese. The main language, also called Ivatan, is peppered with pidgin Spanish and spoken with the municipality of the Chinese tongue. It is spoken by 94 percent of the population. Other dialects are Tagalog and Ilocano.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
The provinces' distance and relative isolation
form the Philippine mainland account for its under-development.
The Batanes folks depend on small-scale farming and fishing for
their livelihood. Amodest farm, planted with rootcrops,
vegetables, and fruit trees, is a common prossession of the
average family. On the other side, they raise dairy animals,
hogs, and poultry to augment their income.
Information gathered from:
League of
Provinces
by:Roberto C. Arellano
This page last revised:April 29, 1999.
