Pre-Visit

I decided to have a vacation this weekend but i still didn't know where to go. I surf the internet to find for a place where i can relax and enjoy my weekend. I was looking on the places listed in the internet when suddenly my eyes were caught by the place named Batanes. I search the internet about Batanes and this is the website I found that made me say "I'll definitely go to this place".
http://www.lifeafterbreakfast.com/2013/04/travel-diary-batanes.html

The island-province of Batanes is the smallest province in the Philippines with a land area of 230 square kilometers and was created by a series of volcanic activities and other geologic forces when Mt. Iraya erupted around 325 B.C. It is bounded on the north by the Bashi Channel, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the China Sea and on the south by the Balintang Channel. Basco, its capital town is about 280 kilometers north of Aparri, Cagayan or some 860 kilometers north of Manila and about 190 kilometers south of Taiwan. This story is from the department of tourism. Since Batanes is a UNESCO world heritage site, the blogs that I viewed showed that Batanes is really an amazing place to visit because of those wonderful comments and magnificent pictures they posted on there blogs.

Here is the map of Batanes:

And here is a sample picture taken from Batanes:

it's a WOW! :)

Most of the blogs i visited are own by tourist like me who are searching for a place to travel and they made the Batanes as their favorite one. Well, I hope i would experience what they felt when they came in Batanes. :)


 History of Batanes:

I did search about the history of the Batanes because I was impress on the pictures of the place. Like the beauty of the picture taken from Batanes, the history itself was an awesome one.

The pre-historic Ivatans who are nationally acclaimed as the “True Insulares” were boat-making and sea-faring people who lived in small tribal communities that lived on fishing, hunting, horticulture and raising root crops.

The Ivatans traced their roots to the early immigrants from Formosa (Taiwan) and the Spaniards who came to the island in the 16th century. To this day, they bear the features of their forebears – the Chinese almond eyes and the Spaniards’ aquiline nose. Their language is peppered with pidgin Spanish and is spoken with the rhythm of the Chinese language.

In 1782, then Governor General of the Philippines Jose Basco y Vargas sent an expedition to undertake the formalities of getting the consent of the Ivatans to become subjects of the king of Spain. On June 26, 1783, Joseph Huelva y Melgarjo became the first governor of Batanes. The new province was named Provincia de la Concepcion and Governor General Basco was named “Conde de la Conquista de Batanes” and the capital town was named after him.

By 1799, the Manila government was convinced that the Batanes provincial government was unable to support itself and it was decided to downgrade it. The office of the governor was abolished and Valerio Bermudez, a Cagayano was appointed alcalde.

By 1855 the Itbayat Mission was formally recognized the same year when the era of the alcalde also ended and the governorship was restored indicating a mode of political and economic upswing. Fernando de la Cueva was assigned Governor.

Around 1890 a mail boat was coming every three months increasing the contact of the Ivatans with Luzon especially Manila. The export of pork, lard and cattles increased. Galvanized iron became available.

On September 18, 1898, Katipuneros from Luzon hoisted their flag at Radiwan. Gov. Julian Fortea became the last Spanish governor.

In February  1900, the USS Princeton landed in  Batanes to begin American rule. The province became a mere township under Cagayan. Batanes became a province again by the provision of Act 1952 enacted on May 20, 1909 with Otto Scheerer as the Governor. A wireless  telegraph tower and station  was set up in Basco before 1920.

When the Japanese arrived in Batanes on Dec. 8,1941 they bomb the airport and destroyed the wireless telegraph tower. Ivatan resentment turned to aggressive resistance in 1945. After the war and the Philippines got its Independence, contact with the rest of the country increased. The airport was rehabilitated; media and radio communications have lessened cultural isolation. Infrastructures, electrification and deep-sea fishing improved and a shift to rice from root crops as traditional subsistence was effected.

Batanes today boasts of undisturbed and unspoiled beauty of nature preserved by the peace-loving Ivatans. A complete ecotourism destination, Batanes offers a kaleidoscope of natural beauty and ecological attractions from its rich marine resources of its verdant rolling terrain – all ideal for outdoor sports. Because fires and typhoons routinely destroyed government and mission buildings, lime and stone churches began to be built around 1795 with the help of imported masons, stone cutters and carpenters from Cagayan. Today, houses built of meter-thick limestone walls and foot-thick thatched/cogon roof whose main architectural consideration is its resistance to typhoon still stand.

In 1989, President Corazon Aquino visited Batanes while President Fidel V. Ramos celebrated his 65th birthday in Basco in 1993.  In 1994, the Island Province of Batanes was declared as one of the 10 Integrated Protected Area System (IPAS) sites in the country. For now Batanes was a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was under the protection of the goverment and when it comes to tourism part of it, Batanes is at the top 5 list of the "must see place".