Batanes
Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes, is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It is the northernmost province in the Philippines, and the smallest, both in population and land area. The capital is Basco, located on the island of Batan, and is also the most populous municipality in the province.
The island group is located approximately north of the Luzon mainland and about south of Taiwan. Batanes is separated from the Babuyan Islands of Cagayan Province by the Balintang Channel, and from Taiwan by the Bashi Channel.
Etymology and nomenclature
The name Batanes is a Hispanicized plural form derived from the Ivatan endonym Batan.Older European sources may refer to the "Bashi" or "Bashee" Islands.
History
Early history
The ancestors of today's Ivatans descended from Austronesians who migrated to the islands 4,000 years ago during the Neolithic period. They lived in fortified mountain areas called idjangs and drank sugar-cane wine, or palek. They used gold as currency and were farmers, seafarers and boatbuilders. Batanes was a major site for the Maritime Jade Road, one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world, operating for 3,000 years from 2000 BCE to 1000 CE.Spanish colonial era
In 1687, the British explorer, privateer, and naturalist William Dampier visited the islands and named them in honour of prominent Dutch and British figures. Itbayat was named "Orange Isle" after William of Orange. Batan was named "Grafton Isle" after Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton. Sabtang Isle was named "Monmouth Isle" after James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth. During his stay in August and September 1687, Dampier made valuable observations about settlement types and subsistence of the inhabitants of the Batanes. He mentioned the existence of terraced and defended settlements on elevated terrain and listed various types of types of tubers and vegetables, and pigs and goats as common food sources, but notably no wet rice or cattle.In 1783, the Spanish claimed Batanes as part of the Philippines under the rule of Governor-General José Basco y Vargas. Batanes was ruled as part of the Provincia de Cagayan. The Bashi Channel was increasingly used by English East India Company ships and the Spanish authorities brought the islands under their direct administration to keep them from falling under British control. The Ivatan remained on their idjang castle-fortresses for some time. In 1790, Governor Guerrero decreed that Ivatans were to live in the lowlands and leave their remote idjang. In response, the mangpus, or indigenous Ivatan leaders, headed by the Ivatan hero Aman Dangat, revolted against the Spanish invaders.
Using guns, the Spanish ended the revolution, killing Aman Dangat and several other Ivatan leaders. Basco and Ivana were the first towns established under full Spanish control. Mahatao was then administered by Basco, while Uyugan and Sabtang, by Ivana. Itbayat was not organized until the 1850s, its coast being a ridge. Soon, Ilocanos came to the islands and integrated with the local population.
Roads, ports, bridges, churches and government buildings were built in this time. Limestone technology used by the Spanish spread to the islands, making bridges strong and fortified. Some of these bridges still remain at Ivana and Mahatao. By 1890, many Ivatans were in Manila, and became ilustrados, who then brought home with them the revolutionary ideas of the Katipunan. These Ivatans, who were then discontented with Spanish rule, killed the ruling General Fortea and declared the end of Spanish rule.
American colonial era
Toward the end of the Spanish administration, Batanes was made a part of Cagayan. Due to historical reasons from that time, some segments of Taiwan society argue that the islands should not belong to the Philippines. Batanes was created as a sub-province of Cagayan on August 20, 1907, with the approval of Act No. 1693. In 1909, the new American authorities organized it into an independent province, with the approval of Act No. 1952. During this time, additional public schools were constructed and more Ivatan became aware of their place in the Philippines.In 1920, the first wireless telegraph was installed, followed by an airfield in 1930. New roads were constructed and the Batanes High School was instituted around this time as well.
Japanese occupation
Because of their strategic location, the islands were one of the first points occupied by the invading Japanese imperial forces at the outbreak of the Pacific War. On the morning of December 8, 1941, the Batan Task Force from Taiwan landed on the Batan Islands, which became the first American territory occupied by the Japanese. The objective of the invasion - to secure the small airfield outside Basco - was accomplished without resistance. Japanese fighters from Basco took part in the raid on Clark Air Base the following day. Over the next several days, the success of the Japanese bombing of Clark Field rendered a base at Basco unnecessary, and on December 10, 1941, the naval combat force was withdrawn to participate in the invasion of Camiguin.As part of an administrative reorganization, the province of Batanes was downgraded to a municipality of Cagayan from 1942 to 1944. Upon its restoration, Victor de Padua, an Ilocano who was one of the first School Superintendents on Batan, was made Provincial Governor. Early in 1945, the island was liberated by the Philippine Commonwealth forces of the 1st and 12th Infantry Divisions of the Philippine Commonwealth Army.
Philippine independence
Batanes was briefly marred by political violence during the 1969 presidential elections, when the Philippine Constabulary's Special Forces allowed motorcycle-riding goons dubbed the "Suzuki boys" to secure the victory of Rufino Antonio Jr., an ally of President Ferdinand Marcos, as representative of the Lone District of Batanes in the House of Representatives of the Philippines through a campaign of terror and intimidation. The resulting outcry led to the Supreme Court decrying the "rape of democracy" in the province, and annulled Antonio's victory in 1970 in favor of his rival, Jorge Abad.In 1984, Pacita Abad, the foremost Ivatan visual artist, became the first woman to be awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Men award, breaking 25 years of male dominance. In her acceptance speech, she said, "it was long overdue that Filipina women were recognized, as the Philippines was full of outstanding women" and referred proudly to her mother.
File:Oldest House in Ivatan.jpg|thumb| Vahay ni Dakay Ivatan house, one of the oldest structures in the Batanes islands. The house is made of limestone and coral and its roofing of cogon grass.
In 1993, the Batanes Protected Landscape and Seascape, which encompassed the entire province, was listed in the Tentative List of the Philippines for UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription in the future.
In 1997, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act was passed in Philippine Congress. The law paved the way for the indigenous territorial rights of the Ivatans. The province has since promoted its Ivatan roots. Part of the Ilocano population has returned to mainland Luzon. On December 7, 2004, Pacita Abad died after finishing her last international artwork while suffering from cancer.
A minor dispute between the Philippines and Taiwan erupted in 2007, after Taiwan Times published an editorial written by Tamkang University professor Chen Hurng-yu, claiming that Taiwan has territorial claims over Batanes and encouraging the Taiwanese government to take over the province. This, despite the islands being first claimed by Spanish Philippines in 1783 and later incorporated and administered by the Philippines without any contesting nation since the 18th century.
In 2025, the Mahatao Forward Operating Base, a military facility operated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was established in Mahatao.
Geography
The province has a total area of comprising ten islands situated within the Luzon Strait between the Balintang Channel and Taiwan. The islands are sparsely populated and subject to frequent typhoons. The three largest islands, Batan, Itbayat, and Sabtang, are the only inhabited islands.The northernmost island in the province, also the northernmost land in the entire Philippines, is Mavulis Island. Other islands in the chain are Misanga, Ditarem, Siayan, Diogo, Ivuhos, and Dequey. The islands are part of the Luzon Volcanic Arc.
Topography
Almost one-half of Batanes is hills and mountains. Batan Island is generally mountainous on the north and southeast. It has a basin in the interior. Itbayat Island slopes gradually to the west, being mountainous and hilly along its northern, eastern coast. On Sabtang, mountains cover the central part, making the island slope outward to the coast.The islands are situated between the vast expanse of the waters of Bashi Channel and Balintang Channel, where the Pacific Ocean merges with the South China Sea. The area is a sea lane between the Philippines and Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It is rich with marine resources, including the rarest sea corals in the world.
The province is hilly and mountainous, with only or 7.1% of its area level to undulating terrain. 78.2% or 17,994.4 hectares vary from rolling hills to steep and very steep. Forty-two percent or are steep to very steep land. Because of the terrain of the province, drainage is good and prolonged flooding is non-existent.
The main island of Batan has the largest share of level and nearly level lands, followed by Itbayat and Sabtang, respectively. Itbayat has gently rolling hills and nearly level areas on semi-plateaus surrounded by continuous massive cliffs rising from above sea level, with no shorelines. Sabtang has its small flat areas spread sporadically on its coasts, while its interior is dominated by steep mountains and deep canyons. Batan Island and Sabtang have intermittent stretches of sandy beaches and rocky shorelines.
The terrain of the province, while picturesque at almost every turn, has limited the potential for expansion of agriculture in an already very small province.