Banton Island, Romblon Archives

Banton Church of Banton Island, Romblon

March 4, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

When we arrived at Banton Island, Romblon at around 4:42PM last May 17, 2012 we first looked for a lodging then a place to have our dinner. When we were finished looking for the things we needed and it was still 5:42PM, we decided to waste no time for a few minutes of the sunlight left. We asked people around on what we could visit in the shortest time possible and they pointed us to the Banton Church.

Banton Church

The church in Banton Island was quite near the A & A Lodging House, it took us less than a minute or two to reach it. We entered a high gate with a high wall to get to where the church is located. We saw the church and on the other end of the road was another gate with a high wall. I think the church is located inside Fuerza de San Jose, or known as kuta or a Spanish Fortress.

Gate of Fuerza de San Jose

According to the locals the church was built in the 16th century. The structure does not seem to be built on the 16th century due to many modernized renovations.

Comfort Rooms and Houses

February 24, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

When we were doing our Motorcycle Tour around Banton Island in Romblon Province I saw a sign stating the statistics of Barangay Balogo. I found the number of Comfort Rooms a bit funny. Growing up in the city where a house usually has one or more comfort rooms, I always thought that when a house was built a Comfort Room would automatically come with it. I found the answer to my ignorance in the Waste Management Seminar of Northern Palawan Provincial Hospital in one of the islands in Taytay, Palawan.

Statistics Board of Barangay Balogo in Banton Island, Romblon

When the participants were asked on what were their common/major environmental problem, one of the participants answered that there were only a few Comfort Rooms in their town. This leads to citizens urinating and defecating anywhere there is cover. Nature could handle a certain amount of excrement to decompose, but for a community it’s too much.

Motorcycle Tour around Banton Island, Romblon

February 21, 2013 by Josiah 1 Comment

The afternoon that we arrived at Banton Island in the Province of Romblon, we inquired on how we could go around the island. Ate Osing of A & A Lodging House told us that we could rent a Single for us to go touring around the island.

In the Municipality of Banton, roads are designed only for motorcycle, that is why most of their roads only has a width of less than 2 meters. Some of the residents have their own motorcycles, but for people like us that do not have one, the Single would be our faster means of transportation other than walking.

The Single is a motorycle that has an extended railing at the tail to accommodate more people. That’s why a Single could accommodate Dazl, Jessica and me plus the driver… plus a possible person to be seated in front of the driver. On other parts of the country the Single is popularly called Habal-habal.

The next morning we negotiated with the driver and agreed to pay hime 500 Pesos for him to tour us around the island. Here’s how our motorcycle tour around Banton Island went.

9:12 AM – Start of Tour via Single

Roads along the shore

Mossy Road around Banton Island

Boat from Banton Island to San Agustin, Tablas Island

February 4, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

It was the hot night of May 2012. Dazl and Jessica could not sleep as there was no wind that would lessen the summer heat. But I had a good night sleep as I was sleeping on the cold floor with only a blanket as my cushion in the humble backpackerish A & A Lodging House. It was our last night in Banton Island in the Province of Romblon and tomorrow we will be departing for another adventure on Tablas Island.

Banton Island Port at night

Morning came, we ate breakfast at the nearby karinderya/canteen around 6AM. The lady that was serving our food of dried fish and eggs told us that we could still relax as the boat still has not arrived. After an hour of eating, waiting and checking our stuff the boat came and we went out with our packs. We passed by the jolly Tita Osing who owned the lodge. She always puts a smile on our faces when we see her and this morning was the same. She was singing while dancing in the middle of the street. We said our goodbyes and thanked her but she told us to wait for a little while she went inside a bakery and handed us some bread. It was her on-the-ride food for us. We thanked her again and started walking to the port.