Travel: The beauty of Banton Island, Romblon

Dr. Francisco Datar,Deogs Faminiano (ASCCA) Giovanne Fabro, (Uswag Banto-on chapter), Dr. Ric Nolasco, Ish Fabicon,Jezia Talavera, UP LAYAP

Traveling and research have always been number one in my bucket list of things I want to do. I have traveled to Baguio, Tagaytay, Tarlac, Quezon and Mindoro not so much for fun and tourist purposes; I have basically gone to these places for research when I was in high school. I had gone to Baguio for a national press conference in third year and Mindoro with my twin sister for a national Science Investigatory Project. Two weeks ago I was able to travel further to explore the country in Banton Island, Romblon for my field work in documenting and researching their language called Asi. I went with my professor Dr. Ricardo Nolasco, Dr. Francisco Datar of the Department of Anthropology UP Diliman and one of the founders of ASCCA Sir Ismael Fabicon for four days and proceeded to research about their language to make a dictionary of Asi for the upcoming International SANROKAN Conference in May 2015. 

We had a series of meetings and elicitation field work and we also toured the place, which is famous for its spirit of sharing symbolized by sanrokan (the practice of sharing food with neighboring households), hence the name of the international conference. I have experienced eating their famous dish called Singapore, which is made of camote and their version of rice cake or kalamay. I also had my first time drinking coconut juice from the fruit itself, which they call butong and using a spoon to scrape the coconut meat from the fruit. We also went hiking to their famous cave which houses several fossils and other archaeological pieces of bones and articles which are preserved in the area. 

We also visited their elementary and high schools, which are surrounded by forests and mountains. I was amazed at how the mountains are still full of greenery and trees which are preserved and still untouched over the years. The residents said they used to gather firewood from the top of the mountains when they were kids. The place is also famous for their wells which still date back from many years ago. 

What I admired the most was the sea that is overlooking the place where we stayed. I enjoyed looking at the sea, and especially our travel going to place. From Odiongan we rode a small boat going to Banton Island which took two and a half hours and from there we could enjoy looking a the sea and the small islands that we passed by. I equally enjoyed our trip back to Odiongan where we rode a bigger boat. It was also my first time riding big ships of the 2Go and Montenegro Lines where I could look at the sea.

Boat-shaped altar

Going back to Odiongan in a boat

I really had a blast in Banton Island and I would never forget my experience with the place which is so rich with culture and tradition. 

Sunrise at Banton Island