The Uyugan Times

Sumnavat
Home at last!

NEWS

WATCHING THE WAVES

WALKING BACK HOME (Eco-friendly)

Has anybody here seen my old friends?
Can you tell me where they've gone?
It seems the good they die young,
I looked around and they're gone!

The welcomng party of goats unmindful of my walk back home! The goats have more interesting things to do!

The storm surge (Signal No. 2) at Imnajbu Beach

APNET NYI MALKEM A CABALIRO

The Caballero Pastures with the cow-made terraces as they graze.

HOME AT LAST! - Home at last! After decades, it's finally back home. Really? Well, home is more than a place, and on that premise, not quite home now for most if not all of the old folks are gone, and not quite home now for many if not most of my contemporaries are gone - either they left the place or have gone from the earth to a better place we know (I hope).

Welcoming party? I guess there was one if we mean a party of goats unmindful of my walk back home (see photo), but a typhoon did visit, and if home means stormy weather, then this is home.

Ok, and they're always glad you came? Well, remember the place is now peopled by people who were not even born when I left. Of course, there were still some old familiar faces that remind me of the good old days.

Seriously, there was enthusiasm, true or calculated, even among the very young who don't know me as much as I don't know them.
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The visit was busy - meeting wonderful people - loyal supporters (loyalists who are with us no matter what, but most important, who can and want to look beyond the quiet demeanor and see beneath the commitment to community and concern for the people especially the less fortunate among us), lukewarm supporters (no comment), and non-supporters (some loud and noisy but wonderful nevertheless, perhaps genetics, or so I thought, but with all due respect, it could be a façade for below par performance or inadequacy - for lack of a better term).

We can be loud and noisy, or the opposite (for as long as it doesn't unreasonably impede the plans of other people), for we must not change for other people just as others won't change for us. We must be honest and be ourselves. It's take it or leave it.

That said or written, we're part nature and part nurture, and like anybody else, I've evolved somehow from the sheltered life of the early years to life alone (nobody's there) in a foreign land where people are not easily awed nor easily cowed (with all due respect to my cows) among others, and like anybody else somehow adapted to an environment harsh at times.
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[Many among us believe that half of the population like us and the other half don't like us. Refined further, a third really like us and another third don't really like us. The remaining third, well, it depends on which group they're in, either with those who like us or those who don't like us.]

Real people

We did meet real people as we walked around town and I'm very grateful for the warm welcome.

In Kayuganan the [BLOCK OUT].

In Kayvaluganan the [BLOCK OUT].

In Songsong the [BLOCK OUT].

In Itbud the [BLOCK OUT].

In Imnajbu the [BLOCK OUT].

Across the province, in Basco the [BLOCK OUT], and in Mahatao the [BLOCK OUT].
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Actually, nearly all of these support were the support of the old man when he was OIC after the fall of the Marcos presidency in 1986 and planned to run but then left for Canada. So I'm grateful to him just as I'm to these supporters. I appreciate very much the loyal support, for like many of us, I value loyalty more than victory. Dios mamajes!
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Big catch

Support is as important as actual vote, and in Sabtang we have the support of [BLOCK OUT], thanks to Gelio (my chief political strategist) who braved the choppy channel to pay a courtesy call to [BLOCK OUT], and he got more than he expected. [BLOCK OUT] is with us at the lower echelon (municipal) and we consider this a big catch and not of the fishing variety.

Overseas, there are also a number of pledges per my chief strategist, among them former board members and mayors of Batanes. In New York, the support of former SP member [BLOCK OUT], and in Toronto the support of the [BLOCK OUT] and former SP member [BLOCK OUT].

This is the short list and by no means complete for there's a long list and pledges are coming in as we write.

Uncle Tom

One of the highlights of the visit back home was a courtesy call to Uncle Tom (Marita's Dad) Cabugao. At 92 years of age, he was as sharp as ever. He recognized all of us (w/ Gelio and Auring), but most surprisingly even myself whom he seldom sees.

Marita and I never really knew one another. In fact, we never met, but our grandfathers (Pedro de los Santos Mata and Pablo Mata Caballero) were 1st cousins. The people of Uyugan are related to one another, I think. Descendants of Baot?

Heavy-lifting

It will not be easy running a campaign when the time comes, but we all know that's the easier part compared to the real job of governing or running a government by whoever has the chance to serve as real servants of the people, and yet mindful that politicians are mainly for policy formulation and the professional bureaucrats for the implementation (heavy-lifting).

I was in government for the longest time to witness first hand change in government or administration. I always observed how easy it is for those looking from without (outside of government) to believe they can do this and that compared to those looking from within (inside government).

We know there shall be no quick fixes especially at the local level and I'm under no illusion that what has developed over time can be resolved overnight, but the people must know where their money was spent and there shall be accountability and transparency.

Let's not forget the cows

Busy as we were meeting interesting and wonderful people, let's not forget the cows.

However, it so happened that the planned visit to the cows was scheduled beforehand (the day before a typhoon visited the islands) and could not be postponed due to time constraints.

It was wet and windy as we visited the goat farms by the Interior Road. Then the 45-degree climb uphill to the pastures, a kilometer from the Interior Road and a couple from Marlboro Country.
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Thank you, Mahatao!

It was Storm Signal No. 2 as we reached the pastures, but guess what? We got another signal, thanks to the strategically located cell tower of Mahatao, we can communicate by cell phone to the rest of the world. Where is Uyugan's cell tower? Well, I don't think Official Uyugan has forgotten us. We know it's the location, but beyond or more than that must be priority to a greater extent and resources to a lesser extent.

Actually the economy of scale for a cell tower in northeast Uyugan may not be there on one hand (more cows than people), and yet may be there on the other. Either way, there could be efficiency and effectiveness, depending on one's point of view or frame of mind.

The forgotten town

Just as Imnajbu (and Itbud to a lesser extent) are the forgotten barangays of Uyugan, so is Uyugan the forgotten town of Batanes. One doesn't have to be an expert to see that the town has been left behind compared to the other towns.

We see development in the other towns that's not present in Uyugan, and looking at the reasons why, it must be location again (among other factors): The town is not strategically located and not a transit point compared to the other towns, but still very much a part of Batanes.

We the people of the mountain are poor folks but rich in hope. Our hope is that in due time the theory of trickle down politics (as opposed to trickle down economics) shall take its course.

A piece of the puzzle that's Batanes

Nevertheless, don't get us wrong on seeing a forgotten town. Like many of us, we've the capacity to see positively at both the micro and macro levels. We know that provincial development in the other towns especially Basco has a positive impact on the people of Uyugan, directly or indirectly. We know we're a piece of the puzzle that's Batanes, but forgive us if sometimes we're puzzled.

It's encouraging to see development in the province and yet remain true to our heritage.

As we stepped out from the plane, an upgraded airport terminal greets us, and down the sea an upgraded seaport, then as we travel south there is the shelter port in Mahatao (BREAKING NEWS: As we passed by one late evening, an impounded Vietnamese fishing boat was aflame or burning - EYEWITNESS! or I WITNESS!) and the upgraded port of Ivana. Then Uyugan . . . with its seawalls and flood controls built in the 50s. The ports of Sabtang and Itbayat were also upgraded among other hard infrastructure as well as soft infrastructure across the province. That was yesterday.

Today the highway system in the mainland including the Interior Road is being upgraded or repaved by concrete. It's still a mess for some stretches are already concrete while some are muddy. Let's hope it's finished by Christmas. We know Santa Claus is coming to town!

The task of nation-building never ends!

Typhoon Molave

Back to the typhoon, it was a direct hit, but not of the SuperTyphoon variety that visited in the 50s and 60s. In fact, most young people today never experienced a strong typhoon but of the rose garden variety. This must be the reason why today we see houses made of flimsy materials and the mushrooming of lean-tos here and there.

Lean-tos and poverty

Going around town, I saw lean-tos as I've never seen before, and I saw poverty as I've never seen before. Forget about "zero" poverty and some idealistic thinking that all is well. There's poverty in Batanes no matter how we define it and no matter how we dissect it - poverty that's not readily apparent by just driving by or riding by the main thoroughfare from one town to the other.

Poverty incidence highest in Itbayat and Sabtang

If we look at the latest statistics at the sub-provincial level (City and Municipal Level Small Area Poverty Estimates for 2003 by the NSCB/WB) there's poverty in Batanes and unacceptably the highest in Itbayat and Sabtang with poverty incidence of 20.66 and 20.07, respectively, or 1 in five is poor. For Uyugan it was 14.61 and Basco the best among the towns with 9.97 or one in ten. Mahatao was 18.40 and Ivana 11.93. If it's any consolation, our towns were much better off than many towns in the rest of the country.

[On statistics (not on poverty), there was that story of a small town (populated by just 2 people because it's not big enough for more than the 2 of them) with an income of one million pesos (per capita income of 500,000 pesos). Well, at first blush it looked good, but a second look and all the income were earned by only one of the 2 unrelated inhabitants. The point is statistics/surveys or generally accepted standards of measurements don't always show the true picture but for lack of better methods.]

We must be realistic in confronting the issue of poverty. We're no miracle workers that by some magic we can change overnight what has developed over time. The best we can do is arrest the downward trend, and then hopefully, reverse it.

Temporary government employment (called "workfare" in some jurisdictions) may help but it must not completely replace some working in the fields. Lounging most days at the frontyard or backyard drinking some mineral or tonic water (and gin) just won't make it.

It's a changing world but ideally we must work hard like the generations before us if we want to see advancement. Tiny our islands are, we have enough land to work on (if we cannot find government employment) and make ourselves productive members of society.

Life today in Batanes is better in many ways because of some modern conveniences, but the income gap has widened. The better-offs, they can afford life and can take care of themselves, but the worse-offs, they could hardly afford to live it and need all the help to help themselves.

I understand Batanes already started the climb back up, spinning wheels sometimes, but we're on our way up (according to reliable sources at press time).
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At the national level, what concerns is a central government that's nearly bankrupt with more than half of the national budget going to the servicing of the public debt (around a third goes to repayment of principal and another third for payment of interest, leaving just a third for government operations including IRA of which Batanes is so dependent). - Vbyssey, July 2009

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Victor B. Caballero, now Part-time Farmer (Farm Specialist?) in Uyugan, Batanes, was Budget Analyst in the Budget Commission (now the Department of Budget and Management) in Manila and Demographic Specialist and Economist in the Ministry of Finance in Toronto.