BATANES – It was a dream come true for the people Barangay Itbud in the municipality of Uyugan here with the inauguration on Saturday, January 16, of a VSAT (very small aperture terminal) that will now allow them to have internet and other telecommunication services.

For as long as could be remembered, the people of Barangay Itbud have had no telecommunication service to lean on, with residents needing to trek to high places just to get proper signal.

But that would now be a thing of the past after Batanes second provincial district Board Member Juliet P. Cataluna unveiled the VSAT on Saturday that would connect Barangay Itbud to the rest of the world.

"Students and teachers have to travel or climb the mountains just to get signal. That's the reason why I put up communication service via satellite internet," Cataluna said.

"We cannot thank SP Juliet enough for providing us communication service. No need to climb the steep mountains," a student said in the local dialect.
"Good news to us (here in) Barrio Itbud. Great help yan for our communication. Dream come true," School Principal Nelita B. Sebastian said.

During the installation of the signal receiver on Saturday, a local resident noted that past politicians promised them a stable communication system. But none of these came true.

It was also reported that the funding for the VSAT was personally shouldered by Cataluna.

According to her, the project mainly targets students and teachers, who direly need internet and telecommunication services.

She also noted that the new service will also help the 147 households in the barangay.