The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will put up navigational lanterns in four critical lighthouses in Batanes to help in the navigation of vessels and motorbancas there.
The PCG deployed BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301), an offshore patrol vessel, on Saturday, Nov. 26, to perform the said operation that is expected to last for 15 days.
“Ito ay isang 15-day mission at may mga teams pong kasama dito galing sa maritime safety service (This is a 15-day mission and we have teams coming from the maritime safety service),” said Coast Guard Vice Adm. Rolando Lizor Punzalan Jr., PCG deputy commandant for operations.
According to Punzalan, the navigational lanterns will be installed in the lighthouses located in the municipalities of Sabtang, Mahatao, Ivana and Valanga.
The lighthouses in these areas guide motorbancas and vessels to ensure their safe passage and entry to ports and harbors. They also warn local fishermen and seafarers about Batanes’ shallow and perilous rocky coasts.
“Mayroon pa tayong lighthouses sa norte, sa Batanes Group of Islands, na hindi pa po na-installan ng lanterns kung kaya’t ito na ‘yung pagkakataon natin (We still have lighthouses in the north, particularly in the Batanes Group of Islands, which have yet to be installed with lanterns so this is our chance to do so),” Punzalan explained.
The PCG’s Task Force Kaligtasan sa Karagatan (TFKsK) is responsible for the enforcement of maritime safety laws, conventions, and treaties there and it will also monitor the installment of the navigational lanterns.
Back in May, the TFKsK had also installed five navigational buoys in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in Palawan, specifically in the islands of Lawak, Likas, Pagasa, and Parola which are now serving as sovereign markers and guide for sailors at night.
Navigation in Batanes is quite tricky as the archipelagic province is scattered on 4,500-square-kilometer waters, the Luzon Strait and Balintang Channel which are sea lanes between the Philippines and the southern parts of Japan, China, Hongkong, and Taiwan.
The Coast Guard Station Batanes secures the archipelagic province of Batanes, the northernmost part of the country, which is composed of six coastal towns with 29 barangays.
Its coastline and total sea have total lengths of 106 km and 7,650 square nautical miles, respectively, and are monitored by three PCG sub-stations.