THE BEACHES AND CHURCHES OF BANTON AND SIMARA ISLANDS OF ROMBLON

When I visited Romblon in 2015, I was told by Bp. Abellana that the oldest settlement in the province is found in the island of Banton which is the furthest north from the three main islands of Romblon and it is where the evangelization of Romblon started.  From that time on, I made plans that I should be able to visit the island. Four years later, I got the chance to go when there was a long Undas break. Inviting two theology seminarians to come along with me we made the trip and were able to visit the island of Banton and another town of Corcuera in the island of Simara. We took the boat from Lucena City which left at four in the afternoon. The first port of call was Kawit, Marinduque. It arrived just after seven in the evening. Just as the passengers boarded off and some passengers came on board the ship left right away. It took about fifteen minutes only. The next stop was Banton and it arrived at 10:30pm. Fr. Jojo Flores, the parish priest with some youth was there at the port to meet us. The parish convent was just a five-minute walk from the port.

My companions, two theology seminarians from UST, Ruben and Carlo. 

San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish (F-1644), Banton, Romblon

Nov 1, Friday

The parish has a daily mass at five in the morning and the parish priest and his assistant, Fr. Julius Ambulo, always concelebrates. I joined them for mass. I noticed that the retablo is really old, but the side retablos are fairly new.

We went for a walk around the town after breakfast, going through the boulevard along the sea and we ended up at the cemetery which was overlooking the town.  

By ten in the morning, we rode on motorbikes to go around the island. The island is mountainous but there are extensive road networks around the island with two-meter-wide cemented road in most places just enough for motorcycles to pass.  The first beach we visited was the Tambak beach. It had fine white sand and was in a cove and we had it all for ourselves. Since it was low tide, I could almost touch the corals.

The second stop was at the Mainit beach. There was some hot spring coming out of the sand by the shore. When we dug a hole by the beach the hot water came out. But it really did not heat up the shore.

Then we visited next the Macat-ang beach. I had a good time snorkeling. There were plenty of corals of various sizes, mostly the tabletop hard corals. There were many fish also. It was a marine sanctuary, I was told.

Next stop was Nasunogan beach but we did not swim in it as it was not that enticing. The last  beach that we visited was Tabunan beach. From the road we had to go down several hundred cemented steps until three fourths of the way when there were no more steps and I even slipped some few feet as it was a bit slippery. But the beach was beautiful. There were some cottages there. There were a few beach goers there. The sand was white although not that fine. But the corals were beautiful and there were varied fishes. Just across a few hundred meters away was a small mountainous island with a grassy top. Some were kayaking there.

Tambak Beach, Banton

Tambak Beach

Tambak Beach

Macat-ang Beach, Banton

Macat-ang Beach

Tabunan Beach, Banton

Tabunan Beach

Houses in the town of Banton facing the boulevard. 

Nov. 2, Saturday

Today we visited Simara Island of the town of Corcuera.  A boat was hired for us which was good for five people. We first passed by the uninhabited island of Bantoncillo popularly known as Gakot. Since it was low tide, the boatman had to slowly maneuver his boat over the rocks and corals. I went snorkeling but it was too shallow. There were plenty of sea cucumbers. After some picture taking, we proceeded to Corcuera. It was already 11 in the morning when we arrived and the parish priest, Fr. Norman Rabino, was already waiting as he was asked to prepare some snacks for us. Fr. Norman then brought us up to the Cotta de San Jose, an old fort, now in ruins just near the church.  Another old marker was a Tiga cross across the church which was supposed to have been planted there since the 17th century.

Then we took motorbike rides in going to Alegria, the barangay parish at the other end of the island. We first passed by the panoramic view which had a beautifully constructed two-level veranda overlooking the sea.

The next stop was the mangrove forest with wooden footbridge. 

The next stop was the Colong-colong beach. It had fine white sand but we decided not to swim as it was low tide.  We just took pictures at the end of the cove as there was an arched rock the height just enough for a person to pass through.

It was already passed one in the afternoon when we arrived at the Alegria convent. It was not near the beach as I imagined but almost a kilometer away.  Fr. Woody thought that we would be taking the boat in going there and so had people assigned to meet us. We took our lunch at the convent. After lunch we went to  the Ginrag-an Beach which was the swimming area of Alegria.

By three in the afternoon, we left for Banton as we had a standing dinner invitation at the house of a balikbayan who built a new house in Banton after having sold their property in the U.S.

Bantocillo Island or Gakot Island

Corcuera, Romblon in the island of Simara

St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Corcuera, Romblon (F-1885)

Corcuera Panoramic

Corcuera Mangrove forest

Colong-colong Beach, Corcuera

St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, Alegria, Corcuera (F-1998) 

Ginrag-an Beach in Alegria

November 3, Sunday

After I celebrated the Sunday mass at the parish church of Banton,  Fr. Jojo told us  that we will be having our lunch at the Suk-an beach. This was the beach which we were not able to pass by as our driver forgot about it.

Although we were told that we could leave for the beach right after breakfast, I decided that we would go mountain climbing first to Mt. Guinsiba. Since Banton is mostly a mountainous area, a mountain climbing would be good change from the beaches we visited. I thought we would start our climb just at the back of the church, but we still had to take a motorbike going up to almost the top where there was the entrance that we had to pay 20pesos each that we had to place at the collection box. They said that there were  711 steps that we had to climb. I instructed our driver to fetch us by 10:30. Since it was only 9:15 when we started the climb, we agreed that by 10am we should be going down already whether we reach the summit or not as I was told it takes at least 35 minutes to one hour to reach the peak.

Carlo, one of my companions, made it halfway only, as he was afraid that his asthma might attack. Ruben made it to the last rest area. There were still a few hundred feet to climb to reach the summit but there were no more concrete stairs, but cogon grasses all the way. Only me and the convent boy guide were able to make it to the top. It took just 25 minutes for us to reach there.  Before 10:30 we were already down waiting for our ride.

Suk-an beach was on the other side of the island. We had to take individual rides as the roads going there were a bit steep as we had to go through mountain roads. It was in fact just beside the Macat-ang beach but on a separate cove. The tide was starting to rise as I snorkeled to the middle of the cove where there were plenty of corals. I saw a big grouper (lapu-lapu) entering a hole among the corals.

Mt. Guinsiba, Banton

With Niño, the convent boy as our guide. Only the two of us made it to the top of the mountain.

Suk-an Beach, Banton

Sem. Carlo, Fr. Jojo and Sem. Ruben 

Banton is quite unique in a number of ways. First, almost all the family names start with the letter F. If it does not start with an F, it is a sure sign that you are not from there or you just married somebody from there. Water is quite a problem on the island as there is no water source which can supply the inhabitants. They mainly depend on rainwater. Almost every house has a water reservoir or at least a tank to preserve rainwater.

Since the island is mountainous, there are few flatlands for planting rice. They also say that there are more monkeys than people in the island. They sometimes become pests as they steal root crops and coconuts.

There are lots of black crows. Small chicks and eggs of chicken are an easy prey for them.

The parish church of Banton is enclosed within fortified walls which in many parts have been repaired.  However, half of the enclosure towards the sea has been occupied by the municipal government with a guesthouse constructed at the end which they say is haunted. A stage facing the church has been constructed which divides the enclosure.