Batag Island Lighthouse
Encyclopedia
Batag Island Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse
on Batag Island off the coast of the town of Laoang
in the province
of Northern Samar
in the Philippines
. The light marks the northeastern point of Samar Island and lead international ships to the to the entrance of the San Bernardino Strait
marked by the San Bernardino Light. One of the most traveled waterways in the archipelago
, together with the Capul Island Light
, these stations are invaluable to vessels coming from the Pacific Ocean
and entering the country through the San Bernardino Strait
on its way to Manila
or any other ports of the Philippines.
After Maniguin Island
and Cape Bolinao Lighthouse, this is the third major lighthouse wholly designed and built by the Americans in the early part of American Colonial Period in the Philippines. It was the exact duplicate of the Cape Bolinao lighthouse when it was completed, both standing at 101 ft (30.8m) and both equipped with third-order lights.
The Batag lighthouse together with the Capul Island Lighthouse
were declared provincial historical landmarks by the province of Northern Samar in October 2008.
Lighthouses in the Philippines are maintained by the Philippine Coast Guard
.
in Romblon
province. A temporary landing pier was constructed on the island to facilitate the landing of materials for the construction of the station. At the end of the year, there was practically no money available for the construction of new lights after adopting the permanent improvement policy wherein all timber structures were rebuilt with permanent materials like reinforced concrete as fast as they reach the limit of economical repair. The policy has resulted in the installation of fewer lights per annum, but which has rapidly reduced the cost of maintaining the system.
With the third-order light on Batag Island, and when the lights on San Miguel and Isabel islands are in operation, a vessel "picking up" Batag light 26 miles at sea and passing through San Bernardino Strait will not lose sight of a light during the passage to Manila.
For stability against typhoon which is frequently occurring this side of the archipelago, the American engineers designed the Philippine lighthouse towers to withstand wind velocity of 120 miles per hour. The design of tower selected, consisting essentially of a long, hollow, concrete cylinder resting on a spreading base, each face of which was a plane surface, required comparatively few forms, and of such a simple character as to give little excuse for mistakes of any kind. The cornices, the door and window openings, and the bracketed balcony of the lantern room are the only features that relieve the simplicity of the design.
The heavy tower base serves the double purpose of increasing the arm about which the tower would tend to rotate, and of keeping the center of gravity of the entire structure as low as possible for stability during earthquakes. As an additional guard, all factors of safety were made large, and the quantities of concrete and of metal reinforcement were both increased beyond what would be required in ordinary construction.
The light station was in operation by January, 1908 at a completed cost is ₱91,579.07.
on September 28, 2006, the modern lighthouse tower was toppled and destroyed rendering that part of the coast in the dark ever since.
Based on recent pictures, the old lighting apparatus on the original tower is gone and the structure was dilapidated and deteriorating. It was one of the lighthouses listed by the Philippine Coast Guard that are available for adoption for corporate or individuals, allowing the use of the property in exchange for the maintenance of the lighthouse.
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
on Batag Island off the coast of the town of Laoang
Laoang, Northern Samar
Laoang is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Northern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 56,196 people...
in the province
Provinces of the Philippines
The Provinces of the Philippines are the primary political and administrative divisions of the Philippines. There are 80 provinces at present, further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are autonomous from any provincial...
of Northern Samar
Northern Samar
Northern Samar is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catarman and is located at the northern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the south are the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The light marks the northeastern point of Samar Island and lead international ships to the to the entrance of the San Bernardino Strait
San Bernardino Strait
The San Bernardino Strait is a strait in the Philippines. It separates the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island from the island of Samar in the south.-Filipinos and San Bernardino Strait:...
marked by the San Bernardino Light. One of the most traveled waterways in the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
, together with the Capul Island Light
Capul Island Lighthouse
Capul Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Titoog Point in San Luis on the northern tip of Capul Island, Northern Samar in the Philippines. It marks the western entrance to the San Bernardino Strait coming in from Ticao Pass....
, these stations are invaluable to vessels coming from the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and entering the country through the San Bernardino Strait
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
on its way to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
or any other ports of the Philippines.
After Maniguin Island
Maniguin Island Lighthouse
The Maniguin Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse that marks the Cuyo East Passage, a main shipping route south into the Sulu Sea. The island, also known as Maningning Island or Hammerhead Island, is located 26.5 miles off of the coast of Culasi, Antique in the Philippines...
and Cape Bolinao Lighthouse, this is the third major lighthouse wholly designed and built by the Americans in the early part of American Colonial Period in the Philippines. It was the exact duplicate of the Cape Bolinao lighthouse when it was completed, both standing at 101 ft (30.8m) and both equipped with third-order lights.
The Batag lighthouse together with the Capul Island Lighthouse
Capul Island Lighthouse
Capul Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Titoog Point in San Luis on the northern tip of Capul Island, Northern Samar in the Philippines. It marks the western entrance to the San Bernardino Strait coming in from Ticao Pass....
were declared provincial historical landmarks by the province of Northern Samar in October 2008.
Lighthouses in the Philippines are maintained by the Philippine Coast Guard
Philippine Coast Guard
The Philippine Coast Guard is a maritime law enforcement agency operating under the Department of Transportation and Communications of the Philippines....
.
Spanish Colonial Era
A lighthouse on Batag Island was on the first approved group of 42 lights in the Spanish Maritime Lighting Plan of the Philippine Archipelago. A first-order light was planned for the location but the project was terminated early on.Building the station
In 1906, the Director of Navigation, J. M. Helm proposed the construction of two third-class lights, one on Batag Island and the other on Isabel IslandIsabel Island
Isabel Island is an inhabited island in the province of Romblon in the Philippines. It is part of barangay Nasunogan in the municipality of Banton. In the 1918 census, the island together with its sister island Carlota Island constituted one single barrio named "Isla de los Hermanos" with 23...
in Romblon
Romblon
Romblon is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region. It lies south of Marinduque and Quezon, east of Mindoro, north of Aklan and Capiz, and west of Masbate. Its capital is also named Romblon....
province. A temporary landing pier was constructed on the island to facilitate the landing of materials for the construction of the station. At the end of the year, there was practically no money available for the construction of new lights after adopting the permanent improvement policy wherein all timber structures were rebuilt with permanent materials like reinforced concrete as fast as they reach the limit of economical repair. The policy has resulted in the installation of fewer lights per annum, but which has rapidly reduced the cost of maintaining the system.
Act no. 1662
On January 11, 1907, the Philippine Commission approved Act no. 1662 which authorized funding for several public works, permanent improvements and other purposes of the Insular Government, of which the building of several lights by the Bureau of Navigation was included. A budget of ₱100,000 was appropriated for the Bureau of Navigation to which ₱85,000 was set for the construction of a third-order light on Batag and ₱15,000, to be expended in the construction of minor light stations at San Miguel Island, Isabel Island, and Punta Pata.With the third-order light on Batag Island, and when the lights on San Miguel and Isabel islands are in operation, a vessel "picking up" Batag light 26 miles at sea and passing through San Bernardino Strait will not lose sight of a light during the passage to Manila.
Temporary light
A sixth-order port light was temporarily installed and lit during the construction of the light station. At the same time, the Bureau of Navigation contracted Barbier, Benard & Turenne of Paris for the third-order lighting apparatus.Lighthouse design
The American engineers used the same tower design as the Cape Bolinao Lighthouse which was finished the year before. The tower is cylindrical in shape and made with reinforced concrete which was used extensively throughout including the keeper's dwellings and roofing. The tower measuring 101 feet from base to focal plane is situated on top of Culipapa Hill at an elevation 218 feet above mean low water and with a focal height of 313 ft (95.4 m).For stability against typhoon which is frequently occurring this side of the archipelago, the American engineers designed the Philippine lighthouse towers to withstand wind velocity of 120 miles per hour. The design of tower selected, consisting essentially of a long, hollow, concrete cylinder resting on a spreading base, each face of which was a plane surface, required comparatively few forms, and of such a simple character as to give little excuse for mistakes of any kind. The cornices, the door and window openings, and the bracketed balcony of the lantern room are the only features that relieve the simplicity of the design.
The heavy tower base serves the double purpose of increasing the arm about which the tower would tend to rotate, and of keeping the center of gravity of the entire structure as low as possible for stability during earthquakes. As an additional guard, all factors of safety were made large, and the quantities of concrete and of metal reinforcement were both increased beyond what would be required in ordinary construction.
The light station was in operation by January, 1908 at a completed cost is ₱91,579.07.
Original lighting apparatus
The original illuminating apparatus of the Batag lighthouse was of Barbier, Benard & Turenne (Paris) manufacture, with incandescent lighting system of 3,000 candlepower. The third-order dioptric prismatic lenses revolving on mercury floats, which by the refraction and reflection of rays from the incandescent oil vapor lamps produce white flashes of approximately 100,000 candlepower which are clearly visible under ordinary conditions at the limit of their geographical ranges of 25 nautical miles (40.2 km).Present condition
A new solar-powered white tower was installed by the Philippine Coast Guard adjacent to the old lighthouse in the early 2000. When the region was hit by the Typhoon MilenyoTyphoon Xangsane
The name Xangsane has been used to name two tropical cyclones in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The name was contributed by Laos and is a Laotian word for elephant.* 2000's Typhoon Xangsane - affected the Philippines and Taiwan....
on September 28, 2006, the modern lighthouse tower was toppled and destroyed rendering that part of the coast in the dark ever since.
Based on recent pictures, the old lighting apparatus on the original tower is gone and the structure was dilapidated and deteriorating. It was one of the lighthouses listed by the Philippine Coast Guard that are available for adoption for corporate or individuals, allowing the use of the property in exchange for the maintenance of the lighthouse.
External links
- Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Eastern Philippines." The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
.