Banton News Bits

Ed's Note: I did attempt to rewrite and edit this page of news shared by Pat Fetizanan but it was written in a personal, story-telling style that seems best left untouched or it would lose its essence.
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Here are some interesting updates from Banton, courtesy of the Pudo Mainit Telephone network.

1. Banton Life - The long draught this year does not bode well for coconut farmers and water supply of the community. The coconut trees barely have bodoks and means very little copra these coming months. Mainit water supply was severely affected. Toboyan trickled to a few precious gallons barely enough to meet the minimum needs of Mainit and Tongonan.

2. Basketball Shed - News is the basketball court in front of the Tablado is now under a roof. The project was completed (on an extremely tight schedule) under the Manong Amping's supervision. Just in time for the Sept 10 fiesta.

3. Banton Pier - Fully operational now allowing easier docking in town even in inclement weather. Five pesos charge for every passenger departing/arriving. Charges for cargo vary.

4. Mainit from a Distance - Napocor power came to Mainit about a year ago. The Mainit barangay power system was mothballed. The Pudo solar system continues to provide reliable 24-hour electricity to power the telephone. From a distance at night, Mainit looks like a small city as the boulevard lights come alive. These lights are spread from Bantadan to close to Macatang along the Boulevard.

5. Access to town - Already reported last time that the municipal road reached Mainit. This connects to the Mainit Boulevard allowing vehicles to get to Bantadan. Municipal road is only up to Talisay. About 25 minutes to town from Bantadan.

6. Mainit Boulevard - The concreting continues on a fast pace. The cemented portion now extends from Pangpang in Bantadan to Danny Latosa (past Manong Danoy). As of today, about 320 meters left before it reaches Macatang Beach. Mainit has now 3 motorcycles - Canong, Macker and Flecit. Several bicycles. May need a traffic light at Boulevard/Church intersection.

Funding - You may recall US/Canada expats (Manong Mac, Nic in Hawaii, Florante in Canada, Lina and Bal in US) gave generously during the first fund raising bringing the cemented portion to the Basketball court. However, this source of funding has completely dried up.

The Provincial government (through Vice Governor Manong Peping) has donated hundreds of cement bags. About 20,000 pesos came from Manila Mainit people. A major portion of the expense for labor and gravel continues to be shouldered by a lone US source to the tune of more than 300,000 pesos to date. Concreting will resume 2nd week of September upon receipt of additional funding from this source. This project could use funding support from friends.

7. Macatang Water Works - A plan has been submitted to CongressmanYlagan (and supposedly included in 2004 funding allocation). The plan, developed by PFM Engineers in Houston, Texas will provide automatic pumpout and distribution of the Macatang under-the-ocean water source. Its main features are an ocean collection system, reservoir/pumps/controls at the beach and a huge main reservoir further on land. Water will flow to Mainit beach users by gravity. Funds have been requested to the tune of 900,000 pesos. Project can be executed in phases if need be. The Macatang water, with quality comparable to US bottled water (based on actual tests in 2001) will provide a very reliable water source for Mainit and neighboring communities especially in the summer months

8. Fish Sanctuary - An experimental fish sanctuary was initiated in 2002. This consisted of a roped area in Macatang. Empty drums were used as buoys for marking. The concept was to provide section for fish to raise their young in the area by prohibiting any fishing. The idea was taking hold. Unfortunately, the unmerciful HABAGAT damaged the buoys. Only two of the 8 buoys remain (the others were lost). The project is pretty much abandoned.

9. Telephones - There are now two Liberty telephones in Mainit (although only one is allowed by Liberty. One is located in Pudo and the other one is at Erma, on the beach. Pudo telephone is from the US: 011-63-43-969-9391-1637 open only from 6 to 7 AM Philippine time, everyday except Saturday.