Have you ever heard about the Ibatan? 

More often than not, the Ibatan is mistaken for the Ivatan of Batanes. No, the Ibatans are the exclusive dwellers of the Babuyan Claro island along the Balintang Channel in the northern tip of Cagayan province. They have their own home island with distinct culture and language. 

There are no other Ibatan groups outside of Babuyan Claro Island. They trace their history to accounts of seafarers being stranded at Babuyan Claro Island, a barangay of Calayan town and part of the Calayan Group of Islands. 

Some historical accounts also reveal that the Babuyan Claro Island was uninhabited from 1681 until the late 19th century, when voyagers from neighboring islands were sporadically shipwrecked near the island by strong currents and unpredictable winds. So they settled in the island and developed a social structure and language distinct from those of neighboring islands.

In 2007, the Ibatan tribe was formally acknowledged by the government as the 111th ‘indigenous cultural community’ in the Philippines. The government also presented to them their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT), registered with the Land Registration Authority.

Their CADT covers the Babuyan Claro and the Ditohos islands, granting them exclusive rights to the islands and the surrounding waters. 

Lifestyle 

Based on the study of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Region 2, the Ibatan family structure is patriarchal and very close-knit. Being descendants of very few known ancestors, the majority of the residents are related to each other by blood or by affinity. 

An Ibatan house is hardly ostentatious and is generally a makeshift of available materials sourced from the island. 

This tribe’s people are tenacious and hardworking and choose to occupy and maintain life in Babuyan Claro, an island perennially besieged by typhoons. They survive for most of the year on seafood catches and the very limited agricultural products they can harvest during the very limited time for planting and cultivation. The turbulent water surrounding the island, most of the time, discourages fishing as a year-round source of sustainable livelihood. 

Practices and Beliefs 

The Ibatans have distinct cultural practices, traditions, and beliefs. They believe in spiritual healing. The NCIP was able to document some of these practices and beliefs. 

The ‘Kapang-atang’, a healing practice by food offering. (Photo courtesy of NCIP 2) 

The ‘Kapang-atang’ is a combination of traditional spiritual and Christian healing practices. It is a ritual, usually done by a sick person, to appease a malevolent spirit with food offerings. 

They are also true believers in Christ. They perform ‘Kapagbawtisar’ or baptism by immersion in water, symbolizing acceptance of God Almighty as savior and for the forgiveness of sins. 

As the island is very far from hospitals, the Ibatans are dependent on traditional healers and traditional healing practices. The ‘Mangoroboob’, - a traditional healer or diviner, performs a ritual to determine the cause of sickness of the person through the divinity of the spirits and implores the sick person to be healed or to ward off the sickness by making the signs of the cross on the wrist, navel, and forehead. 

The Landscape

Babuyan Claro Island is composed of at least five volcanoes: two active and three dormant. Mount Babuyan, also known as Smith Volcano and locally known as Pokis, meaning bald, is located at the western point of the island. It is said to be the youngest volcano and last erupted in 1924. 

In the middle of the island, Mount Pangasun stands, also known as Babuyan Claro Volcano. Locals refer to it as ‘Chinteb ti Wasay’, meaning a cut of an ax. It is the largest and second youngest volcano. The other three volcanoes are as old as 1.7 million years in existence. They are the Kayonan, Dionisio, and Naydi, with no history of eruption. 

The island’s Asked Beach is a black, stony street on a volcanic sand beach. It is the undeniable result of a volcanic eruption and lava flow. 

Located near Mount Babuyan Volcano is the ‘Paway Lake’. It serves as one of the freshwater fishing grounds of the Ibatan. The lake is relatively deep for a variety of six species to thrive. In Ibatan folklore, the lake is believed to be the home of a giant serpent. 

As the island is surrounded by volcanoes, it is not a surprise that it has hot springs. An enclosed hot spring near Asked Beach is called the ‘Asked Hot Spring’. It is considered sacred by the locals and believed to heal bodily aches and ailments. (OTB/PIA Region 2 with NCIP Region 2)