BATANES, Philippines — On the narrow road to the House of Dakay, we paused to take photographs. A small group of children pedaled toward us. Without hesitation, they stopped, bowed, and pressed our hands to their foreheads — a pagmamano that has all but vanished in much of the country.
Here, in Batanes, it’s not performance. It’s culture. Everyday respect is woven into Ivatan childhoods across towns and islands. Young people greet elders, neighbors, visitors, and even strangers with quiet, instinctive grace.
At Uyugan Elementary School, this cultural inheritance is part of the school day.
“Nakasanayan na kasi ng mga estudyante yung gano’n,” said Teacher Marissa de los Santos, 53, who has taught for 28 years.
“Nagmamano sila kahit sino ang makita nila.”
Respect here is not taught — it is lived.
A School Where Everyone Knows Everyone
Uyugan Elementary has just 54 students from Kinder to Grade 6, and 11 teachers, all from Batanes. Classes are intimate: the largest has twelve learners, the smallest four. In a place where families have known one another for generations, anonymity is impossible.
Teachers know every habit, fear, and talent of their students. Parents know exactly who is shaping their children’s day. And inside the classroom, Ivatan respect shows in every gesture.
“Pagpasok ng mga estudyante, nagbe-bless pa sila,” Marissa shared. “Aside from ‘good morning,’ nagmamano pa sila.”
Children move through this world with calm confidence. Many bike alone, even long distances. Parents trust the roads, the community, and the shared vigilance of neighbors.
Small School, Big Responsibilities
Despite its size, Uyugan Elementary demands much from teachers. Head Teacher Michael Ryan Cabugao explained that people often assume the school has “too many” teachers. But each educator handles multiple subjects across grades, and a single absence can disrupt the day.
“In small schools, everyone carries more than numbers reveal,” he said.
And then there’s the weather. In Batanes, storms dictate routines. When typhoons hit, lessons shift to printed modules, sometimes online if signals hold, sometimes paused entirely. Children have grown up with fierce winds — but the coast remains dangerous, and adults maintain constant vigilance.
Challenges and Innovations
Shipments to Batanes arrive slowly, leaving teachers to create supplemental materials and scour the internet to fill gaps. Reading comprehension remains a challenge, even if students can decode words easily.
Teachers respond with remedial reading, vocabulary work, and integrating culture and language into lessons. Even as smartphones expose students more to English than Ivatan, Marissa stresses guidance, not restriction.
Culture is the classroom’s foundation. Students learn Ivatan traditions like payuhuan, a cooperative labor system where neighbors help one another without pay. Language and culture are tools to unlock understanding, not barriers.
Dreams Shaped by Distance
Not all students dream of Manila. For many, the capital is just a place of malls and fast food. Limited senior high tracks in Batanes mean students often cannot pursue desired courses without moving, and only families with means can support such ambitions.
Even so, teachers like Marissa remain committed.
“Masaya ako,” she said softly. “Kapag may nakita ka sa bata, may nagawa ka — masaya ako.”
Her fulfillment is quiet, steady, carved not by grand moments but by decades of small victories.
Batanes’ Childhoods: Gentle, Free, and Strong
As we left the schoolyard, the afternoon wind rose from the sea. A pair of children slowed their bicycles and again offered pagmamano.
In that simple gesture — palm to forehead, child to adult — the essence of Batanes revealed itself.
Uyugan, like all of Batanes, faces education gaps, storms, and scarcity. But here, childhood still unfolds with gentleness, freedom, safety, and dignity, where culture and community protect children as much as adults do.
In Batanes, education is more than what children learn — it is about the world that shapes them, a world carved by wind, stone, and quiet strength.
