Life in Batanes is slow and relaxing. The people, called Ivatans, are very friendly. If you’re not from around there, you can expect that they’ll give you a welcoming smile as you pass by. This friendliness, it seems, is a trait that even their dogs share.

The dogs we met in Sabtang, one of the islands of Batanes which can be reached by a 35-minute boat ride from the main town of Basco in Batan, are unleashed and roam freely around town. Now, before lecturing the people on responsible dog care, you must first understand the Ivatan’s culture. Friendliness isn’t the only trait that you’ll see common in them, but honesty is greatly valued as well.

You can leave your things lying around and not worry about it getting lost. If you misplaced something, you simply go to their radio station and describe your item. If your stuff is found, a local will no doubt bring it to the station for you to claim. Something like this is probably a big deal in the city (taxi drivers returning tourist’s forgotten baggage even makes the news), but for the Ivatans, it’s a normal part of life.

When it comes to dogs, it’s the same thing. Kidnapping dogs is unheard of in this province. Every dog in the town of Chavayan is everyone’s responsibility. Your dog can wander into the neighbor’s stone house and you can be assured that he will come home full and happy.

The towns in Sabtang are quite far apart, which is probably another reason why dogs don’t just wander about. Each town can be reached by going through single-car, cliff-side roads, and can be quite dangerous to navigate at night (seriously, falling off the road is a long and treacherous drop to a rocky shore). The remoteness of the towns and the isolation of the islands (not to mention the untouched greens and wildlife) have kept the dogs near or within human settlement—for both safety and survival.

It was pretty interesting to see how the Ivatans bond with their dogs. Lazy mornings are spent chatting with neighbors (a town can be as small as one long street; everyone knew every person in town), which is also a time when the town dogs congregate. People walking to another town are accompanied by their dogs (the man in the first photo said he and his dog were off to the neighboring town). Their canine buddies are not only companions in those journeys, but also protectors from wild animals they might encounter along the way.

Among the places I’ve visited for this year, Batanes is probably the province where the dogs are very much integrated into the townsfolk’s life and culture.

This, apart from its breath-taking beauty, makes Batanes worth another visit.

Thank you very much to SEAIR for making this trip possible.

Advertisement: SEAIR flies from Manila to Batanes and vice versa every Saturdays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The flights from Manila to Batanes are from 0550 to 0725 and the flights from Batanes to Manila are from 0755 to 0930. One-way airfares start at P35++ (as low as 2895.20 one-way all-in fare). For flight reservations, call SEAIR at 8490100 or visit www.flyseair.com for more details.

The native dog, commonly called the “askal” (a colloquial shortcut for “asong kalye,” which translates to “dog from the streets”), are usually looked down upon. Worse, they usually get intentionally run down by merciless drivers or taken to slaughter houses to be put to death and later eaten. Some people think they’re expendable since they don’t have pedigrees worth thousands of pesos. Heck, even some breeders who claim to be “dog lovers” look down upon the native dogs.

They may not have pedigrees to boast about, but native dogs are as smart and as loyal as any other dog breed.

Spike, our dog pack‘s alpha male, is a native dog. He’s been with us for more than 10 years already, and I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said he’d die for us if he had to. Spike is closest to my younger sister, Joyce. Joyce is schizophrenic. She’s ok now, but there was a time when she was still throwing violent tantrums.

Spike kept watch at my sister and made sure that she was ok. He even slept near her—near enough to see what she’s doing, but far enough from her reach just in case she had another tantrum. I can clearly remember a time when he saved my sister from hurting herself. We were all asleep, and had no idea that Joyce was already having a violent tantrum. Spike woke us all up, and took us where Joyce was. If it weren’t for him, we don’t know what could have happened.

A few years ago, I’ve seen a feature on TV about a native dog who can perform incredible tricks. And saw a different one on a magazine. Now, you can’t say that these dogs aren’t smart—because obviously, they are.

Loyalty? Of course, the native dog can be very loyal. They love their masters to the hilt—and would remain loyal to them till death. Honestly, I rather think that sometimes a native dog is more loyal than some of the more stubborn purebreds.

Let’s give the Philippine native dog the recognition it deserves, shall we? Be proud of being a native dog owner!

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Luckily, there are animal groups that support the Philippine native dog. The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) currently launched a campaign for these dogs entitled, “See the Beauty Beyond the Breed.” Actors Heart Evangelista and Jericho Rosales are the spokespersons for this campaign, which is dedicated to all native dogs and cats as well as their rescuers.

The Animal Kingdom Foundation, another dog rescue group like PAWS, also has native dogs up for sponsorship or adoption.