Adopt A Lighthouse

Something to consider, may it be as an actual investment, as a discussion piece, or as a topic for further academic exploration. I got this from the SURP yahoogroups. I hope they don't mind. =)

PRIDE OF PLACE

Adopt a lighthouse
Inquirer
Last updated 00:49am (Mla time)
07/23/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Lighthouses, supreme icons of solitary human perseverance standing on remote typhoon-battered bluffs and inaccessibleislands, are the stuff of romance for many.

But maintaining the 21 surviving Philippine lighthouses located in thedeserted extremes of the Philippine archipelago, all rendered obsolete by21st-century satellite or sonar navigational system, is not the stuff of romance, as the Philippine Coast Guard now realizes.

Adopt a Lighthouse program is its answer.

Corporate or private individuals who adopt lighthouses enter into anagreement with the Coast Guard who basically allows them use of the propertyin exchange for its maintenance, leading me to wonder if the adoptive"parents" of lighthouses would be allowed, or even encouraged, to reuse therestored facility for a compatible commercial activity to help offset restoration and maintenance cost.

Many lighthouses, built during the Spanish and American colonial regimes,are up for adoption. Some barely manage to survive in the farthest reachesof the Philippine archipelago. Others are in populated areas, one hidden inthe mouth of Pasig River in Manila, and another surrounded by an upscaleresidential seaside development in Cebu.

During the early days of maritime travel, international ships relied onlighthouses to guide them safely out of the open sea and into Philippinewaters. Once within Philippine waters, lighthouses marked treacherous points in the archipelago, pointing out safe passages leading vessels to ports of call.

Paramount in lighthouse location is its obvious function of guiding themarine traveler, whether through wood fires on top of rocky peaks, orthrough sophisticated optics atop tall towers, an out-of-date signalingsystem.

The Coast Guard states four important functions of lighthouses.

First, they serve as stationary points with navigational cross-bearingcapability along primary and secondary maritime routes. Reference points andlandmarks, lighthouses are navigational aids for charting ship position inthe seas. Either beams of fixed or occulating light at night, or the sightof lighthouse towers by day allow navigators to establish their position enroute to any Philippine port.

Second, lighthouses are navigational tools that channel vessels safely toour ports and harbors. Scattered all over the archipelago, they directvessels and fishermen to their home ports as well as pointing the route forlarger vessels to maneuver through narrow Philippine straits and channels.

Third, they warn navigators of treacherous sea conditions surrounding thelight station. Shallow seas, dangerous for unseasoned sailors, appear inearly Spanish colonial records as the cause of numerous shipwrecks, togetherwith inclement weather and grounding, marine disasters that diminished afterthe construction of lighthouses.

Fourth, lighthouses provided landfall lights to reveal approaching land tosailors, assist trade vessels sailing into Philippine waters either to dockin local ports or to sail through to other foreign destinations. Regardlessof advanced electronic navigational aids, visual aids are still necessary toconfirm the vessel's location.

Towers of brilliance

Lights of different intensities were installed in lighthouse towers to guidethe numerous ships passing through our seas. The first lighthouses had lampslit by candles, its glow beamed by powerful prisms intensifying its light tobe seen kilometers away. Later, gas burners replaced candlelight.

The American colonial period installed the latest technology of the day,gensets that powered incandescent bulbs. The magic of Fresnel lenses,complex prisms of highly polished glass, greatly magnified lights of lowilluminance.

Toward the end of Spanish colonial rule, authorities constructed 55lighthouses throughout the islands in response to increasing trade caused bythe opening of Suez Canal, attracting more trading ships to call on rapidly growing Philippine markets. The Ports of Manila or Cavite Viejo no longerdominated local shipping. Cargo was now directly shipped to new centers oftrade and ports in Cebu, Iloilo and Legaspi.

By 1926, another trade surge during the American colonial period increasedthe number of navigational aids to 193 lighthouses, buoys and beacons, allstrategically located within the vast, sometimes treacherous coastline ofthe archipelago.

Today foreign grants assist the government in maintaining and preservingthese outdated, neglected monuments, providing more advanced light systemsbacked up by solar panels. With new technological advances, the need toinhabit lighthouses is no longer necessary.

Lighthouses, mostly built over a century ago, originally provided withbasic, spartan accommodations or its keepers, are now in poor condition,many abandoned, all fantastic, forgotten heritage, await rescue by adoptiveparents.

The Philippine lighthouses are Bagacay in Cebu; Bagato, Sorsogon; Batag,Northern Samar; Bugui Point, Masbate; Cabra, Mindoro Occidental; Calabasa,Iloilo; Canigao, Leyte; Cape Bojeador, Ilocos Norte; Cape Bolinao,Pangasinan; Corregidor, Manila; Cape Engaño, Cagayan; Melville, Palawan;Cape Santiago, Batangas; Capones, Zambales; Capul, Northern Samar; Donsol,Sorsogon; Jintotolo, Masbate; Malabrigo, Batangas; Pasig River, Manila; SanBernardino, Sorsogon; and Siete Pecados, Guimaras.

For information on Adopt a Lighthouse program, contact 5273985 or e-mail kikomnl@yahoo.com. .Feedback is welcome at pride.place@gmail.com.