Before any dispute erupts over an uninhabited island in northern Philippines, the government is building a shelter for fishermen on Mavulis Island — the northernmost of the Batanes Islands — to assert the country’s sovereignty, a military official said on Monday. Part of Batanes province, Mavulis is located 288 kilometers from the northernmost part of the main island of Luzon and 188 km from the southernmost tip of Taiwan. Known to older natives of Batanes as Dihami—Ivatan for “north”—Mavulis is uninhabited, 22-km long and about 1-km wide, rocky on the coasts but covered in lush vegetation. It is a traditional fishing ground for Filipinos, Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Chinese, according to Lt. Col. Isagani Nato, public information chief of the military’s Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom).

Orejas, T. (2018, June 19). PH building Batanes shelter for fishers. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A6.