Completely impregnable, these housws can withstand the wind velocity that on bad days could beat the barometers mark. As added precaurion during a typhoon, the Ivatan secure their homes with a rope net. They do the same for their farm plots to protect their crops of yam and garlics. This insular character is, of course, more apparent in the Ivatan community. There are no moviehouses, no markets, no shopping centers.
Newspaper are available only on flight days.
Radio programs from Tuguegarao if garbles, reach Batanes. Their language too, also called Ivatan, reveal their origins. It is prepared with Spanish pidgin and is spoken with the tonal musicality of Chinese languages. The Batanes folks depend mainly on small-scale farming and fishing for their liveligood. A modest farmland planted to root crops, vegetables, and fruit trees is a common possession of the average family.