The Tao community of Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) has launched a fundraiser for the Philippines’ Batanes Islands, which were hit by an earthquake on Saturday last week that left eight people dead and 60 injured, Lan An Cultural and Educational Foundation CEO Maraos (瑪拉歐斯) said on Tuesday.
Many Lanyu residents were saddened by the tragedy and have expressed support for the plan since learning on his Facebook page about the earthquake, Maraos said.
Houses and buildings — many constructed from coral or stone, and including a 300-year-old Catholic church — were toppled by the magnitude 5.4 earthquake and numerous aftershocks, Maraos said.
Photo: Lan An Cultural and Educational Foundation via CNA
“We felt so bad that our brood has suffered such a big loss, and we hope to extend our help to them,” Maraos said.
The people of Lanyu and Batanes feel a strong cultural affinity, he said.
A meeting on Monday decided that a month-long fundraiser and a three-month material-collection campaign would be launched immediately to help with earthquake relief, Maraos said.
Seven civil and religious groups on Lanyu are to contribute to the cause, he said.
Maraos said that he has contacted Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka and Batanes officials for help in transporting relief materials to the Philippine islands.
The Tao are believed to have migrated from the Batanes to Lanyu off of Taitung County hundreds of years ago. The spoken languages used by the two communities are 60 percent similar.
In the past several years, the Tao have been keen to explore their roots and restore their historical navigation routes.
Late last month, a delegation from Lanyu traveled to Batanes to promote two-way direct shipping links using homemade boats.
Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco early last month visited Lanyu to study the feasibility of the idea and gain an understanding of Lanyu’s settlements and cultural development.
Itbayat Island was the worst-hit of the Batanes archipelago. It has a population of 2,963, an area of 93km2 and is only 150km from Lanyu.
Of all the Batanes Islands, Itbayat is the closest to Lanyu and its people share the most linguistic similarities with Lanyu’s residents.
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