Cobrador: Virgin island at the heart of the Philippines

It isn't clear how Cobrador island in Romblon province got its name but it certainly has nothing to do with gambling, though it sounds the same as kubrador, the Filipino word for bet collector. Gambling, in fact, is one of the prohibited activities on the island at the heart of the Philippine archipelago.

“I was only eight years old when people started calling this island Cobrador, The island used to be called Naguso,” said Cobrador village chief Raul Mortel, 47. Naguso is Romblon’s word for corals.

A stretch of wide-sand beaches

Cobrador, with a population of 983 people, is a little-known Island off the town of Romblon, the capital of Romblon province. The island, which is a village in itself, is 25-to-45-minute ride by motorboat from the capital town, depending on how calm or rough is the sea.

This 300-hectare island, surrounded by glass-clear seas, is home to a beautiful array of corals and abundant marine life. On one side, in Sitio Cabugaan, lies a stretch of white-sand beaches and walls of rock on the other side.

Cobrador  is a primary source of black marble slabs, a popular product of the province which has earned its monicker as the Marble Country.

The village chief said the people of Cobrador have been trying to develop and preserve the island as a key tourist spot.

Pristine waters amid walls of rocks

“Before, our beaches were dirty and you’d step on human feces when you walked around,” Mortel said in Filipino.Since 2007, environmental protection has become the village officials’ agenda. 

Garbage segregation and recycling are enforced and the majority of the households have their own toilets Cyanide fishing has been banned and the village keeps a hectare of marine sanctuary.

“It was hard at first to introduce regulations, like the curfews, but people eventually understood its purpose,” said Mortel who was elected village chief in 2007. 

Since his election, he said, the village’s annual  income has grown from P650,000 to P1.3 million, mainly due to the number of tourists visiting the island every summer since 2011.

Most of the tourists, though, are foreigners  married to Filipino women from other parts of Romblon.

The island, which had no electricity until six years ago, currently relies on power generators that run only eight hours a day. Water comes from wells or rain collectors, but drinking water is supplied from the mainland.

The village receives 300 to 500 tourists during summer. Although beach camping is allowed for free, the officials see the lack of accommodation facilities a drawback for tourism.

There are regular two-way  trips by motorboat on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The boat leaves Cobrador at 6 a.m. and returns from mainland at 12 noon. A one-way fare costs P25 per person. 

The provincial government  sees the island as a viable tourism spot  and is included  in the Department of Tourism’s promotional tour in Romblon this year.

Mortel said kababayans working outside the province are pitching in by creating Facebook fan pages to promote Cobrador.

Last May, the village started promoting Tinagong Dagat (Hidden Sea), a 1.5- to 2-meter-deep pool of saltwater separated from the ocean by large rocks on the eastern part of the island. It is also developing Ilaya Cave, diving and snorkeling spots, and fruit plantations to lure more tourists.

With island’s women displaying  racing skills on paddle boats and the men weaving native mats, a reversal of their traditional roles, Cobrador hopes to become an interesting place for tourists to visit.

Cobrador is a virgin island, Mortel said, perfect for city folks to take off from their fast-pacing lives. – The Travel Bureau