Batanes folk scared of SARS, too

BASCO, Batanes — Residents of this northernmost province are also wary of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Because of the SARS scare sweeping most parts of the region, Gov. Vicente Gato said the first direct travel between Lan Yu Island in Taiwan and this province, scheduled early this week, has been postponed.

As originally planned, 40 delegates each from the Yamei tribe of Lan Yu Island and the Ivatan tribe would exchange visits under the "Lan Yu-Ivatan Cultural and Economic Exchange Visit" program.

The 40 Lan Yu residents would have arrived here by boat last Monday for a study tour of their forebears’ country of origin. On their supposed return trip yesterday, the Ivatan group would have joined them. — Jack Castaño III