Gorda Point Lighthouse (Filipino: Parola ng Punta Gorda), is a historic lighthouse located about 248 kilometers (154 mi) southeast of Manila in Barangay Cawayan, San Agustin, Romblon, Philippines. It serves as a guide for ships traversing the Romblon Pass between the islands of Tablas and Romblon.
History
Gorda Point Lighthouse is one of several lighthouses constructed in the Philippines in the 1930s during the American colonial period. It was built atop a promontory at Gorda Point, on the northeast tip of Tablas Island, in Barangay Cawayan in San Agustin, Romblon.[5] It serves as a guiding light for maritime vessels traversing the Romblon Pass between the islands of Tablas and Romblon.[5] A keeper's dwelling was also constructed beside the lighthouse to provide accommodation for the lighthouse keeper.[1] The original lighthouse was a 65 meters (213 ft) steel tower painted white with a light that shows three white flashes and one red flash every 20 seconds.[3]
Sometime between 1994 and 2015, the lighthouse was damaged by inclement weather and became inoperable. On 7 May 2015, the Philippine Coast Guard, in a Notice to Mariners on its website, announced that the lighthouse had been restored into normal operation on 16 April 2015, with the light now showing three white flashes every 15 seconds.[4]
^ abU.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1940). United States Coast Pilot: Philippine Islands (3rd ed.). University of Michigan: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 287. Retrieved 6 February 2021.