Cape Melville Lighthouse Historical LandmarkCape Melville Lighthouse Historical Landmark is a National Historical Landmark, NHCP; Registered Property, Province of Palawan located at Balabac, Palawan, Region IV-B.
RESOLUTION No. 3, S. 1996
DECLARING THE CAPE MELVILLE LIGHTHOUSE IN BARANGAY MELVILLE, BALABAC ISLAND, SOUTHERN PALAWAN A NATIONAL HISTORICAL LANDMARK.
WHEREAS, the Constitution of the Philippines provides that "The State shall promote and popularize the nation's historical and cultural heritage and resources”;
WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 260, dated August 1, 1973, specifically vested tlie National Historical Institute, a cultural agency attached to the Department•of Education, Culture and Sports, and an institution affiliated to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, with the power and duty to conserve and protect the historical and cultural heritage of the country;
WHEREAS, the Cape Melville Lighthouse, strategically located or a hill in the southernment portion of Balabac Island in southern Palawan, was first lighted on August 30, 1892;
WHEREAS, this still-functional lighthouse is one of the few existing structures and evidences of the Spanish era in the predominantly Muslim territory of southwestern Philippines;
WHEREAS, this sturdy structure, octagonal in plan and built of polygonal-cut limestone with corner quoins, has continuously served die maritime and fishing industries and the country's naval fleet traversing the Balbac Strait for over a hundred years now;
WHEREAS, the revitalization of the Cape Melville Lighthouse will highlight the great maritime, engineering and architectural significance of this structure.
NOW, THEREFORE, the National Historical Institute, by virtue of the powers vested in it by Presidential Decree No. 260, dated August 1, 1973, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1505, dated June 11, 1978, hereby declares the Cape Melville Lighthouse in the Island of Balbac, Southern Palawan, a National Historical Landmark.
APPROVED: August 14, 1996
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Cape Melville Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse located in the island of Balabac, the southernmost point of the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is also the southwest corner of the archipelago. The first-order light was constructed by the Spaniards to light Balabac Strait, the treacherous body of water that separates the Philippines from the neighboring country of Malaysia.
The light is displayed from a 90-ft tall (27.4 m) granite tower, located on a hill 1.5 miles northwestward of the tip of Cape Melville, for a total elevation of 297 ft (90.5m) above sea level. The station was built by the Spanish Government as part of their extensive lighting plan for the archipelago. The lighthouse of Cape Melville was first lit on August 30, 1892.