OLDEST BUILDING. The Gabaldon Building inside the campus of the Naval Central Elementary School is the oldest standing structure in Naval. Completed in 1915, this historic building has been the grade school education venue of generations of Navalians. It has seen better days; the old capiz shell windows have given way to wooden substitutes. (Photographed in the morning of October 4, 2003.)

NEW BOAT. A new ferry boat now serves the Naval-Cebu route in addition to the old reliable "M/V Michael III" and, later, "MV Katrina." "Cagayan Princess," a roll-on, roll-off (RORO) type vessel, shown docked at the Naval wharf around sunset on Friday, October 3, calls on the local port three times a week. It was scheduled to leave for Cebu at 8:00 p.m. that day with a large cargo of scrap metals. A check with a Cebu daily newspaper shows that this Sulpicio Lines ferry used to ply the more lucrative Cebu-Nasipit (Agusan del Norte) route. We do not know how much of the new service is economics and how much is short-term political accommodation. At any rate, the damage wrought on the wharf by barges transporting construction aggregates (sand and gravel) for public works projects in Biliran Province remains, although some have been repaired, as shown on the bottom right of the photo. But gaping portions, such as the one on the bottom left of the photo, still pose great risks to the public, including promenaders.