Sinarapan, the world's smallest commercially harvested fish, occupies the waters of Lake Bato.

This small village later was elevated into a status of a town under the decree of Spanish Superior Government on February 15, 1753.

The population speaks a different form of Rinconada Bikol called Bato variant, a lowland dialect (sinaranəw).

Poverty incidence of Bato Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Majority of employment is within agriculture, fishery, poultry and construction industry groups.

[18] Natural resources include clams, pearls, local shrimps, tabios, and tilapia, particularly within Lake Bato; forest products such as anahaw leaves and local bamboo; non-metallic mineral resources such as white clay among others.