Most Philippine languages that appear to have “vowel-initial” words actually begin with a phonemic glottal stop that contrasts with all other consonants and is generally maintained after consonant-final prefixes. This is not so in Bashiic broadly. The only glottal stop position reconstructable for Proto-Bashiic is in post-consonantal position, and only on the basis of cognates retained in Itbayaten:

	*aʔbu ‘none’ [neg existential]
	*aʔdan ‘old: object’ [adj]
	*aʔdas + *m- ‘overake’ [v]
	*aʔdəs ‘rub, massage’ [v]
	*aʔgən ‘stable, firm’ [adj]
	*aʔɣəp ‘night [temp]
	*aʔɣub ‘smoke’
	*aʔɣus ‘molt’ [v]
	*aʔməd ‘lime, calcium’ [n]
	*aʔnas ‘fall, drop; [v]
	*aʔnay ‘sand’ [n]
	*aʔnəb ‘close’ [v]
	*aʔnəm ‘six’ [num]
	*aʔnid ‘grouper’ {fish} [n]
	*aʔpat ‘four’ [num]
	*aʔpid ‘carry on one’s back’ [v]
	*aʔput ‘sea urchin’ [n]
	*aʔsa ‘one’ [num]
	*aʔsad ‘pound rice’ [v]
	*aʔsi ‘fruit; flesh, meat’
	*aʔtək ~ *<um>tək ‘play’ [v]
	*aʔway ‘coarse (as mesh) [adj]
	*baɣaʔyaŋ ‘iron’ [n]
	*baʔnan ‘sneeze’ [v]
	*baʔtiŋ ‘trap for wild game’ [n]
	*baʔyu ‘new’
	*buʔbu[ʔ] + i- ‘bury, inter’ [v]
	*buʔni ‘ringworm’
PVas	*daliʔsən ‘fine (as mesh) [adj]
PBsh	*daʔmun ‘wash one’s face’ [v]
PBsh	*daʔtay ‘floor’ [n]
PBsh	*daʔwəd ‘song’ [n]
PBsh	*dəʔdəs ‘soft’ [adj]
PBsh	*duʔlus ‘shout loudly’ [v]
PBsh	*duʔtuŋ ‘cook’ [v]
PBsh	*ɣaʔɣay ‘needlefish’ [n]
PBsh	*ɣuʔmək ‘fine particles [n]
PVas	*haʔmu 'fear' [v]
Itb	*masaliwaʔwá[ʔ] ‘healthy’ [adj]
PBat	*mawaʔwá[ʔ] ‘healthy’ [adj]
PBsh	*niʔni[ʔ] ‘plant: reed, Donax cannaeformis [n]
PBsh	*paruʔpu ‘tree sp., Podocarpus [n]
PBsh	*paʔdun ‘carry on one’s head’ [v]
PVas	*piʔsa ‘once’ [num]
PBsh	*raʔsag ‘step on’ [v]
PBsh	*siʔduŋ ‘help, assist’ [v]
PBsh	*suʔnəb ‘dive’ [v]
PBsh	*taruʔgaw ‘look at, gaze’ [v]
PBsh	*taʔnək ‘stand up’ [v]
There is absolutely no contrast in initial, intervocalic, or final positions. Most Bashiic words that appear to end in a vowel do so because of phonotactic glottal closure; when suffixed, the glottal stop disappears. In fact Proto-Philippine *q and *ʔ have completely disappeared in Bashiic except in clusters. Go figure! Yet another instance in linguistics of “It is what it is!”