The socio-economic impact of the operation of the port of Batangas on the development of the coastal municipalities of the Batangas Bay region.

• Author: Ditan, Arnold N.

1. INTRODUCTION

Economic progress in Batangas Province continues to accelerate due to the remarkable influx of industrialization brought about by positive economic climate and strategic location which are stimulating factors of development. Batangas had an economic leap in 2000 with the boom of industrial locators which have found place in the province.

The CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) project has been instrumental in bringing economic movement to Batangas with activities on the agricultural, livestock, fishery, manufacturing, commerce, mining, tourism and other services, infrastructure sectors as water, transportation, telecommunication, energy and utilities and social sectors as education, health services and livelihood development and others. It has targeted the major trading and shipping routes of Pacific Rim. The Batangas Bay's strategic location provides direct and easy way to push through with the planned inter-island and foreign trade via the operation of the Port of Batangas. Thus, port planning covered development, control and operation of the Batangas port. In 1992, the initial development and operation of the Port of Batangas became the backbone of the CALABARZON industrial area. The working plan of the Batangas Port was drawn based on its main role to promote the development of Mindoro island, in order to exploit the high development potential of the direct hinterland of the port and to support the social and economic activities of the growing Metro Manila area.

In this regard, the researcher conducted this study to assess the socio-economic impact of the operation of the Port of Batangas which started in 1995 on the development of the coastal municipalities of the Batangas Bay Area. The study specifically aims to achieve the following objectives : to identify the socioeconomic impact of the operation of the Port of Batangas to the development of the coastal municipalities of the Bay region in terms of population, industries, socio-economic aspects as income, education, health care facilities and employment opportunities; to compare the responses of the four sectors of respondents (coastal residents, port personnel, local government officials and port clientele) on the impact of the operation of the Port of Batangas.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

   The Batangas Bay Region is located in the southern part of the province. It covers the Batangas Bay itself and includes areas whose catchments drain into the Bay as shown in Figure 1. Coastal municipalities of the Batangas Bay include the towns of Mabini, Bauan, San Pascual and the City of Batangas.

   Some of these coastal barangays in Batangas City, Bauan, San Pascual and Mabini are hosts to the plants and factories of big national and multinational companies. Most of these companies are oil and fuel refineries and have their own private piers. The Port of Batangas is endowed with favorable natural conditions together with a geographical merit which plays a central role in the transportation of goods produced in Batangas and nearby islands. It is located approximately 100 kilometers south of Manila surrounded by land and protected by Mindoro, Maricaban and Verde Island on the South side.(PPA, 1989)

   In view of concomitant...