Biliran Province

LOCATION

      Biliran is 1,115 kilometers southwest of Manila. An island province, it is bounded by the Visayan Sea on the north, Carigara Bay on the south, Samar Sea on the east and the Strait of Biliran on the west. It is part of the Eastern Visayas Region or Region vIII.

POLITICAL SUBDIVISION

      Biliran has a total land area of 555.42 sq. km. Constituting 2.6 percent of the whole Eastern Visayas Region. It has eight(8) Municipalities namely: Naval- the capital town, Almeria, Kawayan, Culaba, Caibiran, Cabucgayan, Biliran and Maripipi. It has 132 barangays.

Seven of its Municipalities are classified as coastal while the eight, Maripipi, is an island municipality. The province is represented in the Philippine Congress as a lone district.

TOPOGRAPHY

      Biliran topography ranges from slightly flat to rolling terrain. It has coastal lowlands with mountainous interior except for the municipalities of Naval and Caibiran which have wider plains and rolling terrain approximately 7 kilometers from the coast. Mountain ranges occupy the major portion of the island municipality.

CLIMATE

      The climate of the province belongs to the second type according to the Climate Map of the Philippines . In this class falls Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Eastern part of Albay, eastern and northern parts of camarines Sur, and a greater portion of eastern Mindanao. Located near the eastern coast, Biliran Island does not experiense a prolonged dry season. It has very rainfall, 500 mm during December which subsides in January, and a minimum rainfall of 150 mm in April.

LAND RESOURCES

      Land Distribution. Of the 555.42 sq. km. or 55,547 ha. land area, 42,663 ha. is alienable and disposable, and 12,879 ha. forest land. The alienable and disposable lands are utilized as 30,628 ha.-agricultural; 598 ha. fishpond/mangrove area; 1,855 built-up area; and 9,582 ha. open grasslands.

      Agriculture.Biliran's economy can be classified as predominantly agricultural having a total production area of 30,628 ha. or raughly 55% of the total land area of the province. In1998, approxiamately 100 MT of various agricultural products were produced.

      Palay is planted to 13,581.75 ha. by 9,042 farmers. Coconut is widely planted in the province, covering an area of 21,783 farmers.

      Total copra production in 1998 was estimated at 15,242 MT. Rootcrops grown are camote, cassava, ube and gabi. Banana is a major fruit grown in the province.

      Assorted varietes of bananas are planted either along the sides of the coconuts or found growing in the wild . Total area covered by this crop is 3,109.54 has. Dominantly produced bananas is the Cardava variety. About 3 truckloads of bananas are being shipped to Manila every week.

      Forestry. Forest covers is 48 percent, of which 548 hectares are virgin forest. The forest land include 25,795 hectares located in 5 watersheds. About 14,907 hectares are denuded and need reforestation activities.

      Minerals.The province has a sulfur mineral reserve of approximately 791.11 MT, and an undertermined volume of gypsum.

FISHERY AND AQUATIC RESOURCES

      Biliran is surrounded by major and rich fishing grounds such as the Samar Sea, Maqueda Bay, Carigara Bay, Visayan Sea and the Strait of Biliran. Of the 104.7 hectares of brackish-water fishponds available, 50.06 hectares are developed.

      Municipal fishing accounted for 4,775.84 MT of fish produced in 1998. Total fishpond production was 97.5 MT of prawn, shrimps, and milkfish. There are 30 hectares of seawater suitable for seaweed farming and 10 hectares for fish-cage culture.

TRADE AND COMMERCE

      There are three major areas of trade and commerce in the province. There is the Municipality of Biliran where a bridge connect to Leyte. This area is a major gateway to Ormoc, Leyte and Metro Manila. Cargo and passenger vessels regularly plying from the port of Naval to Cebu City play an active role in the conduct of trade and commerce in the province, where the major inflow of goods are observed.

      Marine products cought by fishermen in the Municipality of Cabucgayan and some barangays in Culaba and Kawayan are sold directly to the cities of Ormoc and Tacloban Leyte, and catbalogan in the province of Samar. Principal goods shipped out of the province are copra, rice, bananas, and dried fish.

      Its major markets are Cebu, Tacloban, Samar and Manila. Goods from Cebu, Tacloban and Ormoc entering the province include canned goods, garments, construction materials, metal products, pharmaceuticals, electronic appliances, school and office supplies, petrochemicals, plastic wares and consumer items.

HUMAN RESOURCES

      Population.Based on the highlights of the 1995 census, the total population of the province is 132,209 of which 67,091 are male and 65,118 are female. The province also has a total of 25,646 households, and a household population of 132,126 (excluding temporary residents and transients). It has a population density of 238 persons/sq.km. with a life expetancy of 60 to 65 yrs. old. Annual population growth rate is 2.2%. Among the six provinces of Region VIII, Biliran registered the smallest population.

      Labor Force.Biliran has a total labor force of 77,714 of which 94.7% or 73,595 are employed and 4,119 (5.3%) are unemployed . Labor force participation rate is 69.3%. Employment distribution:agriculture, hunting and forestry 49.5%, fishing 12.7%, manufacturing 3.1%, constrution 4.6%, trade 8%, services 21.7%, and others 0.4%.

      Literacy.Biliran has high literacy rate of 88.52%. The province has one state college(Naval Institute Technology), one agricultural college(Biliran National Agricultural Callege), and 2 vocational schools(Cabucgayan National School of Arts & Trades and Maripipi National Vocational School).

      The most popular college courses are engineering, agriculture and education. Total elementary enrollment is 25,501 while secondary enrollment is 5,302. Graduation rate is 94.85% and the drop out rate is 5.56%. Teacher to pupil ratio is 1:29. Total number of classrooms is 899 for the elementary and 97 for the secondary.

      Dialects. Cebuano, spoken by 55.9 percent of the population, and Waray-Waray by 43.3 percent, are the two major dialects spoken in the island. The towns facing or more accessible to Cebu speak the Cebuano dialects. Yet the people can speak and understand both dialects. Filipino/Tagalog and English are also spoken and understand by most of the inhabitats.

      Peace and Order.Biliran is generally a peaceful province and there is no insurgency. Crime rate is 15.56% and crime solution efficiency is 94.72%. There are a total of 192 policemen and 25 fireman. The provincial command center is located in Barangay Larazabal, Naval, Biliran Province.

HUMAN RESOURCES

      Banking.There are 3 banks in Naval, Biliran namely, The Philippine National Bank(PNB), Land Bank of the Philippines, and the Rural Bank of Naval.

      Communication.GLOBE Lines and SMART provides Analog and Digital Subscribers Line(DSL), international and domestic long distance calls through household connections in the capital town, while Bayan TEl and PLDT Calling Offices provides Internation and Domestic Calls while the SMART provides Telephone Boot along the street of Naval.

      Bilinet and Naval Cable operators provide access to the local nad international cable channels. There are 8 post offices in 8 Munucupalities, while telegraph services are provided by RCPI, PT&T, and LBC. Dream Cable, uses sattelite disc which is expensive, provide access to the national and international channels

      The province has access also to national and regional dailies , aside from its own monthly provincial publication. One FM station, Radyo Natin provides up-to-date local and national news.

      Energy.Electricity Supplied by the Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant through the Biliran Electric Cooperative(BILECO). Of the 132 barangays in the province, 104 barangays or 79% are already energized and 52% of the households have power connections. Average rate per kilowatt-hour is 5.22 pesos, one of the highest in the Eastern Visayas. Biliran also has a great potential for geothermal power which awaits to be developed and tapped.

      water and Power.Presently, 10% of the households are being served by Level 1 water systems (wells, rain collectors and springs), 39% by level 2 water systems(communal Faucets), and 44% by Level 3 systems(Individual household connections), Other water supply sources account for 7%. The Naval Water District provides portable water in the provincial capital.

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