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About
the area
Area
5 is Western Visayas or Region VI in the political map of the
Philippines. It is bounded on the north by Romblon island, on
the south by the Sulu Sea, on the east by the Visayan Sea, and
on the west by the island of Palawan.
The
Western Visayas Region has a total land area of 2,022,311 hectares.
The region's topography consists of lowland areas with mountain
ranges separating the provinces namely, Aklan, Antique, Capiz,
Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
Aklan
province is located in the northern part of Panay Island. The
famed resort island of Boracay is part of Aklan. The town of Kalibo,
the site of the annual Ati-Atihan festival, is the provincial
capital.
Antique province, meanwhile, occupies a stretch of land about
150 kms at its widest along Panay Island's western coast.
Capiz, on the other hand, is the second largest province in Panay
Island.
Guimaras is the smallest and newest province in the region. An
island province, it was formerly a sub-province of Iloilo. Guimaras
lies between Panay Island and Negros Occidental.
lloilo is the largest and most developed province in Panay Island.
The province has one city, Iloilo City, and it is the provincial
capital.
Negros Occidental forms the northwestern half of the island of
Negros, the largest province in the region. Bacolod City is the
seat of the provincial government and the most important center
of economic activities in the province.
More than half of the region's population are in Iloilo while
the rest is more or less evenly distributed among the other provinces
in mainland Panay. Guimaras is the least populated.
The
main sources of livelihood are fishing, farming, livestock and
poultry production, mining, fish processing and logging. At the
regional level, most of the families derive income from wages
and salaries, mainly from non-agricultural work; only 22% of families
are engaged in agricultural entrepreneural activities. This picture,
though, applies only to Negros Occidental and Iloilo provinces.
In the provinces of Antique, Aklan and Capiz, more families earn
their living from agrarian production.
Principal
products of the region are rice, fish, livestock and poultry,
cattle, sugar cane, corn, capiz shells, timber, fruits and vegetables,
coconut, coffee and cotton. Mineral resources include copper,
gold, silver, molybdenum, limestone, iron, cement, marble, clay
and asbestos.
Climate
is generally dry from November to April, and wet for the rest
of the year.
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Water
supply development
There
are 89 municipalities in the area served by water districts, out
of the 134 municipalities falling within LWUA's area of jurisdiction
There are 45 more municipalities open for water district formation.
Acknowledged
godfather water districts in the region are Bacolod City WD, Metro
Iloilo WD, Metro Roxas WD and Kalibo WD. Water district associations
formed in the region are Region VI Water Districts Information
Council (R-VI WADIC), General Managers Association-Panay (GMA-PANWAD),
Negros Occidental General Managers Association (NOGMA) and Antique
Water Districts Officers & Employees Association (AWDA).
Recipients
of LWUA Loan Assistance Program in the Area in 2004:
Zarraga, P11.710 million; Tubungan,
P9.609 million; Ponteverde, P1.000 million; Magao, P10.289 million;
Metro Roxas, P198.423 million; Manapla, P12.990 million; Malay,
P11.068 million; Lambunao, P9.468 million; La Carlota, P2.000
million; Janiuay, P5.506 million; Ilog, P12.162 million; Igbaras,
P21.870 million; Estacia, P2.610 million; Bugasong, P11.411 million;
Belison, P16.170 million; and Banate, P15.018 million.
LWUA
has granted a total of P2.858 billion for Region VI water supply
projects. Water districts have already availed themselves of P1.264
billion and are now in various stages of project development.
Service connections in the region totalled 116,357 serving a population
of 698,150. Water district collection efficiency stands at 56%.
Major
problems in the area are:
Water
district viability.
The slump in the national economy has not spared the water districts
in Western Visayas. Many of the water districts are fast becoming
non-viable and could not sustain repayment of their loan obligations
to LWUA. Collection efficiency is low. Equity funds for additional
loans intended to extend service areas could not be raised. Thus,
revenues could not be increased to sustain mounting operating
and maintenance costs.
Scarcity
of water resources.
Most water resources in Panay are limited in terms of quality
and quantity. Coastal areas are prone to saltwater intrusion.
Water sources have therefore been limited to shallow wells or
dugwells. This is true in Zarraga, Barotac Nuevo, Dumangas, Banate,
Concepcion, Estancia and Balasan. This is the same reason why
Metro Iloilo Water District tapped as source, a surface water
located 35 km. inland. The denudation of the watershed areas has
contributed to the deterioration of the quality of surface water.
This has made surface water an expensive alternative to the water
problem in the area. Treating water from these sources requires
an expensIve process.
Water quality. This
problem is very prevalent in the coastal areas even outside Area
5. The destruction of the forest cover in the watersheds has caused
the intrusion of saltwater into the groundwater. This is aggravated
by the proliferation of fishponds and prawn farms in Western Visayas.
The massive pumping of groundwater for the use of the fishponds
and prawn farms has caused the destruction of the groundwater
equilibrium.
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