Over the course of history, agriculture is an important economic activity in the municipality. Furthermore, its crops have a product market that reaches up to the neighboring provinces of Cavite, Batangas, Marinduque and Romblon, as well as the national capital of Manila. It also has a market in Visayas, particularly in Iloilo. The main cash crop is rice, for it has the greatest area utilization, annual production, and largest generated income.

FARMING

As of 2020, around 7,314.78 hectares of the municipal land is utilized for various crops and fruit-bearing trees. The major agricultural crops as well as their areas of utilization are as follows: rice (4,058.35 hectares); banana (3,024.46 hectares); fruit trees (137.932 hectares); and vegetables (94.047 hectares).

As summarized in the succeeding table, the general trend of area utilization, annual production, and annual generated values have increased in the years 2019 to 2020. However, the productions of rice in 2019 have decreased drastically compared to 2019. As our staple food, rice industry faced huge challenges. First, the implementation of the Republic Act 11203 known as Rice Trade Liberalization Law that directly affected the prize of the locally produced rice because imported rice circulated around the country in a much cheaper prize. With this, local farmers suffered and as well as their income. Then the occurrences of natural phenomenon that disturbed the natural balance of ecosystem resulting to severe drought and strong typhoons made it difficult for farmers to hang on. However, both the national and local government did its best in supporting them through different appropriate programs for rice production.

According to interviews, one of the crops that has potential to be developed is the abaca or Manila Hemp. This plant is mostly grown on the higher elevations of the municipality. But the trend cannot be observed because of the lack of data for the year 2016. In 2019, the area utilized for such crop was at 86 hectares, with a yield of 15 metric tons and more at least a quarter of a million pesos in revenues. This year 2020, there were no reported area planted by abaca.

It can be observed that by increasing the land for agricultural production alone may not be a good strategy to increase overall agricultural production. Since typhoon occurrence is a major factor that can influence the level of production, it might be better to consider shifting cropping patterns combined with expanding land area for utilization. Since climate change is also expected to bring more hostile conditions for agriculture, sustainable production practices should also be supported, studied, and promoted. Availability of post-harvest facilities is of course given.

As of the 2018 CBMS data, 13 percent of households are engaged in agriculture. Barangay Pagalagala has the largest percent share of households at 47 percent while the least percent share of households comes from barangays Sabang, Wawa and Zone II, with both at less than one percent. Other pertinent data per barangay are presented.

Table below shows a summary of the water irrigation system present in the municipality. The NIA-Pula-Bansud RIS (River Irrigation System) has been operating since 1960. Since then, several rehabilitation works were taken through the Irrigation Operation Support Project (IOSP). It diverts the water through a run-off type river dam located across the Pula River in barangay Inclanay. The system currently serves 18 barangays in Pinamalayan, two in Socorro, and another two in Pola. It has a total length of 40.34 kilometers of combined canals and service roads, based on GIS approximations (Appendix C). It is also reported that the existing irrigation facilities inadequately supplies water in some areas, resulting to adverse effects in production. Thus, it is recommended that canals should be rehabilitated, as well as to concretize existing farm ditch canals.

In 2020, the number of agricultural support facilities has a total of 885 units. However, Table below shows a decline in these facilities from 2016 to 2020. The most common farm equipment used in the municipality are tractors, threshers, blowers, rice mills, and combine harvesters. Most of these are 100 percent utilized and are operational, except for some units of rice mills. Further information regarding other facilities are shown in the said table.

Some problems were also raised regarding these support facilities. First is the absence of an existing ordinance to regulate the usage of mechanical dryers for rice. Moreover, attention should also be given to the lack of post-harvest handing, processing, and preservation of agricultural produce, so as to ensure shelf life, quality, and fair pricing. This is needed especially during the times of excess supply and this can also give farmers more income options.

In addition, there is one public market located at the Poblacion which currently has a functional area of 1,508.70 square meters and has 165 stalls. This serves as the center where all kinds of produce throughout the municipality are being traded and sold.

The Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zone or SAFDZ areas comprise about 16,695.52 hectares in total, or 59 percent of the total land area of Pinamalayan (Map XXX). These are made up of areas utilized for irrigated rice, non-irrigated rice, inland fishponds, mangroves, open grasslands, and other agricultural areas. Furthermore, the other agricultural areas are used mainly for planting of fruit-bearing trees such as coconuts and bananas, among others.

Barangay Sabang has the most number of lands utilized for SAFDZ with a total area of around 3,884.87 hectares while barangay Wawa has the least area with a total of 4.85 hectares. The land utilization per barangay is shown in Table below.

A total of 2,291.10 hectares of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) Areas were distributed throughout the municipality and these are found in 31 barangays. Map XXXI shows the location of these areas. However, it was found out that some of these CARP lands, with a total of 1,090 hectares, are situated in areas with equal to or greater than 18 percent slope as well as in forestlands. Approximately 777 hectares are located in areas with 18 percent slope and above while 310 hectares are present within forestlands. These identified areas are located in the barangays of Sabang, Marayos, Inclanay, Maliancog, Calingag, Rosario, Maningcol, Malaya, Buli, Sta. Isabel, Guinhawa, Pili, Banilad, and Ranzo.

There were a total of six agrarian related concerns raised during the years of 2014 to 2016. These dealt with land acquisitions and distribution, redocumentation of distributed land holdings, recorrection of surveyed lands, and cancellation of agrarian disputes. These are further summarized in Table below, along with the location, beneficiaries, and extent of area concerned.

LIVESTOCK RAISING

Livestock production is one of the livelihood opportunities that farmers linger on despite meat prize fluctuations. This has been part of their culture that aside from land cultivation this field supplements some necessary income for their family. To enrich animal production, several programs were implemented that could provide support to the animal raisers. Nevertheless, the swine industry faced an enormous challenge, the African swine fever outbreak that caused the fall down of pork prizes affecting the hog raisers.

Table below shows existing livestock and poultry by barangays. A total of 37,111 heads were produced in year 2020 mostly in backyard classification in almost all the barangays except in most populated barangays where backyard produced livestock and poultry were prohibited. A total of 3,305 tenants tend to these locally-produced meat products.

Based on the animal dispersal data of 2020, there was a total of 235 live heads of livestock. Hogs are the most common animals raised with 180 live heads, and cattle with 55 live heads. Through time, several recipients can attest the efficacy of the program particularly in mitigating certain real life situations like supporting family needs for food, clothing and even education. It can never be denied that this has become a pet project of this office considering those regards. Unfortunately, animal dispersal suffered decline in terms of number of live animals and remittances as compared to the last year. The declining trend of animal dispersal from the previous years mirrored the challenges encountered by the swine industry such as ASF, pork prize fluctuations and the degrading breeds of hogs that the new recipients failed to raise up to marketable size or productive stage. Whereas goat have been completely gone in the project.

The results of the 2018 CBMS shows that eight percent of households are engaged in livestock raising. Most of these households are from Barangay Guinhawa with a total of 165 households while barangays Bacungan and Wawa both only have one household involved with such activity. More data per barangay is displayed in Table below.

FISHERIES

Regarding fisheries, there is a total of 766.91 metric tons of fish catches from 2014 to 2016 in the nine coastal barangays. However, it can be observed in Table below that the annual volume of fish catches is steadily declining for the past three years, from 297.5 metric tons in 2014 to 218.81 metric tons in 2016. However, the value shows fluctuations for it dropped in 2015 to 20 million pesos from 23 million pesos, and then rose to 26 million in 2016. This can be attributed to the declining fish catches that resulted to higher prices.

Regarding fish catches in general, the data is showing continuous decline in production for three consecutive years. From 2014 to 2015, the combined volume of production from marine and inland sources decreased by 15 percent. In the succeeding year, a 12 percent decrease in production was derived. As to generated gross income that corresponds to volume of production in the same observed years, it was noted that from 2014 to 2015, the gross income per metric tons was maintained at 80,000 pesos. This shows steady market value despite 15 percent decrease in production. Aside from climate change, some problems have also been identified that have exacerbated the worsening fisheries production through the years. For example, fishing during spawning seasons is prevalent, as well as the practice of illegal fishing such as using fine-meshed nets and poaching of endangered species.

However, from 2015 to 2016 where there is 26.45 percent decrease in fish production from 2014, it was noted that the value of fish per metric tons rose to 120,000 pesos. This result indicates that the invisible hand manipulating the market price is already working at this time. Thus, the law of supply and demand already applies. As the supply decreases with increasing demand or even at constant demand, the commodity price increases. Hence, if declining fish production persists in the succeeding years, a possible scenario would be the market price for fish may not be affordable for low income groups or may be hardly affordable for middle income groups.

A total of 437 households or 2.31 percent of the total are engaged in fishing activities. These households are mostly coming from the nine coastal barangays of the municipality. Barangay Ranzo has the largest percent share of households at 13 percent. Fisherfolk are also affected by the unsustainability of fishing activities through the years. This situation calls for allocation of alternative livelihood for the affected population. Data regarding households engaged in fishing per barangay are further shown in Table below.

EXPOSURE AND RISK TO HAZARD

Based on the CDRA results, about 3,458 hectares of agricultural areas are exposed to flooding. This comprises 21 percent of the total agricultural area of 16,682 hectares. Out of these flooding exposed areas, it is estimated that 3,114.04 hectares of land is highly at risk. Moderately at risk areas are estimated at 312.92 hectares and low risk areas are at 31.53 hectares. Majority of agricultural lands at risk are those utilized for irrigated rice, since this kind of crop is mainly planted on low-lying plains.

Exposure to landslide was accounted at 79 percent or 13,403 hectares out of the total agricultural areas. Most of the exposed are utilized as mixed agricultural areas, with fruit-bearing trees such as bananas and coconuts as main crops. Risk distribution shows 5,571.91 hectares are highly at risk, around 1,638.88 hectares are moderately at risk, and 6,192.15 hectares are at low risk. Most of the exposed are utilized as mixed agricultural areas, with fruit-bearing trees such as bananas and coconuts as main crops.

As displayed in table below, data from the DENR-CENRO (2017) states that there are 1,360 hectares of forestlands with documented land uses, wherein 70 hectares are declared as ancestral domain. Majority of these forest lands that have permits are being utilized for agroforestry production and are mostly located in barangay Sabang, with some areas in barangays Marayos and Guinhawa. A total of 924 hectares was declared as reforestation activity areas. There are 425 individuals employed in the forestry sector.

Business establishments are generally located in the Poblacion areas. Regarding the nature of businesses, majority are into wholesale and retail trading of motor vehicles, personal and household goods as shown in table below or the three year accounts of business permits. The inventory also shows that the Manufacturing are thriving businesses. This is showing continuous increase compared to the other businesses.

While both the Wholesale and Retail Trade/Repair and Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities shows significant contribution to overall commercial activities, a fluctuating trend may indicate unimpressive performance, if not affected by the delinquent renewal of business permits and the closure of business due to COVID-19 pandemic. In general, there was a 2.04 percent drop in business establishments from 2019 to 2020.

In the year 2019 to 2020, the number of establishments decreased from 2,259 to 2,213 while employment increased from 2,902 to 2,938. The number of establishments had a 2.04 percent decrease while a 1.24 percent increase was observed in the number of employment. Notably, wholesale and retail trading has the highest number of both establishments and employment compared to others types of economic activities. Pertinent data regarding other nature of businesses and their employment are displayed in Table below.

As seen in Table below, the municipal revenue from 2016 to 2018 exhibits an increasing trend. In the year 2016, revenues reached a value of more than 15 million pesos. The following year, the generated revenue is more than 16million pesos. In 2018, revenues had a total of more than 17 million pesos. The data shows 9 percent increase from 2016 to 2017 and 7 percent increase in the following year, suggesting an 8 percent growth rate in annual municipal revenues. This increasing trend connotes development in the local economy where wholesale and retail trade is the primary contributor. Real estate and construction likewise stimulates local development.

The same data revealed that the target of having 100 million locally generated income might be achieved in seven years. This means that from the year 2016, it can be achieved by the year 2023 if Pinamalayan maintains 4 percent increase in annual growth rate. In case the municipality wants to shorten the timeframe to achieve the target revenue, the increase in annual growth rate needs to be adjusted as shown in Table below.

EXPOSURE AND RISK TO HAZARD

Out of the 24 hectares of commercial areas, 22 hectares are exposed to flooding. From these, 21 hectares are considered as highly at risk and one hectare is moderately at risk.

The commercial areas exposed to landslide is significantly smaller compared to those exposed to flood. From the 24 hectares of total commercial areas, those exposed to landslide are only at two hectares. Moreover, these are only categorized under low risk.

Table below shows that most of the industries present throughout Pinamalayan are either rice mills, manufacturers, or contractors. These establishments fall the category of either micro, cottage, or small-scale due to their capital which ranges from less than 150,000 pesos to a maximum of 15 million pesos. These criteria for industry classification based on capitalization assets are seen at Table below.

With regards to employment in the industry sector, Table below also displays an increase on 2018 however there was a decrease in 2019. There were 540 individuals employed in the year 2017, 550 were employed in 2018, and 142 were employed in the year 2019. Furthermore, total capital investment for the years 2017 to 2019 is also increasing. More than 94 million was spent for the year 2017 and 2018, and more than 147 million was spent as industrial capital in 2020.

Among the barangays, Papandayan is one with major industrial establishments such as oil depot and power plant. The former has more data displayed in Table below while the latter shall be discussed in the next parts under the power sector.

As seen in Table below, local revenues are seen to be generally increasing for the past five years, from 2012 to 2016. This is mostly attributed to the continued increase of industrial establishments in the municipality.

EXPOSURE AND RISK TO HAZARD A total of 19 hectares is allocated for industrial land use where in 11 hectares are considered to be exposed to flooding, based on the CDRA conducted. From this, 10 hectares are considered to be at high risk while one hectare is categorized as low risk.

On the other hand, an estimated eight hectares were exposed to landslide. Majority of these exposed areas are only categorized as low-risk, with a total of 7 hectares. Meanwhile, only one hectare was assessed to be at moderate risk.

Endowed with natural seascapes and landscapes, Pinamalayan continues to boost its tourism in the recent years. It has many tourist attractions that have been already identified both by the local government and the Provincial Tourism Office. Little is still known about the majority of these tourism sites due to few promotions for the municipality. Moreover, the Municipal Tourism Office (MTO) has only been newly-established. However, there is an observed growth in the number of investments in hotels and resorts. This reflects the economic development of the municipality as well as the investment capacity of the private sector.

Table below displays information on the existing tourism establishments based on ground survey. Pinamalayan has tourist attractions that are either man-made or natural. Furthermore, there are various beach resorts, restaurants, and hotels for tourists and locals to choose from.

In total, there are 34 existing tourism establishments in Pinamalayan ranging from restaurants, resorts and hotels. Resorts are mostly located in coastal barangays, majority of which are in Quinabigan and Guinhawa. On the other hand, restaurants are abundant in the Poblacon areas such as in barangays Zone I, II, III, and Marfrancisco. Cuisines vary from Asian to European-inspired dishes. Moreover, there are also numerous restaurants serving local Filipino dishes. These existing tourism establishments also equipped with facilities for accommodation, communication, eating facilities, and multi-purpose halls.

Furthermore, numerous beach resorts are located in barangay Quinabigan and Guinhawa. The fine, black sand lets tourists enjoy picnic and ball activities under the sun. It is easily accessible through the provincial and barangay roads.

The Cawa-Cawa falls has the largest basin among the existing falls in the municipality. The falls is at approximately one-storey high. It can be easily accessed by a short trek. However, the hanging bridge going to the falls is 100 percent dilapidated, but tourists can pass by the creek beside it during dry season.

The Rainbow Junction is located in a small parcel of land in barangay Marfrancisco. It is where the national road diverges into two, with one going to Gloria, the next town and the other way going towards the Poblacion. Another attraction in Pinamalayan is the park located in front of the municipal compound, and its notable feature is a giant rainbow in its middle.

Regarding the accessibility of tourist establishments, these can be reached all-year round by ordinary vehicles or served by regular transport services such as tricycles. Most of these tourist attractions are accessible by land. The access roads are paved with concrete and has good condition. More data regarding accessibility of these tourist spots per barangay is displayed in Table below.

Pinamalayan has several potential tourism attractions which were found out during ground surveys. These potential tourist spots range from natural features, private properties that are slowly emerging in popularity through word of mouth, to cultural landmarks. If these places can be made aware to the people and the government, a cooperation can be attained for the sites to be properly conserved, maintained, and given attention. Map S displays the location of these potential tourism sites.

Aside from resorts and beaches along its coastline, a notable potential site for tourism is the Marine Protected Areas or Fish Sanctuaries located in barangays Ranzo, Pili, and Banilad where diving and snorkeling activities could be developed. If this can be developed, this will enable Pinamalayan to raise awareness among the people about caring for the sea and its resources through ecotourism. In addition, the mountainous areas house two known falls, the Sabang and Marayos Falls. These are mostly unexplored, for the former can only be accessed by trekking through rough terrains and rivers which lasts for about two to three hours. The trekking, though has an existing pathway, needs extensive improvement in order to be safe for tourists to access. Sabang falls has two bluish green basins, approximately 6 feet and over deep. The falls is estimated to be two storeys high. Meanwhile, the Marayos falls has an existing access road in good condition where vehicles can indeed pass. However, this is then followed by a 10-minute trail that is relatively less challenging than that of the former.

Another potential attraction that can be developed in the municipality is the mangrove area in barangays Wawa and Lumambayan. It is approximately one kilometer long and can be traversed for about an hour or so. Thus, the area is feasible for future boating activities. Due to its wide opening, floating restaurants or boat rental booths could also be established.

In 2017, a pottery-making industry opened in barangay Banilad. It is a small facility that houses the cooking, designing, and displaying of the finished products. The clay used are imported from other barangays or nearby municipalities. The products range from jars, lamps, bricks, to figurines and hanging accessories. It has an advantageous location because it can be easily accessed through the provincial road and is nearby several beach resorts.

There is also a potential for agri-tourism in Pinamalayan, for a scenic rubber tree farm in barangay Malaya is spacious enough to develop other supporting facilities for tourists.

However, some of these potential areas of these are largely underdeveloped in terms of tourist support facilities and access roads. Some even have high-risk locations and trails, such as that of Sabang falls. Nevertheless, through proper development and endorsement, these identified potential tourism establishments can be improved and then recognized in terms of their recreational, cultural, and educational value. More data for each potential tourism site is displayed in Table below.

These tourism spots can be accessed mostly by land and some can also be accessed by both land and water. However, it is noteworthy that several of these potential tourist spots have access roads that are in poor condition, with some having unfinished concrete pavements. Most of these can also be accessed by ordinary vehicles or serviced by public transportation.

Among the support facilities present in the tourist spots of Pinamalayan, the most common is the presence of telecommunications. Some accommodation and eating facilities can be found on hotels, inns, and beach resorts. Further information per tourism establishment is displayed by Table below.

The Bahaghari Festival is an activity of the municipality which is celebrated the grandest and the longest, usually lasting up to two weeks. This mainly celebrates the founding anniversary of Pinamalayan and is held during April of every year. This is a major attraction of the municipality, since people from neighboring municipalities also flock to this area because of the said activity. Street dancing, pageants, and singing contests are just some of the activities that people look forward to. Table below presents the various cultural and tourism activities of the municipality

As displayed by Table below, visitor arrivals in Pinamalayan has increased gradually from 2016. There were a total of 7,488 visitors in the municipality, 169 of whom are foreigners. While most of these tourists are of domestic origin, there is already a considerable number of visitors from other countries. Most of the foreign visitors are American, Chinese, Korean and German.

Regarding the tourist arrivals on a temporal basis, most visitors arrive in Pinamalayan during the fourth quarter. Based on Table below, the number of visitors in the fourth quarter of 2018 reached 2,722 and the most number of visitor arrivals were during the month of April, reaching a number of 1,482.

Pinamalayan still has to work towards the proper documentation of its visitors, particularly on where these visitors commonly go. The cooperation of tourist establishments, whether these are managed by private or public sectors, and the municipality should be strengthened to be able to properly make an inventory of tourist arrivals in the years to come, especially with the expanding tourism market.