Island-mainland nexus: the case of the coastal livelihood of Tingloy Island and the southwestern portion of Batangas, Philippines

Abstract

This research explored the natural resources available to the island municipality of Tingloy, Batangas. It looks at fisheries as the economic resource of an island and how this activity is linked in with the larger economic context of the mainland. Tingloy is a rural settlement the livelihood of which is dependent on fishing and its spatio-economic links with the mainland through fisheries. Fishing is the subsistence economy of Tingloy, with the surplus exported to the mainland. However, a fishery product flow analyses showed that the fishermen of Tingloy are marginalized by the disproportionate distribution of the income in favour of middlemen and fish dealers. Support facilities (such as ports, cold storage, processing units, trading posts, etc.) to further improve the local economy of the island is limited and must be upgraded. Also, transport facilities and other infrastructures to assure the integration of the local-regional economic function of the island municipality must be carefully crafted. Interventions to further improve the local economic condition of the island and its integration with that of the mainland are directed towards improved institutional arrangements, stricter implementation of existing local ordinances, and regional development planning that would take a holistic view and consider the vast resource base of the local government units.