Benguet State University
College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Social Sciences
La Trinidad, Benguet
In partial Fulfillment
Of the
Requirements for
Philippine Geography and Natural Resources
REGION 7
(Central Visayas)
Submitted By:
Degan, Angeli
Pacio, Romnick
Quines, Johnrey
Taguibos, Madelyn
Date:
October 08, 2015
I. Physical Geography
The territory of Central Visayas is engulfed within the borders of the Visayan sea on
the North, Bohal Sea on the South, Leyte on the East and Negros Occidental on the
West. It has a total land area of 23,231.4 square kilometers which accounts for 6.8
percent of the country`s land area. The region has six provinces, one independent city
and one highly urbanized city namely, Biliran, leyete, Northern Samar, Samar,
Silangang amar, Southern Leyte, Ormoc and Tacloban. The region demarcates the
territory occupied by the native speakers of Cebuano. The regional capital is Cebu City.
As a whole, the region is hilly and mountainous. The famous Chocolate Hills looks
like mounds of chocolate in the summer. Mt. Bolinsasayao and Kanlaon Volcano are but
two of the mountains and volcanoes. The region`s terrain is characterized by highlands
with narrow coastal strips of arable land. Bohol, however, has a level of plateau upon
which its agricultural areas are concentrated.
Central Visayas has no pronounced climate. It has a short dry season from
March to May. The rest of the year is relatively wet. There are two types of climate
prevailing in the region under the corona system of classification: Type II and Type IV.
Type II climate is characterized by having no dry season but a pronounced maximum
rainfall from November to January. Samar Island and the eastern part of Leyte fall under
this type of climate. Type Iv on the other hand has an even distribution of rainfall the
year round and a short period of dry season that can be observed starting February up
to May. This type of climate is well exhibited at the Western half of Leyte and some
portion of Samar which covers the municipality of Motiong up to San Isidro of Northern
Samar.
II. Human Geography
Central Visayas is termed as the “Perennial Trade Hub”, mainly because it has
been a trade hub since the Spanish era. This is due to the strategic location of
Cebu, a province in Central Visayas. Cebu is at the “center” of the Philippines
making it an ideal spot for commodity distribution by sea or air.
Cental Visayas has also numerous airports and several excellent ports.
The main airport is the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which is in Metro
Cebu. There are also airports in Dumaguete (in Sibulan town), and in Tagbilaran.
Tagbilaran airport is serviced by Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines which flies
only to Manila. Dumaguete is served by Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific, both of
them flying only to Manila. The Port of Cebu is the region's main gateway to
Manila, Bohol, Leyte, Panay Island and Mindanao. There are also ports in
Dumaguete in Negros Oriental, Tagbilaran in Bohol and Larena in Siquijor. Interisland shipping is served by numerous shipping lines, two of them fast craft
companies which serve all the provinces in the region.
Further, due to its numerous international linkages (which is greater that
Manila), the region, particularly the province of Cebu became the center of
commerce in the Southern part of the Philippines. Moreover, several multinational companies have been encouraged to base their operations in Cebu in
various industries ranging from business process
outsourcing to pharmaceuticals to electronics. Among them are Mitsumi
Electric, Pentax, FMC Corporation, Fairchild Semiconductor, Tsuneshi
Heavy Industries, Muramoto Audio-Visual, Lexmark
International, Teradyne, NEC Technologies, Timex, Olympus
Optical, United Technologies, Maitland-Smith and Taiyo Yuden.
The increasing foreign and local investments in Cebu had paved the way
to the more increased economic development of Visayas through tourism.
Tourists, both local and foreign, flock in the region to see the exotic beauty and
experience the hospitality of the Visayans. Among the popular destinations in the
region are the Shrine of Magellan’s Cross in Cebu and the Chocolate Hills of
Bohol.
It is also important to note the abundant mineral resources of Central Visayas, which
is in fact one of the revenue resources of Central Visayas. These include silver,
manganese, copper, gold, limestone, clay, silica and coal. These rich mineral resources
have contributed to the economic growth of the region.
Another significant and major contributor of the economic development of Central
Visayas is agriculture and fishing. The farmlands are concentrated in the central interior,
which is plateau (Bohol). On the other hand, the fishing grounds are located on the
waters surrounding the island provinces of the region.
The numerous economic activities in Central Visayas which includes industrial,
agricultural and tourism have made them to be the fifth largest regional economy in the
country. According to data from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA
7), Central Visayas ranked 4th in terms of regional share to GDP in 2013. CV’s GRDP
growth rate of 7.4% in 2013 was higher than the national growth rate of 7.2%. CV is 3rd
highest contributor to the growth of the national economy in 2013.
Below is the graph illustrating the over-all economic activities of Central Visayas
The blessed land of Central Visayas is predominantly inhabited by an ethno
linguistic group known as Cebuanos. Cebuanos’ language is termed Cebuano; and it
is widely spoken in all provinces of the region. Ethnic groups from Cebuano
speakers from Cebu is called "Cebuano", Cebuano speaker from Bohol is refer to
"Bol-anon". The native speakers of Cebuano are predominantly referred to as the
Bisaya or the Binisaya. The total population of Central Visayas by on 2014 is 6.7
million. This makes them one of the most populous regions in the Philippines.
III. Issue
Robust growth is seen for the Central Visayas despite the Bohol earthquake that
happened last October, 2013.
The 2013 Bohol earthquake occurred on October 15 at 8:12 a.m. According to
official reports by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council (NDRRMC), 222 were reported dead, 8 were missing, and 976 people were
injured. In all, more than 73,000 structures were damaged, of which more than 14,500
were totally destroyed. A building at the Tagbilaran Port Terminal and a ceiling of the
second floor and the airport tower of Tagbilaran Airport in Tagbilaran collapsed. Loboc
Church, Loon Church and Maribojoc Church collapsed; the façade of Baclayon
Church and its bell tower were totally damaged. Other churches, including those
in Loay, Dauis, Dimiao, and Tubigon were also severely damaged. In Carmen, a
freestanding bell tower and an observation deck in the island's renowned Chocolate
Hills were destroyed, with some hills themselves damaged by landslides. Several
government buildings and numerous schools in the province were also partially or totally
damaged, including the municipal halls of twelve towns.
Despite these, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7 assistant
regional director Efren B. Carreon explained that the industries driving the region’s
economy continue to perform very well. The growth rate is attainable since Central
Visayas already has momentum from its good economic performance in the last three
years when it had consistently been one of the country’s top three performing regions.
There is also a continued tourism growth because the effect of the earthquake was
minimal. Many heritage and tourism as well as public structures in Bohol suffered
varying degrees of damage but the province was able to quickly resume tours to its
destinations. On the other hand, super typhoon Yolanda’s destruction was seen more in
agriculture rather than the tourism industry in Central Visayas (Efren B. Carreon).
Resources:
http://rfu07.da.gov.ph/index.php/component/content/category/14-home
http://www.etravelpilipinas.com/about_philippines/region7_central_visayas.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Visayas#Climate
http://hdn.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/DP_14_MO.pdf
Wikipedia. Retrieved from: http://wikitravel.org/en/Central_Visayas
Wikipedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Cebu#Economy
DTI- Philippines. retrieved from: http://www.dti.gov.ph/rog/index.php/region01regionalprofile-7
Sagandoy, Tecah. Basic Geography: Chapter 7: Retrieved from:
http://tecsonline.weebly.com/basicgeography.html
http://cebu.businessguide.ph/central-visayas-growth-earthquake-typhoon/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Bohol_earthquake