The 10-Year Maritime Development Plan developed by the Maritime Industry Authority, if pursued with zeal and honestly implemented, would benefit the industry including the country's small islands which remain largely unserviced or underserved by maritime transport up to this day.

Program 3 of the MIDP or the Development of Coastal and Inland Waterways Transport System would unlock the vast potentials of these many islands in the area of maritime tourism, trade, and commerce, among others, that would generate jobs and usher economic activities in these islands, thus alleviating the poverty of most of their people.

One clear example is the island municipality of Concepcion of Romblon. Popularly called Sibale, the island is the smallest and farthest town from the capital town of Romblon province. It is located at the heart of the Philippine archipelago, northwest of Tablas Island, bounded on the north by Mindoro Pass; on the east by Banton Pass; on the west by Mindoro Pass; and on the south by Tablas Strait.

With a land area of 2,020 hectares, Concepcion is a sixth-class municipality composed of nine barangays, belonging to Level 5 in income classification.

The island's topography, owing to its volcanic origins, is rugged, difficult, and mountainous, with only small-sized undulated plains near the coasts identified and designated for residential, commercial, and agricultural uses. There are white-sand beaches and diving sites in many sections of the municipality.

The island population is decreasing since many are leaving to look for jobs or pursue education. Based on the 2020 PSA Census there were 3,561 people, down by 476 from the 2015 PSA population count of 4,037 persons and 874 from the 2010 PSA population count of 4,435 persons.

Fifty-six percent of the island's residents are into agriculture and fishing. There are very limited commercial activities dominated by retail trade (sari-sari store type). Small-scale copra trading exists in almost all of the nine barangays, but industrial activity is nil.

The largest employer in the municipality is the government — the local government unit and the Department of Education. Of the labor force's 1,348 members, only 1,269 are regularly employed.

Concepcion is one of the few islands in the Philippines with a mostly undisturbed natural environment. It lies directly along the breadth and width of the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor which is the center of marine biodiversity in the world. It has very rich fishing grounds — over 70,000 hectares of municipal waters — without a single commercial fishing operator, the reason why poachers infest its maritime territory and unregulated, unreported, and illegal fishing continues unabated.

An island with a unique setting — at the heart of the Philippine archipelago — Concepcion, being an island, has one of the freshest air in the country. Its lungs, the mountain forests, are still verdant.
There are no pollutive agents on the island except for a hundred or so motorcycles and a few wooden outrigger boats with gasoline- or diesel-fueled motors.

Fishing activities are mostly the traditional types, limited to gill nets, hook and line, spears, and the like. There is no commercial fishing operator on the island, thus, the catch or production of fish and other marine products is limited in volume and mostly for home consumption only.

Any excess in fish catch is sold in the local market or exported to the nearby town of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro.

Hence, it is in its marine resources where vast potentials for economic activities lie — ecotourism and fishing. It has quite several dive sites for shipwrecks known among local and foreign divers.

Definitely, a developed maritime transport can change the lives of the people of Concepcion for the better.

In the next issue, we will share about the proposed steel-hulled maritime cargo/passenger vessel project in Concepcion initiated by the Philippine Association of Coastal and Inland Water Ferries Inc. in collaboration with the IMP Shipyard and Port Services.