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The Region 8 GIS Network in the Philippines - A smart concept to reconcile data, government, and academic institutions

Heidrun Simm
GIS Consultant / German Development Service (DED)
University of the Philippines in the Visayas Tacloban College (UPVTC)
6500 Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines
Tel. +63-53-3258425, +63-53-3218962
Fax +63-53-3219396
Email : simm@mozcom.com, uptclshc@mozcom.com


Introduction
The forests and marine ecosystems in the Philippines are degraded. Only few programs focus on sustainable use of natural resources. The LGUs lack experience to fulfil the tasks that were devolved to them by the Local Government Code in 1991. Apart from the little experience with resource management project implementation, funds are often lacking. Besides that, legislation on the protection of natural resources is hardly enforced.

Data and information, which are needed for resource management programs and projects, can generally be accessed only under substantial expenditure of time, or are not available at all.

Planning is often rather a statement of the current status than a plan for the future. The plans are rather a sketch of the situation, based on data and maps of insufficient quality. If there are plans for the future they often cover only a short period. A sufficient entry of data and an appropriate analysis of the long-term development hardly takes place. An important part for decision making in planning processes would be the appropriate visualization of data as maps and charts, but that is often replaced by descriptions in text format. Many LGUs and government agencies have a demand to solve those problems through external support and training of their personnel.

Brief History and Objectives of the Region 8 GIS Network
Being aware of those problems, the University of the Philippines in the Visayas Tacloban College (UPVTC) decided to support LGUs with data and GIS services at reasonable cost. The idea was to provide data by setting up a Regional Environmental Information System (REIS) and offer related GIS services.

After a short time it was learned that a certain part of the data needed by LGUs, especially for Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) is provided as hardcopies by Government Line Agencies. Those data are often of insufficient quality and it is a major problem to combine information of maps from different sources. So it became clear that UPVTC would not be able to be the clearinghouse for the whole region and fill the gaps by gathering primary data, but could support the Government Line Agencies to improve the quality of their respective data.

Through consultative meetings and workshops, UPVTC initiated the discussion about data availability and quality, the demand for capability building and information exchange amongst Government Line Agencies, Provincial Governments and academic institutions. As a result of those meetings the Region 8 GIS Network was launched in March 2001 with 18 member institutions through the ratification of a Memorandum of Understanding.

The Network is composed of
  • 5 Local Government Units (LGUs): the Provincial Governments of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, the City of Tacloban,
  • 7 Government Line Agencies of Region VIII: BFAR – Bureau of Fisheries &? Aquatic Resources
    DA – Department of Agriculture
    DAR – Department of Agrarian Reform
    DENR – Department of Environment and Natural Resources
    DILG – Department of Interior and Local Governance
    DOST – Department of Science and Technology
    NEDA – National Economic Development Authority
  • 6 Academic Institutions: ESSC – Eastern Samar State College
    LSU – Leyte State University
    NIT – Naval Institute of Technology
    SLSCST – Southern Leyte State College of Science and Technology
    UEP – University of the Eastern Philippines
    UPVTC – University of the Philippines in the Visayas Tacloban College     UPVTC functions as Network Secretariat
The Network members are spread all over the provinces of Region VIII. Ten of them are located in the regional (and provincial) capital, Tacloban City. Another eight members are mainly located in the provincial capitals.


Objectives of the Region 8 GIS Network are
  • To create a meta data base catalogue,
  • To develop mechanism to improve accessibility of data,
  • To link GIS facilities by promoting cooperation and data exchange between member institutions,
  • To formulate mechanisms to standardize methods for data collection and processing for GIS applications,
  • To strengthen data and information management in Region VIII,
  • To assist needs of network members in developing programs and projects for sustainable development of Region VIII,
  • Develop a core group of trainers who will extend assistance to network members,
  • To develop qualified GIS manpower,
  • Forge linkages with international and national research organisations to enhance the network’s sources and data, and
  • To help promote adoption of GIS in academic courses at State Colleges and Universities
Brief Profile of Region VIII
Region VIII, also named the Eastern Visayas (21,430 km2) covers in particular the main islands Samar, Leyte, and Biliran, and innumerable small islands. Samar (13,430 km2) and Leyte (7,450 km2) rank among the 11 largest islands of the Philippines (300,000 km2). Geographically the area stretches from 10° to 12° 45’ northern latitude and from 124° 15' to 126° eastern longitude. An extensive mountain massif shapes the landscape in the north of Samar. A mountain range stretches from the north to the south, just like on Leyte Island. The highest mountains reach elevations of 870m and 1450m on Samar and Leyte, respectively. Volcanic mountains up to 1280m characterize Biliran’s appearance.

The administrative unit Region VIII consists of 6 provinces, 4 cities, 144 municipalities and almost 4,000 barangays. The 4 cities and 123 municipalities are situated along the coast, only 21 municipalities are 'inland municipalities'.

According to the Census 2000 the population in the Eastern Visayas amounts to 3.6 million and grows at an average of 1.62% (Philippines: 75.33 million, growth rate 2.35%). On Leyte the population amounts to 1.93million, on Samar to 1.52 million, and on Biliran to 140.000.

The most important land traffic route through Region VIII, the Maharlika Highway, connects Luzon and Mindanao (two short ferryboat trips) and extends from the north of Samar to the south of Leyte. Part of the highway is the longest bridge of Asia (2.16 km), the San Juanico Bridge, which spans the strait between Samar and Leyte in proximity of Tacloban, the provincial capital (179.000 inhabitants). Other main traffic routes, which run along the coasts, are concreted and to a large extent well passable. Additionally the east and west coasts of Samar, Leyte and Biliran, respectively, are connected by mountain roads.

Persisting volcanic activity on the west coast of Leyte is utilized by a geothermal power station in the proximity of Ormoc City. Ormoc City, the fastest developing city in the region, enjoys a favorable land and sea traffic position and faces Cebu Island, with Cebu City as the second largest city of the Philippines. . Isabel, in the northwest of Leyte, is the industrial center of the province (copper).

Tacloban City’s small and aging seaport is enclosed by the downtown area and only suitable for national sea traffic. But the city has the only airport in Region VIII with daily flights to Manila.

The Region depends mainly on agricultural production. The entire agricultural area stretches over 975,000 hectares, of which approximately 680,000 hectares are covered with coconuts and 185.000 hectares with rice. Region VIII produces the majority of the Philippine abaca export. Vegetables and fruits are produced in minor quantities, and the Region depends on imports from other islands.

More than 70% of the population live in rural areas. 40% of the families live under the poverty line. The average household size amounts to 5 persons. 40 % of the population are younger than 15 years. The unemployment rate, according to the Census 2000, is 18%. 30% of the employees are ‘underemployed’.

Status Quo and Future Vision of the Network
As of now, UPVTC assists the member institutions to develop GPS, cartography and GIS capabilities to ensure that the mandated institutions are able to take care of their respective data. On the long run the network members will review and validate their data sets, update them with the support of the Network and exchange it with Network members in digital format.

To be able to compile various sets of maps for analysis in the future, the Network members agreed on one common base map for Region VIII. Therefore the Network cooperates with the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) to convert the analog Topographic Maps (scale 1:50,000) of NAMRIA into digital format. Other activities include the establishment of an online meta-data-base catalogue, and the identification of data requirement and collection priorities.

One of the major goals of the Network for the future is to contribute to a sustainable development of the region by providing access to reliable information in every province through the academic member institutions and the Provincial Governments.

Results and Conclusion
In the era of Information Technology, GIS seems to be the keyword to provide information for planning and resource management. GIS is of course a useful tool but it is not necessarily the appropriate tool for small municipalities with lack of finances.

Data gathering, encoding and maintenance is the most expensive part of a GIS. By sharing the efforts and cost of data collection, verification and conversion from analog to digital, and exchange of data in a network, it is possible to make access to reliable data easier and more affordable. Moreover it provides academic institutions the chance to offer GIS services to municipalities, NGOs and others at reasonable cost.

The academic institutions play a key role as training institutions and GIS service providers within their respective provinces. Unlike LGUs, they are not affected by elections, which frequently result in major changes of politics and personnel. Academic institutions offer the ideal environment to store, process, and analyze data, and sustain the data exchange within the region on the long run.

The academic institutions train LGUs in field surveying with GPS and data visualization. At the same time they provide the LGUs with an accurate base map and all the basic information from Government Line Agencies and research data of the academe, which needs to be considered in planning processes, like statistics, resources and e.g. information on protected areas. In exchange the municipalities provide the academic institutions with their field survey data, which is processed with GIS and the result returned to the LGUs. The information becomes part of the data pool of the respective academic institution of the particular province. As a network member, the academic institution shares those data with the other members, so that the information as part of the network information system, finally is accessible region wide within the network but also for external institutions.