Brief Profile of Managopaya, Banate, Iloilo: Feasibility Study on Irrigation

Chapter 1
General Background

1.1 Brief Profile of Managopaya, Banate, Iloilo 1.1.1 Physical Characteristics

The locality of Managopaya, Banate is located at the western part of Visayas and lies at 4th district of the Province of Iloilo. It is bounded in between by the Municipality of Anilao when going to Iloilo City and Municipality of Barotac Viejo when going to Estancia. It has a land area of 667.5 hectares or roughly 5.15 percent of the total land area of the Municipality of Banate. As such it is the smallest barangay in the municipal composing of five (6) sitios namely: Proper, Baclayan, Bubog, Lumboy, Pangalatkaton and Tubod. Sitio Proper serves as the center of various economic activities and site of all government owned offices or building.
Extensive mountain ranges with uneven distribution of plateaus, swamps, and lowlands characterize the barangay’s topography. In terms of soil types, these ranges from loam, clay, sandy, clay loam, sandy loam, or a mixture of any of these, which are evenly distributed in the six (6) sitios of the barangay. These soil types are suitable to any kind of crop whether annual, perennial, or cash crops.

TOPOGRAPIC MAP OF MANAGOPAYA
SOURCE: NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (NIA)

Based on the 2011 Census of Population, the Barangay of Managopaya recorded a population level of 1328. This translates to an annual average growth rate of 0.9 percent for the period 2000-2011. Sitio Proper, being the urban area, registered the most number of people at 363, which is 27.33 percent of the municipality’s total population. This was followed by Sitio Baclayan having a population of 298 or 22.2 percent of the total populationl. The percentage share of the remaining four (4) barangays ranged from 11-15 percent. Consequently, in the most densely populated barangay, there were approximately four (4) people in every hectare of land while in the least densely populated area there would be roughly one (1) person in every hectare of land.
Basically, the municipal population is young with more than half of its populace within the age range of 1-20 years. Out of the total municipal population, 52 percent or 690 were males while 48 percent or 633 were females. The barangay’s current working population (age 15-64) is pegged at 396. This is relatively low considering the high number of economic dependents totaling 932. The population has a total dependency ratio of 70. Most people in Managopaya are largely Ilonggo. There are approximately 1195 people or about 99 percent who speak the dialect fluently. In terms of religious affiliation, 82 percent of the populations are Roman Catholics. 1.1.2 Economic Development

Managopaya has an agricultural area of 467 hectares, which is equivalent to 70 percent or more than half of the barangay’s total land area. Farming is the main source of income owing to the barangay’s basic agricultural features. There is only few banking institution in the area that offers to the demands of the business sector, as well as the needs of the farmers and government employees. It provides agricultural loans to farmers but only a few can avail due to stringent lending requirements and high interest rates. Fruits and other farm products of excellent quality are usually sold to Iloilo City or Passi City because of the high price these commodities command. Residents of Managopaya merely contain themselves with products of inferior quality for their daily consumption requirements. Local traders supplement and assume the role of lending institutions by providing cash advance to small farmers and sugarcane folks during emergencies. The “suki” system is the most prevalent method of conducting business where local trader’s acts as financiers and at the same time control the price of fish, livestock and other farm products. The absence of larger scale establishments further complicate the worsening situation because residents still have to go to Iloilo City to purchase product which are not available in Banate or in Passi City. This means additional burden to the poor especially now that the transportation cost is high.

1.1.3Social Development

There is only one (1) public elementary school. Health services are provided by the Barangay Health Center located in the Proper. It is visited every 2-3 months by a doctor, a nurse, a dentist, a dental aid, and midwife. The barangay’s leading causes of mortality from 2000 to 2011 are cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension, pulmonary tuberculosis, and bronchopneumonia. On the other hand, the leading causes of morbidity are acute respiratory infection, diarrhea, and pulmonary tuberculosis.
The barangay’s crude birth rate is 17.5 per 1,000 populations and its crude death rate is 3.3 per 1,000 populations. Its infant mortality rate is 7.22 per 1,000 populations while maternal mortality rate is 1.8 per 1,000 populations. Based on the 2012 survey on population, there are 285 total of households and 298 total of families. The construction materials used for outer walls of these dwelling units are mostly indigenous products like bamboo, sawali, cogon, and nipa. However, there are also some units that make use of sturdy materials like concrete, brick stones, galvanized iron, aluminum, and hard wood.

1.2 THE PROPOSED UPLAND IRRIGATION THAT COMES FROM WATERFALLS OF MANAGOPAYA, BANATE, ILOILO
Managopaya is largely an upland barangay and majority of its people source their income from their upland agriculture activities. Cognizant of this and the fact that the uplands’ soil fertility is deteriorating due to denudation and prolonged dry spell, the LGU’s priority development agenda is to reverse the situation in the near future. The LGU, at the moment, is fortunate to be part of the foreign-assisted Upland Development Program (UDP). However, due to limited financial resources, upland development activities are also limited. The LGU, thus, would like to harness its potential sources of water to provide farmers the necessary water requirements for their high value crops and be lured to expand their production. This would, at the same time, address the problem of low income of farmers which is a result of low production of crops. Thus, this feasibility study is being prepared for the development of two (2) major potential sources of water for irrigation purposes. Among the barangay’s development strategies is to recover the financial investments for it to be able to replicate the same project or to finance other development projects of the municipality. The LGU also recognizes the fact that, in order for this project to succeed, there is a need to put in place support facilities/activities like a nursery for planting materials, a “bagsakan” center for marketing support, and training to farmers on high-value crops production. In the case of planting materials for high-value crops, the LGU plans to provide these to farmers on a “plant-now-pay later scheme.