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MACRO SITE ANALYSIS – ALBAY PROVINCE
PHYSICAL PROFILE
Capital: Legazpi City Land Area: 2,552.06 km² Population: 1,233, Cities: Legazpi City, Ligao City, Tabaco City Number of Towns: 15 Albay has a total land area of 2,552.6 square kilometers, which makes it the 26th smallest province. Most of Albay is located on mainland Bicol Peninsula and it has four major islands to the east: Rapu-Rapu, Batan, Cagraray, and San Miguel. Lagonoy Gulf borders the province to the northeast, separating it from the province of Catanduanes. Burias Island in the province Masbate can be found to the southwest across Burias Pass. The province is generally mountainous with scattered fertile plains and valleys. Mayon Volcano, standing at around 2460 meters, is the most famous landform in Albay, and in the whole of Bicol, in fact. This active volcano is nearly perfectly-shaped and is considered by many to be more beautiful than Mt. Fuji in Japan. Other mountains and volcanoes in the province are Catburawan, Masaraga, Malinao, and Pantao.
CLIMATE
Albay's climate is classified as tropical. The rainfall in Albay is significant, with precipitation even during the driest month. The average annual temperature is 23.6 °C. Precipitation averages 2543 mm. The least amount of rainfall occurs in September. The average in this month is 157 mm. In January, the precipitation reaches its peak, with an average of 344 mm. The temperatures are highest on average in April, at around 24.1 °C. At 23.0 °C on average, January is the coldest month of the year. The variation in the precipitation between the driest and wettest months is 187 mm. The variation in annual temperature is around 1.1 °C. CULTURE Bicolano is the primary language spoken in Albay, being a part of the Bicol Region. Majority of the inhabitants also understand Tagalog and English. Down in the Bicol region, Albay remains on a festive spirit as it showcases its cuisine, culture and craft in three different festivals this June. The month-long merry- making begins as quaint town of Camalig puts forward its mouth-watering cuisine in the Pinangat Festival from June 10-25.
Figure 2 ROAD MAP Shipping agents are available in the port and there are 17 third-class tramping vessels TA No. 7122-PHI: Water District Development Sector Project PPTA – FR Vol. 5
- SPAR: LCWD 23 transporting goods and passengers to and from Legazpi City and various points in the Provinces of Albay and Sorsogon. There are also 2 private ports in the City. The Legazpi City Airport is the only trunk line airport in the Bicol Region. It has a concrete runway of 1,974 meters and can accommodate medium-sized planes like the Boeing 737. However, the airport operates only at daytime. It handles 6 flights daily by 2 airline companies, namely: the Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific. Telephone services are handled by Bayantel and Digitel. Both use the SPC- digital system and have a combined capacity of 19,554 connections. In 2006, there were 8,673 fixed connections. Both companies also provide services for telegraph and telex, serve as international gateway facility (IGF) operators, and extend services for international long distance calls. Sun Cellular/Digitel Mobile, Globe Telecom, and Smart Communications, Inc. provide cellular phone services through 7 cell sites located all over the City. In 2006, the City had 19 NTC-accredited mobile phone service centers and 16 NTC-accredited mobile phone dealers or retailers. There were 4 internet service providers with DSL services in the City; these are Digitel, Bayantel, SMART, and PLDT.
Internet cafes grew from 17 in 2001 to 80 in 2006. The Legazpi City Post Office still provides mail service, although it is losing out to competition from private service providers. However, it was still able to post 245,195 letters and deliver 573,642 letters in 2005 —a huge task for 22 letter carriers. There were also 15 AM and FM stations, 3 television stations, and 2 cable televisions in the City in 2006. POWER SUPPLY As of 2006, the entire City was almost covered by electric power. Of the 33, potential household customers of the Albay Electric Cooperative, Incorporated II (ALECO II), 31,348 or 95% were already enjoying the benefits of electric power. The urban barangays were already completely served and only far-flung sitios or puroks were not served. However, electric service left much to be desired as frequent power outages were experienced affecting the normal operation of residents, establishments, and institutions. Also, the high power selling rate of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) to ALECO was an issue which forced consumers to pay high power rates. Looting of power lines, tower parts, and other materials; high systems losses due to pilferage; and low voltage supply affected the ability of ALECO to provide efficient service at reasonable prices. WATER SUPPLY In 2008, 27,067 households out of total of 37,184 households or 72.8% had access to Level III water sources, most of which is provided by the Legazpi City Water District. Another 2,425 households or 6.5% had access to Level II water sources and the remaining 7,692 households or 20.7% had to access Level I water sources. As of 2008 , the Water District had 16,890 active connections. Of these, 15,505 were residential customers, 1,129 were commercial customers, 255 were institutional customers, and only 1 was industrial. In 2006, only 28 percent of the 25 rural barangays were served and given the number of active connections registered by the Water District both in 2006 and 2008, it is likely that modest improvements in this area have been made. Only 607 active residential connections were added from 2006 to 2008.
