Port Contribution to the Calapan City Development in the Province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

The study assessed the extent of port contribution to the Calapan City development in the province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. It used descriptive research designed and involved 20 arrastre and PPA personnel, 5 ship managers, 10 truckers and 15 passengers who were purposively selected, came from Calapan City, represented significant contribution specifically using the port and could give knowledgeable information on port activities. It also utilized open-ended questionnaire and unstructured interviews. The study found out that Calapan City Port contributed to the development of the city in terms of agriculture and trade and industry to a very high extent. However, Calapan Port only contributed to the development of Calapan City in terms of tourism, education, health finance and power/energy and telecommunication only to a high extent. An accounted data on inbound and outbound of products, commodities and people who make use of the port for socio-economic functions should be presented with due concern to the city government of Calapan so that a combined effort for further improvements of key areas should be undertaken jointly by Philippines Port Authority and the city’s concerned agencies. A further and deeper study with due consideration of other Philippines Port Authority (PPA) – managed ports in Oriental Mindoro which cover various variables as contributions of local government units to port development, needed services by port users and PPA’s organizational climate and culture should be undertaken by future researchers.

Keywords – port contribution, socio-economic development, port users, descriptive research and qualitative analysis