Capiz

Overview
Dubbed as the “Seafood Capital of the Philippines”, Capiz boasts of its 80-kilometer coastline and wide expanse of swampy lands easily converted into fishponds.

It holds one of the richest fishing grounds and a major contributor in the aquamarine industry.

A place full of enchantment and mystery, several legends and beliefs claim stories to which the name “Capiz” originated. More popular of these is that it comes from the word “Kapid” (which means twin).

When Spaniards settled in the place they found difficulty in pronouncing the name Kapid, thus giving birth to the word “Capiz”. Still, some old folks claimed that Capiz got its name from “Kapis” a shell of the mollusk family that is very much abundant in the place.

Capiz is one of the provinces comprising the Western Visayas Region. The province is blessed with a very rich fishing grounds that made it popular as the Seafood Capital of the Philippines. Farming and fishing are the primary sources of income of the people. Apart from a surplus of agricultural products it generates every year, Capiz is also the country’s major suppliers of prawn and bangus.

Geography
The Province of Capiz occupies a land area of 2,633 square kilometers, representing 21% of the total land area of Panay. It is composed of 16 municipalities and a city with a total of 472 barangays.

Political Subdivisions
The province is composed of 16 municipalities comprising 473 barangays. It is divided into two political districts: 1st District covers the municipalities of Maayon, Panay, Panitan, Pilar, Pontevedra, Pres. Roxas, and Roxas City; while the 2nd District covers the municipalities of Cuartero, Dao, Dumalag, Dumarao, Ivisan, Jamindan, Sapi-an, Mambusao, Sigma, and Tapaz.

Population
As of the year 2000 survey, Capiz has a population of 654,156.

Language
Hiligaynon is the dominant dialect spoken in the province.

Climate
The province has a 3rd type of climate, seasonal changes are not pronounced. Relatively dry from November to April and wet from May to October.

Trade and Industry
The even distribution of rainfall throughout the year and the infrequent occurrence of typhoons make the province highly suitable for agriculture, aquaculture, and other related activities – which explains why these are major industries of the province.

Farms for orchids, various ornamental plants, and different varieties of heliconia supply a thriving cut-flower business that is carving a market niche in Southern Philippine provinces.

The land has also proven to be good grazing ground for cattle and for raising swine, goats, and poultry. Its long coastal areas abound with “kapis” shells, which are used in the manufacture of exportable novelty items.

Numerous home and cottage industries amply augment household incomes, among which are poultry, livestock raising, handicraft, shell-craft, ceramics, lime processing, garments, farm-tool fabrication, furniture and boat making.

The even distribution of rainfall throughout the year makes the province highly suitable for agriculture and aquaculture industries. Capiz is also the biggest rice and corn producer in the region.

Its waters teem with the best gifts of the sea -- blue marlin, tuna, prawns and shrimps, crabs, eel, shellfish and other marine species. Prawn and milkfish are also cultured in fishponds.

Agriculture and fishing dominate the economy of Capiz. Palay, corn sugar cane and coconut are the main crops of the province. The coastal waters of Capiz constitute one of the richest fishing grounds in the Western Visayas. Fishponds abound with a total area of 20,000 hectares.
The combined catch of aquamarine products make Capiz one of the major producers and suppliers of milkfish, crabs, shrimps and prawns. The industry sector includes manufacturing of garments, furniture-making, bakery and processed foods, handicrafts and shellcrafts, and processing activities such as food, oysters, mussels, fish and prawn processing.

As the Garden Capital of Northern Panay, Capiz farms grow orchids, various ornamental plants and flowers that supply a thriving cut-flower business. Different varieties of heliconia supply a thriving cut-flower business that is carving a market niche in Southern Philippine provinces.

The province has total exports of 1,671,637. There are mostly frozen prawns, crab meat and clams canned oysters and mussels, gifts and housewares, horticultural products and electronics. Export markets of these products are Europe, USA, Japan, Singapore, Canada and South Africa.

History
Legends have it that the name of Capiz came from Akean and Kapid (meaning -"twin") which Balingagan, Datu Bangkaya's eldest son, named his "sakups" (territories) in honor of his twin daughters "Bulan and Adlaw" (Moon and Sun).

Another version was based on the story that when the Spaniards came to settle it was the time when the wife of Bangkaya (head of the Aklan District then) gave birth to twin daughters. Twin in the local dialect is "kapid" but the settling Spaniards adopted the name of "Capiz" either due to their difficulty in pronouncing the "d" in "kapid" or as inadvertently miscommunicated to them by the natives.

Still, some old folks believed that Capiz got it's name from "Kapiz" or "pios" (a shell in the mollusk family) which were found in abundance at the time. Centuries before the coming of the Spaniards to the country, Capiz was one of the early settlements of the Malays. It formed part of the Confederation of Madya-as after the purchase of Panay Island by the Bornean Datus from the Negrito King Marikudo.

Panay was divided into three major districts and the Aklan District that included Capiz was formally formed in 1223. Later, Datu Kalantiao, heading the Madya-as Confederation and as chief of Panay Island, promulgated the famous code of Kalantiao sometime in 1433. In the Spanish era, Capiz became the second Spanish settlement in the Philippines when the Spaniards, under the Miguel Lopez de Legaspi entered Pan-ay, a town of Capiz, in 1569. May 8, 1570 marked the conquest of Panay and consequently the district of Aklan under the leadership of Martin de Gotti.

Capiz was created into a separate "encomienda" and later was organized into a politico-military province in 1716, emracing the neighboring islands of Romblon, Nuestra de Campo, Tablas and Sibuyan.

Capiz, was not the capital of the province but the town of Pan-ay. However, when the Spanish discovered that Capiz is near the sea and had better docking facilities for their galleons, they moved the capital to its present site. The Americans established a civil government on April 15, 1901. Simplicio Jugo Vidal was appointed by William Howard Taft as first Municipal President.

On May 12, 1951, the town of Capiz was converted into the City of Roxas, named after one of its' most illustrious and famous son -- the late First President of the Philippine Republic Manuel Acuña Roxas. In 1954, by virtue of the R.A. 1414, Aklan was separated from Capiz and made into a distinct province.

Investment Opportunities
Product

Holticulture
The Capiz holticulture industry is composed 156 producers. total land area planted as of 2000 is 60 hectares.

The products and services of the industry includes cutflowers, pot plants, cutting, cutfoliage, landscaping materials non-soil rooting media, processed ornamentals, floral arrangement services, landscaping services.

Some of the flowers used as orchids, anthuriums, chrysanthemums, various ornamental plants, and different varieties of heliconia.

Key players
14 major players, 7 of them are direct exporters
Market
Domestic
Opportunities
Direct supplier of nets, fertilizers and chemicals
Technology provider on the following areas:
R & D on orchid tissue culture
Appropriate potting medium requirement
Manufacturers/suppliers of vases, plant holder, flower baskets, decorative jars