ABSTRACT
The Philippines is an archipelagic country comprising about 7100 islands located in the western Pacific ocean in South-East Asia with an estimated land mass of about 300,000 sq km (Symaco 2013a). The diverse geographical-geologic features of the country can be seen through the country’s congested cities to rural paddy fields not far away, and from open seas to remote mountainous terrains. The country consists of three main island groups: the north-most ‘Luzon’, where the capital Manila is located; the scattered ‘Visayas’ group; and the southern part of the country, Mindanao, with many small and medium islands on the fringes. With a population of about 96 million (projected for 2012), the Philippines has, in total: 17 regions (all consisting of ‘member’ provinces); 140 cities; 80 provinces in the said regions; 1494 municipalities and 42,026 barangays or local councils (NSCB 2012). The National Capital Region (NCR), where the country’s capital Manila is found, with a land area of 636 sq km houses about 12% of the country’s population (i.e. about 12 million).
