Brief Profile of the Municipality of Roxas

Roxas is situated in the Western part of the Province of Zamboanga del Norte with a total land area of 27,082 hectares. It is composed of 31 barangays inhabited by 35,939 people comprising 6,808 households based on the 2010 National Statistics Office (NSO) census survey. Females are more dominant ( 20,065 ) than males (17,546). For the 2010 National Statistics Office census survey ,it has a total population of 37,611 with 7,522 households. People in Roxas speak the Cebuano dialect. Also living in the area are Muslims and indigenous people called the Subanen.

This municipality was classified as 5th class municipality, and was re-classified to 2nd class for the CY 2003 due to its realized income, reclassified again as 3rd class municipality last CY 2005 and was recently reclassified as 2nd class municipality on 2009.

The land features of the municipality is generally hilly. Only about one third of the total land area is level ground or flat. Most of the barangays are located on high ground except for six barangays like Dohinob, Upper Irasan, Lower Irasan, Langatian, Piao and Nabilid which are along the coastal area. The municipality is traversed by three wide rivers of Dohinob Daku River, Tangian River and Piao River. The Irasan Creek, Langatian Creek and Minang Creek are three prominent creeks. These rivers and three prominent creeks not only favor the farmers in the cultivation of various crops but also serve as the natural drainage. Along these riverbanks are strips of cultivated level ground.

The main agricultural product of the municipality is coconut. The area planted to coconut is over 60% of the total land area. Aside from coconut, it also produces corn. It ranks second among the major crops grown and produced in the area. Other crops grown are palay, rootcrops, vegetables, fruit trees like mango, lansones, and rubber with coffee, and etc.

Being a coastal municipality, the town has (10) ten kilometers of shoreline stretching from the boundary of Katipunan to the boundary of Manukan. The shallow waters along this shoreline abounds with bangus and prawn fries. The natural depths within the municipal waters especially at the Nabilid area is now developed and constructed with a Municipal port being managed by the Local Government Unit.

The presence of the Municipal Port owned and managed by the Local Government Unit is advantage since it has contributed in terms of economy. Approved ordinance was passed and approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for the control and supervision of Port of Roxas and stevedoring under the LGU as provided in the Philippine Port Authority Code. The LGU has also passed an ordinance fixing the cargo handling tariffs rates and domestic port charges and other port dues and fees. This is contained in the Manual of Operations formulated for the Port of President Manuel A. Roxas, which is considered as a Public Economic Enterprise. Recently, the Port expansion with a roro ramp has completed financed through a loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines. At present, the Municipal Port can accommodate 4 – 5 vessels at the same time. There are also two private ports owned by Oil Companies operating in the municipality at Barangay Nabilid and Lower Irasan.

Pres. M. A. Roxas is a member of the Dapitan-Dipolog-Polanco-Katipunan- (Roxas-Manukan (DDPKaRoMa) Economic Alliance, in which this municipality is considered as the industrial center. A multi-fruit processing plant at the PAIC area is operational and open to all investors. The LGU have shown its improved capacities in developing/managing alliances as manifested their strong support in building the LGU alliance by providing financial and personnel to entrain the operation and strengthen the organization.