PROFILE OF CARAGA
Caraga is an administrative region of the Philippines, on the northeastern portion of the island of Mindanao, designated as Region XIII. The Caraga Region was created through Republic Act No. 7901 on February 23, 1995. The region is composed of five provinces: Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and the Province of Dinagat Islands; six cities: Bayugan, Butuan, Cabadbaran, Surigao, Tandag, Bislig; 67 municipalities and 1,311 barangays. Butuan City is the regional center.
The region has a total land area of 18,846.97 km². This represents 6.3% of the country’s total land area and 18.5% of the island of Mindanao. Further, 47.6% of the total land area of the region belongs to the province of Agusan del Sur. Of the total land area, 70.00% is forestland and 30.00% is alienable and disposable land. Major land uses include forestland comprising 31.36% and 23.98% of agricultural and open spaces.
Caraga is bordered, clockwise from the North, by the Surigao Strait, Leyte Gulf, Philippine Sea, Davao Region, Northern Mindanao, Butuan Bay, and the Bohol Sea.
The region shared 1.6% to the national GDP of 2020 with its major industries being Fishery and Aquaculture, Agriculture, Mining Industry, Ecotourism, and Agro-Forestry. For 2022, Caraga aims to be the Fishery, Agro-forestry, Mineral and Eco-tourism (FAME) Center of the Philippines.
Economy
Caraga faced economic challenges in 2020 because of the COVID-19 restrictions, as well as natural calamities that hit the region. Because of this, there was a significant decrease in production noted in various industries. Nevertheless, there is a trend of increase during the last quarter of 2021 with a 17.99% increase in Caraga’s fisheries production, 448.25% for palay production, 31.95% for corn, and a 5.87% increase for poultry.
Increase in the last quarter of 2021 was also observed in enterprises with 1,818 new business name registrations in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, a total of 22, 422 businesses have been established in the region. These are under the care of DTI-Caraga, and classified into four categories: Micro, Small, Medium, and Large, as follow:
Category | Number of Establishments as of 2021 |
Micro (1-9 total employees) | 20,687 |
Small (10-99 total employees) | 1,622 |
Medium (100-199 total employees) | 62 |
Large (200 and over total employees) | 51 |
Exports and Investments
With the 2021 Regional share to total Philippine exports, the export growth rate of Caraga was 84%39%, and -6% in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. Based on international trade data from PSA, the following are the top exports from the region:
Products | Province | Product Annual Export Values (2019) |
Fish and Crustaceans, Molluscs and Other Aquatic Invertebrates | Agusan del Norte | Php 1,000,000 |
Fish, Octopus, Ornamental Fish, Crabs, Shrimps, Prawns, other crustaceans | Surigao del Norte | Php 773,000 |
Fish, Yellowfin Tuna, Eels, Ornamental Fish, Crabs, other crustaceans | Surigao del Sur | Php 559,000 |
Preferred investments for particular provinces in Caraga are also pointed out:
Agusan del Norte | Agusan del Sur | Surigao del Norte | Surigao del Sur | Province of Dinagat Islands |
Wood – Agro – Forestry | Palm Oil – plantation, expansion, rehabilitation and processing plants | Eco – Tourism IN Siargao and Bucas Grande Islands | Coffee production and processing | Eco – Tourism |
Aquamarine – Bangus production and processing- Nasipit, Buenavista, Cabadbaran City -Sardines processing- Buenavista | Wood – Agro Forestry | Aquamarine Culture Facility in Surigao City and Mainland, SDN – Siganid (high value), bangus and lobster | Wood – Agro Forestry | Aquamarine – Lobster, Bangus, Crab |
Fruit processing for banana and mango- Carmen, Tubay Banana processing plant- Santiago | Rubber – production of motorcycle tires | cacao – Bean production and tableya processing | Cacao production and processing | Cacao – production of processed products made from cacao (tablea, chocolates) |
Cacao- Chocolate processing- Nasipit, RTR, Tubay | Coconut – production of cooking / vegetable oil | Bamboo Processing Facility in Siargao | Abaca fiber production and handicrafts | Coconut – production of VCO |
Coffee- coffee production- Buenavista, Santiago, Butuan City | Coffee | Banana production and processing | ||
Coconut- Integrated coconut – Jabonga | Coconut production and processing | |||
Abaca- Abaca handicraft production- RTR, Cabadbaran City Abaca fiber processing- Santiago, Cabdabran City | Aquamarine production and processing | |||
Food processing- Kitcharao | Food processing | |||
Bamboo production and processing |