Socioeconomic Characterization of a Southern Philippine City, before 1898-2015: A Historical Perspective

The socio-economic characteristics of a city unfolded from its past can help policymakers understand its socio-economic trend and devise plans for its development. This paper focused on documenting and characterizing the socio-economic status of Dapitan City, Philippines, briefly before 1898, during the American occupation until the present republic in 2015 by making use of archival methods. Furthermore, interviews with the seven key informants supported and strengthened the data. Over the years, Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte has become greatly dependent on the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), which is the fiscal transfer in the Philippines that serves as the biggest source of operating revenues for the local government units (LGUs) to perform their functions. In its history, the economic conditions of Dapitan improved, albeit slowly if compared to other progressive cities in the country. This rate of transition from a less progressive to a more progressive state can be explained by Dapitan’s natural and historical aura, which is still being preserved and protected. Despite this advantage, the transition depicted in the history of Dapitan did not offer an abundance of economic opportunities that would have catered to the needs of its human resources and eventually helped disadvantaged groups move above the poverty line. Dapitan did not take advantage of becoming the center of a progressive economic structure due to the different paths it took to formulate its concept of progress and modernization. Life in Dapitan is simple as the city is not subject to the rapid process of industrialization. It only attracted a few big business investors that could create more and a variety of jobs.