PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
1407
The bulk of overseas shipments are made from the port of Manila, although other smaller ports also have direct connections with foreign ports. The most important of these are Cebu, Iloilo and Zamboanga. These and the other smaller ports now open to foreign trade are growing in importance. They possess good harbour facilities, are well protected from storms, and vessels drawing 30 feet or more can load and unload alongsids their wharves with perfect safety. During 1921, 871 foreign vessels with an aggregate net tonnage of 2,646,455 tons entered the Islands, while 888 vessels with an aggregate net tonnage of 2,727,379 were cleared for foreign ports. This is an increase over the year 1919 of 300 vessels, or 1,955,984 tons, in total entrances and clearances. Nine hundred and twenty-five inter island vessels are now operated in the coastwise trade of the Philippines.
Manila, the capital and chief port of the Islands, is on the largest and finest bay in the Orient. The harbour at the entrance of this bay is landlocked. The anchorage space for steamers is protected by a semi-circular breakwater within which is a basin large enough to accommodate all vessels of the size of the "Empress" liners. To-day three piers project into the harbour, one is nearing completion, and still another is being projected. Regular steamship lines are maintained between Manila and H ngkong, Amoy, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Cadiz and Australian ports.
There are at present 1,225 kilometres of railroad car-lines in the Philippines. They are owned by two companies the Manila Railroad Company, which is owned by the Government; and the Philippine Railway Company, which will soon be purchased by the Government. About 100 kilometres of railroad are under construc- tion. In Manila and in the province of Rizal, electric car service is maintained by the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company, the total extent of its lines being 94.66 kilometres.
Next in importance to railways in the domestic transportation of the Islands are motor vehicles. Many private individuals and companies authorized by the Public Utility Commission are engaged in land transportation both for passengers and freight.
The construction of good roads open to all kinds of traffic in different parts of the Islands has been properly attended to by the Philippine Government during the past 20 years. Throughout nearly the last decade, the Philippine Government has spent on an average P6,800,000 a year for the construction of roads and bridges. In 1919, nearly P13,000,000 was appropriated for this purpose. The total extension of first-class, second-class, and third-class roads in the Islands increased from nearly 5,600 kilometres in 1910 to 10,000 kilometres in 1922. The mileage of roads rated as first-class is 3,020 miles.
There are at present two cable lines and one radio communication service in operation between the Philippines and foreign countries. The increased need for better and more extensive facilities for internal communication has been met by the rapid extension of telegraph and telephone lines, submarine cables, radio system and mail service.
Experiments have been made recently with aviation as a factor in the mail and passenger service, both domestic and foreign.
COMMERCE
The growth of Philippine commerce during the last ten years is shown in the following table of comparison:-
Exports
Total Trade
1912..
Imports P123,335,802
P 109,846,000
P233,182,402
1913...
10%,625,572
95,545,912
202,171,484
1914...
97,177,306
97,379,268
194,556,574
1915...
98,624,367
107,626,008
206,250,375
1916.....
90,992,675
139,874,365
230,867,040
1917..
131,594,061
191,208,613
322,802,67€
1918...
197,198,423
270,388,964
467,587,387
1919...
237,278,104
226,235,652
463,513,756
1920.
298,876,565
302,247,711
601,124,276
1921...
231,677,148
176,230,645
407,907,793
45*