Pangapasan

Pangapasan Island

Maximum elevation above water: + 2.24 m
Land area:  2 ha
Reef flat area: 63  ha
Population (2015): 621
Households (2015): 130
Households with income below poverty threshold (2015): 34 %
Median height of tidal flooding (2016): + 20.5cm
Number of flooded days per year  (2016): 44 days

Pangapasan island lies closest to the mainland and is therefore easily accessible. However, it is also located close to a local nautical highway, where large ferries pass every hour on the way to/from the Province of Cebu. These ferries pose a problem for Pangapasan, as they create large waves that can be destructive to coastal infrastructure located along the shoreline that is nearest to the nautical highway. To address this problem, Pangapasan, with the help of the Municipal Government of Tubigon, recently raised relevant footpath areas that are envisioned to also serve as seawalls – especially as their repeated appeals to ferry companies to reduce their speed while passing by the island have fallen into deaf ears.

This peculiar problem demonstrates the need to mainstream adaptation into the activities of a wide variety of stakeholders, especially those whose actions directly or indirectly create negative consequences for the islands.