The Philippines as an archipelago is made up of many islands. Most of these islands are characterized as small, isolated, marginalized and remote. Because of these characteristics, their existence are determined by other islands, sea and the mainland near these islands. But studies that focus on archipelagos and the interaction between and among islands in an archipelago are lacking. This study aims to contribute to this emerging discussion by determining the geo-social interactions of small islands in the Naranjo Group of Islands.

Small island dwellers in the Philippines have normally limited resources. To be able to survive, they need to have reliable and available transportation to get their resources like food, goods and services. In this study, the spatial accessibility of San Vicente, Northern Samar, an archipelagic municipality with seven small islands, was determined  by creating a Small Island Spatial Accessibility Index (SISAI). A survey and focus group discussion were also conducted to the households living in the seven small islands. Results of the study show that the islands are inaccessible when there are big waves brought about by bad weather as the boats used are not safe due to low maintenance and erratic transportation schedules. Because of this, households need to store daily necessities. Government and the business sector are urged to provide the much needed storage facilities in these islands. Provision of sea ambulances would facilitate the transport of people, goods and services between and among the islands.

Read the full paper: https://jmic.online/issues/v12n1/4/