Communication:

The Philippine Postal Corporation is the major courier of mails and packages in the municipality. It operates the municipal post office, located inside the municipal building. Private money and mail forwarders also exist such as M. Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier and Palawan Pawnshops also exist in the municipality. It is usually manned by a manager, a teller/cashier, an appraiser and a security guard. The volume of transactions registered (letters, cards, etc.) in these two (2) couriers for the last three (3) years had a total of 111,770 for mails and 7,560 for packages both domestic and international.

Wireless telephone service for domestic and international calls is being provided by the PLDT company aside from the three cellular telephone companies such as Smart Communications, Globe Telecoms and Sun Cellular Company. These companies are wireless internet service providers also. A local land-lined telephone service is provided by the NTC-DOTC telephone exchange.

Transportation:

The municipality of President Roxas is provided with sufficient roads, bridges, utilities system and other infrastructure. The town has a total road length of 54.128 km. that facilitates movement within the municipality and connects President Roxas with other areas of Panay Island.

The mode of transportation in President Roxas is by road. You can use, jeepneys, bus, tricycle, and vans to get in and out of the town.

Wholesale and Retail Trade

Grocery stores, hardware stores, food establishments, tricycle operation and small to medium scale seafood and agricultural products trading and dealerships comprise the major tertiary sector of the local economy in the municipality. The Poblacion is the center of the town’s trade and commerce. It is where almost all types of commercial establishments is located.

The center of commercial activities in President Roxas is the Public market located at Sitio SWA in barangay Poblacion. The market has a total area of 1.5 hectares and accommodates 140 stalls. Thursdays and Sundays are the designated market days in President Roxas. The average annual revenues derived from the operation of the public market is Php 877,628.00.

Electricity

The Capiz Electric Cooperative (CAPELCO) serves the electric power requirement of President Roxas. It is a non-profit, non-stock electric cooperative operating since 1971. At present, all twenty two (22) barangays are served by CAPELCO. However, only 80% of the total 5,787 households are served due to CAPELCO’s limited supply of electric poles, electrical cables and other materials.

Another source of power is the Capiz Sugar Central. CSC provides electricity in the entire sugar mill and other parts of the CSC compound, including the housing units of the employees and staff of the company. However, the electric power is available only during milling season.

Manufacturing

Sugar Industry is the only major manufacturing industry in President Roxas in terms of investment. Raw sugar is manufactured by the Capiz Sugar Central (CSC), Inc. a milling company at the Poblacion along the Alngon River. The mill is presently owned by the la Filipina Uygongco Corporation. It employs 317 workers mostly residents of the municipality. The Capiz Sugar Central is the only large-scale industrial company operating in the municipality. It is the second highest producing sugar mill in Panay Island with a milling capacity of 3,500 TPD (tons per day). Aside from sugar, there are also some light industries with minimal production and provide supplies and services based on local demands. These industries include rice mills, cement hollow blocks factory, and other cottage industries.

The estimated total investment in this sector is P794,200,000.00

Forestry

Areas with more than 18% slope are considered protected forest of President Roxas, this comprise 160.3408 hectares. Forest areas are located in upland barangays. Bigger portion of which is located at Barangay Bayuyan..

Fishery

President Roxas is endowed with rich fishing grounds that harbor an array of marine resources. Nine of the twenty-one barangays are in coastal area and these are barangays Aranguel, Marita, Pantalan, Pinamihagan, Pondol, Quiajo, Sangkal, Madulano and Pandan. Fishermen in these barangays fish around Tinagong Dagat, which is an inlet of Pilar Bay. However, a large potion of the income from fishery can be attributed to fishponds wherein milkfish, prawn and oysters are bred and cultivated. Milkfish, prawns and oysters are commonly raised in brackish water.

The total fishpond area is 1,294.7829 hectares while rivers and creeks wherein marginal fishermen use as their fishing ground and shellfish farm has an area of 216.6058 hectares. There are two fish wharves in the municipality; one is located in Barangay Pantalan and another in Barangay Marita. The total marine produce of the municipality is traded from these two wharves. Most fishpond operators regularly transport their products to Iloilo and Metro Manila.

Livestock and Poultry

There are fifteen (15) livestock and poultry farms registered with the Municipal Agricultural Office. These farms are distributed in the different barangays. The production is sufficient to the meat requirements of the residents of the municipality, however, the local production cannot cope with the public market demand considering that the residents of neighboring towns prefer to buy meat and other products at Pres. Roxas public market. Local meat traders therefore resort to buying livestock and poultry products from adjacent municipalities

Agriculture

The Municipality of President Roxas is considered an agri-base community because of the vast tract of lands devoted to sugarcane production in support of the raw materials needed by the sugar mill in the municipality, the Capiz Sugar Central (CSC), for sugar manufacturing. The town is also rich in other agricultural crops like coconut, corn, palay and root crops. Aside from agricultural products, President Roxas is also endowed with rich fishing grounds that harbor a vast array of marine resources such as fish, crabs, shrimps and other shellfish. It has nine coastal barangays that serve as the main source of fishery products in the locality and in the other parts of the province. There are business operators in the locality that engage in trading fishery products like shrimps and crabs to Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

The municipality of President Roxas has a total land area of 7,788.00 hectares, 6,794.0185 of which is devoted to agriculture broken down as follows: 5,671.4169 hectares for croplands and 1,294.7829 hectares for fishponds.

Agricultural Crops

Like most towns of Capiz and in Panay Island, President Roxas is primarily an agricultural municipality. Around 87% of the total municipal land area is devoted to agricultural production. A big portion of agricultural area which is 1,810.84 hectares is devoted to sugarcane plantation. It is due primarily to the proximity of the sugar mill hence it entails lesser transportation cost for more profit.

Coconut is the second most important crop with 1,236.14 hectares. Other important crops include rice, corn, banana, root crops, vegetables and fruits having a combined area of 986.17 hectares. Cultivation and harvesting of sugar is the main source of income of the people, especially in upland barangays, Although rice is the most important of all staple foods of the Filipinos, farmers in Pres. Roxas prefer sugarcane to cultivate than Palay because of the generally rolling terrain of the municipality which is unsuitable to rice production, limited irrigation facilities and the higher economic value of sugar compared to rice.

The shortage in supply for local rice requirement is supplemented by neighboring municipalities. Crops such as corn, banana root crops, vegetables and fruits are harvested on a small-scale basis, sometimes grown only for household consumption. However, when there are surplus production of these crops, they are also sold in the municipal public market.

About the Mayor

For this young and dynamic leader of President Roxas town, progress is a collective effort, with the first step taken by the local government, empowering its people so that they can do well and improve their lives.

Hon. Mayor Raymund Segovia Locsin was born on May 24, 1967 in Roxas City. He is the eldest son of Ramon Consing Locsin, who also served as Mayor of President Roxas for twenty years. Inspired by the legacy of his father’s accomplishments and the philanthropic deeds of his grand parents, the late Domingo Montelibano Locsin and Luisa Consing Locsin, Mayor Locsin has been a catalyst of change since his first assumption to office as Vice Mayor of the town in 1992.

He was elected in 1998 as the 6th mayor of President Roxas. After his three (3) terms as mayor, he was elected and served as Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member for the first district of the province of Capiz in 2007-2010.

However, his concern on the welfare of his constituents in President Roxas made him decide to return to his hometown. He was again elected as the 8th mayor of President Roxas in May 2010.

During his stint as mayor, he introduced innovations on the systems, structures and procedures utilizing the latest technology for more efficient governance. He caused the establishment and installation of the first automated systems in the local government unit, the Civil Registry Information System (CRIS) and the Geographic Information System (GIS).

Long before the advent of internet services provided by cellular telephone companies in rural areas, President Roxas is the only municipality that was able to connect to the internet using the Very Short Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology. With the internet connection in place he was able to establish the first LGU-initiated eLibrary (electronic library) in Capiz serving as a public internet café with a very minimal charge.

These initiatives are possible through his linkages with other government and non-government agencies in addition to his being an information technology enthusiast. These are only few of the many “firsts” contributed by Mayor Locsin to the development of President Roxas.

His development agenda, focused on livelihood generation, organizational development, comprehensive education and sports development, sustained peace and order, integrated health and social welfare initiatives, and lastly, natural resources conservation and protection aims to propel the Municipality of President Roxas into its full potential to achieve progress without compromising the welfare of the people.

As the town’s chief executive, he believes that one has to take the first step forward no matter how small it is, in order to advance.

          President Roxas was originally the small community of Lutod-Lutod, Barrio Aranguel in the old town of Pilar. Sitio Lutod-Lutod was a cogonal and shrubby area where a variety of trees, game birds and animals abound. Inhabitants in this area are minimal, “less than what your fingers could count” according to stories. During the heyday of sugar production in Visayas, it was discovered that the plains of Lutod-Lutod where very suitable for sugar cane plantation. In 1924, the first sugar mill was installed right at the side where the Central Azucarera de Pilar (now Capiz Sugar Central) now stands. Elizalde and Co. acquired the sugar mill which improved production and became one of the biggest sugarcane producers in the Philippines.

The burgeoning sugar industry resulted to rapid influx of population in Sitio Lutod-Lutod. The inhabitants were either employers or workers of the sugar central and the sugarcane haciendas. The progress of the sugar industry also gave rise to the emergence of the small-scale industries, merchants and retailer groups. Eventually, Lutod-Lutod became a big community and a stable source of income for the municipality of Pilar.

Former Pilar Mayor Don Braulio M. Patricio, Jr. whose wife was the talented Bonifacia Roxas, cousin of President Manuel A. Roxas, initiated the creation of a separate town. Through the help of his compadres Tio Feling Asis and Sebastian Corro and his nephew, Attorney Pacifico Patricio Pacis, mobilized the people’s initiative petitioning the creation of the municipality of President Roxas. From 1948-1949, the Municipal Resolution separating President Roxas from Pilar was intensely debated until finally affirmed and approved by the Town Council in 1949.

In congress, Representative Ramon Arnaldo and Senator Oscar Ledesma co-sponsored the House Bill creating a new municipality from the territories of Sitio Lutod-Lutod, Barrio Aranguel and the neighboring coastal and mountain barrios in the area. On June 14, 1949 by virtue of the enactment by the joint session of the Congress and the Senate of the Philippines. Republic Act 374 was signed into law by Philippine President Elpidio Quirino, making the sitio as the new Municipality of President Roxas. The municipality was named in honor of President Manuel A. Roxas (a renowned Capiceño) and was officially inaugurated on November 30, 1949. RA 374 provides for “…the conversion of sitios into barrios and its separation from the municipality of Pilar. The barrios include Aranguel, Culilang, Pandan, Pinamihagan, Quiajo, Sangkal, Pondol, Marita, Madulano, Jaboyana (now Viscaya), Cabugcabug, Goce, Badiangon, Bayuyan, Agbolo (now Manoling), Ibaca and Elizalde (Poblacion)”. The seat of government was placed at Barrio Elizalde in the Poblacion, which was the former Sito Lutod-Lutod. Barrio Carmencita, Cubay, Sto. Niño and Pantalan were later created. Barrio Hanglid was created after 1970.

Today, President Roxas has become one of the more vibrant and active towns in the Province of Capiz. President Roxas is an agricultural community which is proud of its heritage, culture and its people.

President Roxas is a fourth class municipality in the province of Capiz, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 28,561 people 

 

In 1949, the sitios and barrios of Aranguel, Culilang, Pandan, Pinamihagan, Cadoulan, Quiajo, Sangcal, Pondol, Marita, Madulano, Jabuyana, Bo-ac, Cabugcabug, Goce Badiangon, Bayuyan, Agbobolo, Cubay, Ibaca, and the sitio of Lotudlotud which was converted into a barrio of Elizalde was separated from Pilar, and formed into the separate town of President Roxas by virtue of Republic Act No. 374.^[4]

In 1952, barrio of Agbobolo was renamed Manoling.