W. Visayas must build manufacturing, agro-industry base, DEPDev-6 says

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

ILOILO CITY – Western Visayas needs to diversify its economy by strengthening manufacturing and developing agro-industries to ensure sustainable growth, according to the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development 6 (DEPDev-6).

DEPDev-6 Director Arecio Casing Jr. said the region’s heavy reliance on the services sector could pose risks to long-term economic resilience.

He cited the disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, when tourism, business process outsourcing (BPO), and other service activities were severely affected.

“What DEPDev found out is that really, a services-led economy is not sustainable,” Casing said.

DEPDev is the successor of the National Economic and Development Authority, renamed under the Economy, Planning, and Development Act signed in January 2025.

The region’s economy has historically been service-oriented, and Philippine Statistics Authority data for 2025 valued Western Visayas’ economic output at PHP 683.44 billion.

Services remained the dominant sector, accounting for 66.5%, or PHP 454.19 billion, of the region’s output.

The industry sector contributed 18.6%, or PHP 127.35 billion.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing accounted for 14.9%, or PHP 101.90 billion.

Casing said tourism and the BPO industry would continue to be among the region’s economic strengths, particularly given Western Visayas’ established destinations from Boracay and northern Iloilo to Iloilo City and Guimaras.

“That is where we draw our strength. We continue to build upon this and, secondly, the BPO sector,” he said.

However, Casing said the region also needs to expand its manufacturing base and move beyond producing raw agricultural commodities.

“What we really need is to increase the industry in manufacturing. One way in which we can expand our level of agriculture is to proceed towards agroindustries,” he said.

Agro-industry involves processing agricultural raw materials into higher-value consumer or industrial products, allowing farmers and producers to earn more from their commodities while creating additional economic activity within the region.

Casing cited Guimaras mangoes as an example of how agricultural products can be transformed into higher-value goods.

“We must not rely on the immediate output—the rice, the palay or whatever. Let us just take a look at Guimaras. Their mangoes have evolved into pizza in whatever form that added value to a PHP70-per-kilo mango and now becoming a PHP300 pizza with just a few slices of mangoes,” he said.

“That is what we want. We want to evolve our raw value materials into a better value component,” he added.

In its updated Regional Development Plan, DEPDev-6 has recalibrated its priorities for 2025-2028 to cover food security and agricultural transformation, poverty reduction and social protection, quality employment and livelihood, infrastructure expansion, investment and business development, innovation and digital transformation, climate action and disaster resilience, and good governance.

For the production sectors, the agency is pushing for the modernization of agribusiness, climate-smart agriculture, and value-chain development in agriculture.

For industry and services, the strategies include attracting manufacturing investments, further developing tourism, and improving logistics and trade facilitation.

The push for manufacturing and agro-industry is aimed at allowing Western Visayas to capitalize on its agricultural resources while creating more value, jobs, and investment opportunities within the region.