MUNICIPAL BACKGROUND

                     The municipality of Looc is located in the southern portion of Tablas Island, the province of Romblon’s largest island. The municipalities of Ferrol and Odiongan border it on the north, the Municipality of Alcantara on the east, and the Municipality of Sta on the south. Looc Bay and Tablas Strait are to the west of Santa Fe. Looc is made up of 12 barangays (Agojo, Balatucan, Buenavista, Camandag, Guinhaya-an, Limon Norte, Limon Sur, Manhac, Pili, Poblacion, Punta, and Tuguis), nine of which are located along the coast of Looc Bay.

                The Municipality of Looc, a fourth-class municipality, is regarded a growth corridor and a center of commerce, trade, and the health industry in southern Tablas Island due to its geographical and strategic location. It had a total population of 22,262 people in 2015, with 4,680 households and an average family size of five people. The people’ principal sources of income are farming and fishing. Looc’s citizens are known for being God-fearing, hospitable, and hardworking.

                Locals and tourists, passengers and traders can reach Looc for 45 minutes by plane in Romblon Airport situated in the Municipality of Alcantara. Looc is a 30-minute drive from the airport, covering a distance of 13 kilometers, and may be reached by motorcyclists, leased vans, or private vehicles. Roll-On Roll-Off (RO-RO) passenger vessels anchored at the Batangas Port in Batangas City are another option for getting to Looc. The trip time to the Odiongan Port, which is located in the Municipality of Odiongan, is expected to be around 10 hours. Looc is roughly 24 kilometers south of the seaport and may be reached in about an hour by motorcycles, public utility vehicles, or private vehicles. The municipality is one of the few in the Province of Romblon to have a feeder port with regular voyages to Catictlan, Aklan. Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan, is about two hours by passenger pump boats from Looc and is known for its white sand beaches and crystal clear sea.

                Looc is an agricultural municipality with a total size of 4,849.37 hectares. Rice, coconut, root crop, vegetable, animal, poultry, and fishery production are all part of the agriculture industry, and they are the people’s main economic activity. The municipality’s terrain consists primarily of slopes ranging from 18 to 30 degrees, with 1,274.50 accounting for approximately 17.99 percent of the total land area and being classified as rolling to hilly.

Out of the 12 barangays, 9 coastal barangays, Buenavista, Balatucan, Camandag, Poblacion, Punta, Tuguis, Guinhaya-an, Manhac, and Agojo, have 76.67 hectares of mangrove plantations located along Looc Bay’s coastline. The huge reforestation efforts being performed by the Local Government of Looc with support of key national agencies and non-governmental groups have resulted in developments in some mangrove areas. Agojo, Manhac, Guinhaya-an, Tuguis, Punta, Camandag, and Buenavista are among the coastal barangays where corals can be found. There are hectares of coral reef in the bay’s center, with 48 hectares declared as a fish sanctuary. The sanctuary, known as Looc Fish Sanctuary, became well-known and well-recognized after receiving various awards from various organizations. It is not only a home for a diverse range of marine animals, but also a popular tourism attraction for local and foreign nature lovers. The municipality’s Coastal Resource Management Office (CRMO) manages and preserves the Looc Fish Sanctuary, as well as the entire Looc Bay and municipal waters of Looc. The CRM program is run by the local government, with support from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 4B, Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC), fisherfolks, and Bantay-Dagat Volunteers. It is overseen by Atty. Lisette M. Arboleda.

The formation of the Looc Bay Mariculture Park was another significant event in Looc Bay. A project of BFAR Region 4B and the Municipality of Looc that will strengthen the fishing industry by increasing fish output for both domestic and foreign consumption, creating new business and livelihood options, and providing additional revenue to the municipality. Because of its abundance of agricultural products, particularly marine resources, the municipality is regarded as Romblon’s “fish basket,” primarily in southern Tablas Island.

The Looc Local Government has consistently provided sustainable and comprehensive socio-economic developments in the social sector (education, health and sanitation, housing, social welfare, protective service, and sports and recreation), economic sector (agriculture, commerce and trade, industry and tourism), infrastructure sector (transportation, power, water, and communication), environmental management sector (forest management, ecological solid waste management, integrated waste management, and integrated waste management) , and institutional management sector (organizational management, fiscal management, legislative support and LGU-CSO-PO Linkages).

The Local Government of Looc will undoubtedly achieve its vision and mission of serving the people, protecting the environment, and raising the standard of living of all Loocnons through good governance, accountability, transparency, and sustainability in all programs and projects with the full cooperation and participation of the executive and legislative bodies of the local government.