Articles 1921 1922
Pesos Pesos
Animals:
Carabaos 758,862 65,033
Other cattle 3,315,863 1,596,156
Brass, and its manufactures 932,637 454,049
Breadstuffs:
Rice 6,649,395 4,604,315
Wheat flour 7,017,174 5,783,194
Other breadstuffs 1,358,513 1,043,708
Cars, carriages, other vehicles, and
parts of:
Automobiles and parts of 7,459,214 1,406,965
Other cars, carriages, etc., and parts 3,345,418 907,856
Cement 2,005,264 1,587,383
Chemicals, drugs, dyes and medicines 3,349,384 2,946,324
Clocks and watches, and parts 508,305 261,504
Coal 6,987,004 5,009,362
Cocoa or cacao 797,527 713,839
Coffee 760,593 880,135
Copper and manufactures of 794,014 190,170
Cotton, and its manufactures 37,648,201 47,229,720
Cotton cloths 25,463,804 34,408,508
Other manufactures 12,184,397 12,821,212
Diamonds and other precious stones, unset 517,893 374,109
Earthen, stone and chinaware 781,366 964,678
Electrical machinery, apparatus, and
appliances 4,683,060 1,891,967
Eggs 1,695,605 1,457,923
Fibers, vegetable, and their manufactures 3,507,000 2,331,324
Fish and fish products 2,965,912 2,834,949
Fruits and nuts 2,115,644 1,576,678
Glass and glassware 1,812,285 869,870
Gold, platinum and silver, and their
manufactures 378,899 219,618
Hats and caps and parts of 617,369 647,620
India rubber, and its manufactures 3,511,910 2,534,399
Instruments and apparatus:
Not electrical 1,279,204 509,802
Motion-picture, and films for 574,275 600,948
Iron and steel, and their manufactures 43,529,079 15,208,761
Agricultural implements, and parts 700,421 30,572
Machinery and parts 17,665,808 4,022,834
All other iron and steel 25,162,850 11,155,355
Leather, and its manufactures 1,786,461 1,563,939
Meat and dairy products:
Meat products 6,255,609 4,623,158
Dairy products 4,325,411 3,924,896
Musical instruments, and parts 508,349 269,132
Oils:
Crude 954,463 5,337,775
Illuminating 9,014,714 3,476,158
Lubricating and heavy paraffin 3,943,456 655,264
Naphthas, including all lighter
products of distillation 8,832,227 3,804,003
All other oils 1,060,068 1,004,899
Paints, varnishes and pigments 966,845 882,485
Paper, and its manufactures:
Books and other printed matter 3,013,988 1,407,916
All other 6,066,029 3,511,832
Perfumery and toilet preparations 1,530,011 1,026,213
Photographic equipments and supplies 446,066 350,949
Plateware, gold and silver 328,300 135,387
Silk, and its manufactures 3,721,538 3,117,454
Soap 710,879 718,802
Spirits, wines and liquors 1,564,629 822,933
Sugar and molasses 984,538 722,910
Tobacco, and its manufactures 4,301,769 2,480,322
Vegetables 2,825,998 2,665,212
Wax 216,893 350,211
Wood, and its manufactures 1,731,758 645,116
Wool, and its manufactures 1,645,701 1,337,484
All other imports 13,284,579 8,858,480
----------- -----------
Total 231,677,148 160,395,289
Because the products of the Islands are usually exported to the
countries where the imports come from, there have been established
firms which deal in exports and imports of every variety, and have
buying and selling organization both in the Islands and abroad. This
double business, so to speak, besides being very profitable, lends
itself to large scale enterprises and millions of capital have been
brought together under one managing head.
SHIPPING.--The foreign, as well as the domestic trade of the
Philippines, will always depend on an adequate supply of shipping. As
fast as the agriculture and industries of the Islands develop, the
supply of shipping must correspondingly increase, otherwise, the
commercial development of the Islands will be retarded. Hemp, oil,
and sugar are bulky and the surface they require when exported is
large in proportion to their value. Practically, all Philippine goods
are carried thousands of miles before they reach their destinations,
either to New York or London and the continent--half way around the
world. Because of this, reasonable wages and a regular supply of
surface for cargo in the ships calling at the ports of the Islands
are indispensable. Because of this, also, it is necessary for the
Islands to have a merchant marine of its own in order that products
therefrom can be easily transported to the markets of the world.
INTERISLAND TRANSPORTATION.--Water transportation is the key to the
interisland trade of the Islands. For hundreds of years before the
coming of the steamboat, the Philippine seas were dotted with small
sailboats of every description, made out of a log, or of rough hewn
planks surmounted by a sail made from abaca cloth. They were manned
by sturdy, courageous voyagers inured to hardships, who dared to go
forth even into strange oceans, through typhoon and tempest.
The following table shows the entrances and clearances of vessels in
the Philippine Islands by nationalities during 1920-1923:
AGGREGATE VALUE OF MERCHANDISE CARRIED BY VESSELS ENGAGED IN
FOREIGN TRADE, BY NATIONALITY
-------------+---------+-----------------------------------------
| Vessels | 1921
| entered +-------------+-------------+-------------
Nationality | and | Imports | Exports | Total
of vessels | cleared | | |
-------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-------------
| | Pesos | Pesos | Pesos
Philippine | 170 | 3,379,522 | 484,817 | 3,864,339
American | 336 | 74,809,502 | 64,206,170 | 139,015,672
British | 740 | 109,387,341 | 60,335,999 | 169,723,340
Chinese | 40 | 499,454 | 325,625 | 825,079
Danish | 3 | ----------- | 1,750 | 1,750
Dutch | 94 | 6,314,435 | 13,203,844 | 19,517,779
French | 8 | 482,434 | ----------- | 482,434
German | ------- | ----------- | ----------- | -----------
Spanish | 13 | 1,304,940 | 5,011,874 | 6,316,814
Swedish | 6 | 17 | 1,788,182 | 1,788,199
Norwegian | 30 | 1,637,253 | ----------- | 1,637,253
Japanese | 319 | 29,169,887 | 20,746,925 | 49,916,812
Mail | ------- | 4,692,363 | 10,125,959 | 14,818,322
+---------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Total | 1,759 | 231,677,148 | 176,230,645 | 407,907,793
-------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-------------
-------------+---------+-----------------------------------------
| Vessels | 1922
| entered +-------------+-------------+-------------
Nationality | and | Imports | Exports | Total
of vessels | cleared | | |
-------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-------------
| | Pesos | Pesos | Pesos
Philippine | 194 | 2,811,668 | 1,344,485 | 4,156,153
American | 367 | 48,873,151 | 83,313,550 | 132,186,701
British | 704 | 79,488,095 | 56,090,093 | 135,578,188
Chinese | 31 | 1,293,429 | 587,691 | 1,881,120
Danish | 2 | ----------- | ----------- | -----------
Dutch | 111 | 6,792,919 | 14,244,306 | 21,037,225
French | 2 | 86,423 | 19,900 | 106,323
German | 16 | 22,002 | 3,003,029 | 2,025,031
Spanish | 12 | 1,272,832 | 1,993,246 | 4,266,078
Swedish | 9 | 41 | 4,031,697 | 4,031,738
Norwegian | 38 | 296,657 | 2,295,116 | 2,591,773
Japanese | 315 | 14,809,799 | 17,520,311 | 52,330,110
Mail | ------- | 4,648,273 | 6,725,172 | 11,371,445
+---------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Total | 1,801 | 160,395,289 | 191,166,596 | 351,561,885
-------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Not until the coming of the cargo steamer, however, could the bulky
products of the Islands be gathered together in large quantities and
become an important factor in the world's commercial necessities. Every
portion of the Islands is now covered by steamers, plying regular
routes.
[Interisland Lines]
To the north a route leads to Aparri, the outlet from the fertile
Cagayan Valley, a tobacco country, where thousands of hectares of rich
unoccupied prairies await only the touch of capital. To the southward
are the main channels of trade. Cebu is the metropolis of the Southern
Islands, and to this port come the hemp and copra of all the Visayas,
there to be transferred to Manila. Some ocean liners load direct at
Cebu for the homeward voyage, saving the haul to Manila. Cebu harbor
accommodates vessels of 30-foot draft, which can anchor at the sea
wall, close to the warehouses of the principal commercial houses. From
Iloilo comes the sugar of Negros and Panay. Here, too, is a harbor of
sufficient depth to allow ocean vessels of fair tonnage to load. Ships
of the Spanish lines in particular are accustomed to procure their
cargoes here and omit Manila. Commercial routes encircle Mindanao,
drawing from it copra and hemp, and supplying in return cotton cloth,
canned goods, rice, and other commercial staples. Smaller vessels
ply between the Bicol provinces, Masbate, Leyte, and Manila, carrying
hemp principally.
[Control over Rates]
The steamers of the Philippine Islands are not allowed to charge the
prices "the traffic will bear," without any recourse by shippers. The
Public Utility Commission fixes the maximum rates for all classes of
traffic and for all ports of the Islands. In this way the interests
of the producing and consuming public are protected, and destructive
rate wars between shipper and carrier and among the several companies
are avoided.
The number and tonnage of vessels engaged in domestic shipping are
as follows:
NUMBER AND REGISTERED TONNAGE OF VESSELS ENGAGED IN
DOMESTIC SHIPPING, BY PORTS OF ENTRY, 1918-22
[Source: Bureau of Customs]