Livelyhood

A) Agriculture
1. Agriculture is the major sub-sector of Dinalupihan’s economy. This is evident in many land-based agricultural activities in the municipality. Land-based agriculture is mostly concentrated on farming. Let it be mentioned that during the latter part of the Spanish period, sugar was the primary produce inside and outside of the so-called Dinalupihan Estate. Rice came in at a distant second.

At present, Dinalupihan has a total agricultural land area of 2,978.7 hectares, or 20 percent of the town’s total land area. Some 2,757.2 hectares are irrigable lands currently being used in rice production. Sugarcane remains as one of the major commercial crops, together with vegetables, mangoes, bananas and other kinds of fruits.

 

There is a National Irrigation Administration office operating in Dinalupihan. Several communal pumping stations are run by farmers’ cooperatives in the upland and lowland barangays. These irrigation systems serve the irrigable land in almost all barangays. There are on-going efforts to upgrade the existing irrigation system so that more agricultural lands will be served.

2. Livestock-raising is another important aspect of the land-based agriculture of Dinalupihan. Based on a 1999 agricultural study, broilers are the primary type of livestock being raised in the municipality. There were 15,655 ducks, 565 cows, 1,788 carabaos, 4,946 pigs and 858 goats raised that year. Although the town has no coastline, there are inland fishponds (about five hectares) operating in Barangays Pita, P. Dandan, Pagalanggang, Tucop, San Simon and the San Jose area. Tilapia, hito and dalag are the common produce from the fishponds.

 

B) Commerce and Industry

Dinalupihan is fast developing in a backdrop of harmony between industrialization and rich historical and cultural tradition of the municipality. Being in the center of the growth corridor of Central Luzon, Dinalupihan’s progress has expanded steadily during the past four decades. At present, there are more than 50 big commercial institutions in the municipality. These include some 30 multi-purpose cooperatives, 12 pawnshops, five lending investors and seven operating banks, namely Philippine National Bank (PNB, situated in Mabini Extension), Land Bank of the Philippines (Barangay San Ramon), Metrobank, Guagua Rural Bank, Bataan Savings and Loan Bank (BSLB), Bataan Development Bank (BDB) and Zambales Bank. There are approximately 2000 other business establishments in Dinalupihan. These could be classified into several types. About 350 of the total number are sari-sari stores distributed evenly in the existing 46 barangays Other types of business services include Cable TV, school and office supplies, groceries, eateries, fruits and vegetables stores, pharmacies, medical clinics, PT clinics, computer shops, bakeries, printing press, dental and dental laboratories, optical clinics, repair shops, beauty parlors, tfuneral parlors, softdrinks dealers, glasswares, construction suppliers, tailoring/dress shops, ice cream parlor, supermarkets, furniture manufacturers, poultry and agricultural equipment suppliers. There are gasoline stations in town: Petron, Total and Shell. Dinalupihan also has establishments offering personal services The major commercial establishments in Dinalupihan include Vercon and Elizabeth supermakets, Video City, Chowking, VM Mall, Jollibee, Greenwich, PTT,  Smart, Globe, Digitel, PLDT. The GSIS, DAR, Pag-ibig Fund, and Quedancor have their respective provincial offices in Dinalupihan.