• The Philippine Setting •

In the Philippines, being an archipelago and most of its people belonging to the lower half of the economic strata, the most common mode of inter-island transportation is by ship mainly due to its affordability.

Filipino’s travel for different purposes and under different circumstances. Personal travel can be generally classified into three categories namely Pleasure travel, travel to work, and business travel. Among the three, the journey to work is probably the most often reason why Filipinos travel.

Since the Philippines is an archipelago, development in the country tend to be focused only in certain areas, the biggest of which is Metropolitan Manila. Most of the people from the southern region looking for opportunities in Metro Manila travel by ship, the cheapest mode of long-distance inter-island transportation.
People go different places for different purposes but one thing remains intact in the Filipino culture: Closely-knitted Family Ties.

This trait is what keeps the Filipino family together..But it's the transportion industry's role to keep the family together, physically. With the Philippines' archipelagic setting, it must be clear that water transportation is most significant.