PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Journal of the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines Diliman Original Articles From Ancient Entrepôt to 21st Century Hub: A Critique of Butuan City’s Administrative Potentials at the Geospatial Margin José Edgardo A. Gomez, Jr. Empowerment, Satisfaction, Commitment, and Retention Intention Among Women in the Military: The Case of the Philippine Navy Michelle C. Castillo Social Network Analysis on the Information Exchange of Sorsogon City’s CDRRMC during Typhoon Nina Nissi Abigail J. Buenaobra, Aries P. Austria, Hannah Trisha M. Calucin, Gianna C. Capacia, and Joel L. Dela Paz, Jr. Policy Note Transport Priority for Infrastructure vs. Services: BBB and Urban Transport Policy ROMEO B. OCAMPO† In Memoriam Romeo B. Ocampo (1936–2019) Volume 63 January - June 2019 Number 1 PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION THE PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (PJPA) is the official journal of the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines Diliman. It is published during the months of June and December, in partnership with the Philippine Society for Public Administration and the Association of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines, Inc. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has awarded the PJPA the Journal Incubation Grant from 2017 to 2019 under its Journal Incentive Program (CHED Memorandum Order 53, s. 2016). EDITORIAL BOARD Romeo B. Ocampo†, (Chair), UP Public Administration Research and Extension Foundation, Inc. Danilo DR. Reyes, Philippine Society for Public Administration Ma. Oliva Z. Domingo, Kalayaan College Michael A. Tumanut, UP-National College of Public Administration and Governance Maria Fe Villamejor-Mendoza, UP-National College of Public Administration and Governance EDITORIAL STAFF Issue Editor: Michael A. Tumanut Publications Office Director: Michael A. Tumanut Managing Editor: Jayson D. Fajarda Editorial Assistants: Eula Marie D. Mangaoang Vincent Q. Silarde Layout Artist: Christine Ann E. Avila Circulation Officer: Jaryl Paul A. Quincina INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD Belinda A. Aquino, PhD Fumio Nagai, PhD University of Hawaii at Manoa Osaka City University Joaquin Gonzalez III, PhD Akira Nakamura, PhD Golden Gate University Meiji University Mampei Hayashi, PhD Rosemary O’ Leary, PhD Kansai University of International Studies The University of Kansas Akio Kamiko, PhD Eko Prasojo, PhD Ritsumeikan University University of Indonesia Masao Kikuchi, PhD Jon S. T. Quah, PhD Meiji University Singapore Pan Suk Kim, PhD Trevor Seymour-Jones, PhD Yonsei University University of Technology Sydney Raul Lejano, PhD Achakorn Wongpreedee, PhD New York University National Institute of Development Administration Helen K. Liu, PhD National Taiwan University PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Volume 63 - Number 1 January - June 2019 Editor’s Notes i Original Articles From Ancient Entrepôt to 21st Century Hub: 1 A Critique of Butuan City’s Administrative Potentials at the Geospatial Margin Jose Edgardo A. Gomez, Jr. Empowerment, Satisfaction, Commitment, 26 and Rentention Intention Among Women in the Military: The Case of the Philippine Navy Michelle C. Castillo Social Network Analysis on the Information Exchange 49 of Sorsogon City’s CDRRMC During Typhoon Nina Nissi Abigail J. Buenaobra, Aries P. Austria, Hannah Trisha M. Calucin, Gianna C. Capacia, and Joel L. Dela Paz, Jr. Policy Note Transport Priority for Infrastructure vs. Services: 77 BBB and Urban Transport Policy Romeo B. Ocampo† In Memoriam Romeo B. Ocampo (1936–2019) 106 Editor’s Notes This volume’s first issue features three full-length articles and a policy note, addressing diverse topics, such as urban planning, communication network, personnel management, and transportation. While the featured scholars diverge in their approaches and methodologies, they all provide empirical evidence that may inform practices and policies, decisionmakers and administrators, and even those beyond the scope of their studies, e.g., administration and development of medium-sized cities situated in a geospatial periphery, information exchange in medium-sized cities during disasters, and job retention among women in male-dominated professions. Jose Edgardo Gomez, Jr.’s article, “From Ancient Entrepôt to 21st Century Hub: A Critique of Butuan City’s Administrative Potentials at the Geospatial Margin” examines recent planning and governance practices of a city-in- geospatial-margin with Butuan City as a case. Combining multiple qualitative methods of field research, observation, interviews, and document analysis, his article well demonstrates how one city’s growth and administration can be constrained by geography. The author then recommends strategic ways for the City to overcome inherent geophysical conditions to foster further administrative and structural development, and the prospective urban corridor development in the region. Michelle Castillo’s “Empowerment, Satisfaction, Commitment, and Retention Intention Among Women in the Military: The Case of the Philippine Navy” is a relational research on the determinants of willingness of women to stay in the Philippine Navy, a male-dominated organization. Organizational commitment is found to be a significant factor in this small population, which is in turn influenced by job satisfaction. Programs improving welfare of women also affect satisfaction and commitment of women to serve the Navy. Partly an indirect evaluation of the Navy’s gender and development program, the findings put a premium on welfare promotion and mechanisms for more meaningful participation. “Social Network Analysis on the Information Exchange of Sorsogon City’s CDRRMC during Typhoon Nina” by Nissi Abigail Buenaobra et al. explores and exhibits communication and relationship patterns at work in Sorsogon City’s disaster management council in its response to one devastating disaster. Their article establishes the information grid by enumerating primary suppliers and consumers, illustrates its generally effective management, and locates lapses in a network of actors and institutions collectively providing a set of essential services during Typhoon Nina. The article ends with a practical recommendation to further revisit the council, and map out the entire ecosystem of emergency responders and their information needs. i Each of these articles benefited from the 2018 PJPA Writeshops, which included lectures and exercises on academic writing and journal publishing, small group discussions, and review by public administration scholars. Out of 12 shortlisted papers, these three articles cleared the two-member panel of reviewers (involving several revisions), before undergoing a separate double- blind peer review process of the journal. The Writeshop received financial aid from the Commission on Higher Education through its Journal Incubation Grant. The NCPAG Publications Office provided the technical and operational support. The policy note of the late Romeo Ocampo, chairman of the PJPA editorial board, sheds light on the transportation infrastructure policy of the Philippine government, unpacking its theoretical and policy underpinnings (incorporating history and roadmap), and juxtaposing it against the overall mandate to serve the public. The primacy of data, foresight, and circumspection is prudently accentuated in his analysis of its policy design and implementation. This issue is dedicated to him. This posthumous publication is testament to his scholarly passion and productivity. On a final note, we would like to welcome eight new members of the international advisory board (who also constitute the pool of special issue editors and reviewers): Professors Mampei Hayashi, Akio Kamiko, Masao Kikuchi, Helen Liu, Fumio Nagai, Eko Prasojo, Trevor Seymour-Jones, and Achakorn Wongpreedee, who joined the PJPA family in late 2018 and early 2019. We are equally grateful to the other seven advisory board members who renewed their interest and support: Professors Belinda Aquino, Joaquin Gonzales III, Pan Suk Kim, Raul Lejano, Akira Nakamura, Rosemary O’Leary, and Jon S.T. Quah. We also welcome our guest editor for the next issue: Prof. Kristoffer Berse. Finally, we thank our steadfast readers, contributors, and reviewers to whom we are deeply indebted. Michael A. Tumanut Editor ii Philippine Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 63, No. 1 (January-June 2019) From Ancient Entrepôt to 21st Century Hub: A Critique of Butuan City’s Administrative Potentials at the Geospatial Margin JOSÉ EDGARDO A. GOMEZ, JR. School of Urban and Regional Planning University of the Philippines Diliman The City of Butuan in Agusan del Norte province occupies an important niche as a regional commercial and institutional center in the northeast quadrant of Mindanao island. Rooted in an identity dating back to precolonial times, it is building itself up as an emerging major hub of transportation and agricultural productivity in contrast to its less environment-friendly past as a logging and mining center. This research takes a critical stance by describing and reviewing the key advantages and disadvantages of Butuan City and its environs from a geospatial, administrative, and planning perspective. It shows that despite the recent emergence of political-institutional advantages, Butuan will always be constrained by certain locational features. Describing its present and potential land and sea usage, this study suggests other ways that Butuan