Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro
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Mansalay, officially the Municipality of Mansalay (), is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
in the
province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Oriental Mindoro Oriental Mindoro (), officially the Province of Oriental Mindoro (), is a province in the Philippines located on the island of Mindoro under Mimaropa region in Luzon, about southwest of Manila. The province is bordered by the Verde Island P ...
,
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 59,114 people. This town is notable for its indigenous
Mangyan Mangyan is the generic name for the eight indigenous groups found in Mindoro each with its own tribal name, language, and customs. The total population may be around 280,001, but official statistics are difficult to determine under the condi ...
population. The municipal hall is located on the upper land of Mansalay Town proper, in front of a Medical Care Hospital. Nearby is the church and the only Catholic School, Mansalay Catholic High School. Santa Catalina is the town's
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
. The town also has a wide
ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...
formation area discovered in the 1940s. Since then, thousands of ammonite fossils have been discovered. Due to the complexity and vastness of the collection found in the area, the town has been called the ''Ammonite Capital of the Philippines''. Various local and international scientific institutions have conducted research on the ammonite formations of Mansalay. Scholars have argued that due to the natural significance of the area to Southeast Asian pre-history, the site has a big chance of being declared as a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
or a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Geopark Reserve. It is from
Calapan Calapan, officially the City of Calapan (), is a component city and the capital of the province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 145,786 people making it the most populous in Oriental Mi ...
.


History

The etymology of Mansalay is thought of to have originated from a conversation between the indigenous
datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous Indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, though no ...
of Mansalay at the time, Abucay, and Spanish
conquistadores Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
. When Spanish conquistadors arrived at present-day Mansalay, they inquired the datu of Mansalay, Abucay, about the name of the area. To which, Datu Abucay responded with the phrase: ''"Man may malay"'' in the indigenous language which meant "I don't know." Indicating the failure of Datu Abucay to understand the inquiry of the Spanish conquistadors. Subsequently, they (Spanish conquistadors) thought that Abucay gave the real name of the area in spite of the clear language barrier. Henceforth, Spanish conquistadors recorded the area's name as ''Mansalay''. Prior to the Spanish arrival, and eventual colonisation in the Philippines, Mansalay was inhabited by migrants from nearby islands in the Philippine archipelago such as
Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...
and
Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...
. During the Spanish colonisation of the Philippines, Mansalay was under the jurisdiction of the government of ''Mangarin, Mindoro''. (present-day
San Jose, Occidental Mindoro San Jose, officially the Municipality of San Jose (), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 153,267, re ...
.) In the year of 1901, during the Philippine-American War, Mansalay was occupied by American forces. On 24 July 1929, Mansalay was made its own municipality by a bill authored by Mariano Leuterio, representative at the time for Mindoro. Teotimo P. Cusi became the first Municipal-President. During the later-
Interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
years, Mansalay attracted migrants from provinces in
Central Luzon Central Luzon (; ; ; ; ), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines. The region comprises seven provinces: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga (with its capital, San Fernando City serving as the re ...
,
Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( ), is a first class province of the Philippines located in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Calabarzon region. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,908,494 people, making ...
,
Romblon Romblon (, , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main components include Romblon, an archipelagic municipality of the same name that also serves as the provi ...
, and
Capiz Capiz (), officially the Province of Capiz (Capiznon language, Capiznon/Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Kapuoran sang Capiz''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the central part of the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines ...
. On 16 December 1944, Mansalay was liberated by American troops from the Japanese occupation forces in the
Battle of Mindoro The Battle of Mindoro (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Labanan sa Mindoro'') took place during World War II between the forces of the United States and Empire of Japan, Japan, in Mindoro Island in the central Philippines, from 13–16 December ...


Geography


Barangays

Mansalay is politically subdivided into 17
barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...
s. Each barangay consists of
purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...
s and some have
sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...
. In 1957, the sitios of Santa Brigida, Santa Maria, Roma, Budburan, and Mahabangsapa were constituted into barrios. * B. Del Mundo * Balugo * Bonbon * Budburan * Cabalwa * Don Pedro * Maliwanag * Manaul * Panaytayan * Poblacion * Roma * Santa Maria * Santa Teresita * Sta. Brigida * Villa Celestial * Wasig * Waygan


Climate


Demographics


Economy

Its people relies heavily on fishing and farming to survive and earn a living. Because of meager income opportunities, Mansalay has produced a large number of overseas Filipino workers who send
remittance A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes ...
back.


References


External links


Mansalay Profile at PhilAtlas.com
* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management SystemMansalay Official Home Page
{{Authority control Municipalities of Oriental Mindoro