Puerto Galera, officially the Municipality of Puerto Galera (), 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 ...

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 41,961 people. It is mainly accessible from the Southern Luzon gateway port of Batangas by bamboo boats (''bangka'') operated by local regular operators. Seaplane Operator Air Juan Aviation, Inc. flies two daily flights from Manila to Puerto Galera on their Cessna Grand Caravan Seaplanes.

History

Chinese traders possibly knew the place before the arrival of the Spaniards but there is no evidence of Chinese settlement. The place was likely also known by other Southeast Asian merchants, who would have found it convenient to load and unload trading goods. The bay was a convenient place to shelter ships against bad weather, and a warehouse was built to store supplies and trade black rice from Muelle. In April 1570, the Spaniards arrived in Bombon (now known as Batangas), and later sailed through the Isla Verde Passage, landed and called the place Puerto Galera (the port of Galleons).

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as ''Adelantado, El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spanish conquistador who financed and led an expedition to conquer the Philippines, Philippine islan ...

became the first Spanish

governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

of the island. A garrison for soldiers was built in Muelle, and watch towers were erected in Dampalitan Point to monitor naval activity in the bay. Spaniards came to conquer for their king and chased the Muslim

Moro pirates The Sulu Sea, Sulu and Celebes Seas, a semi-enclosed sea area and porous region that covers an area of space around 1 million square kilometres, have been subject to illegal maritime activities since the pre-colonial era and continue to pose ...

who were disrupting their trade with the Chinese and natives. The latter proved to be not only skilled warriors but also good negotiators even in the face of defeat. In 1663, a change in the form of administration occurred in the island, the ''corregidor'' was replaced by the ''alcalde-mayor'' or provincial governor, and the capital was moved from Puerto Galera to Baco. In the seventeenth century, the relative prosperity of the city underwent a serious setback with the rise of Muslim piracy. Both pirates attacks and the mismanagement of the Spaniards resulted in driving the native population either into exile in safer places or sending them inland to comparative safety.

Geography

Puerto Galera is located at the north-westernmost part of Oriental Mindoro, and at the south-western end of the Isla Verde Passage, about south of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

and 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 ...

, the provincial capital.

Barangays

Puerto Galera is politically subdivided into 13

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 ...

. * Aninuan * Baclayan * Balatero * Dulangan * Palangan *

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

* Sabang * San Antonio * San Isidro * Santo Niño * Sinandigan * Tabinay * Villaflor

Climate

Demographics

The

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority (; PSA) is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs, and gene ...

characterizes the municipality of Puerto Galera as first class based on household income. The municipality had a population of 32,521 in the 2010 national census. The population in 2012 was estimated to be 35,188.

Economy

The traditional economy of the city used to be fishing and subsistence agriculture, but with the boom of tourism at the end of the 1970s, the service sector became more and more important and led to population and economic growth. Of the 13 villages ("barangays") in Puerto Galera, half now rely on tourism-based activities for sustenance. In addition, Mindoro is quickly becoming one of the key places in the development of renewable energy in the Philippines. With several large wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal projects under construction, the island hoped in 2012 to be a net exporter of electricity by 2016.

Tourism

Tourism now represents the core activity of the economy of Puerto Galera, which is well known for its beaches, scuba diving and entertainment activities, including "go-go bars". The city and its beaches have also become one of the many sites of the Philippines sex tourism industry. This coastal town has a number of pocket beaches and

snorkeling Snorkeling (American and British English spelling differences#Doubled in British English, British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of human swimming, swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing ...

and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

spots. The area was designated a Man and Biosphere reserve of

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 ...

in 1973 and has some of the most diverse coral reef diving in Asia. Since 2001, the marine environment has benefited from a huge reduction in the number of fishermen in the area, as they gain higher revenue from tourism activities. Puerto Galera is included in the list of the "Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World", and is the only bay in the Philippines to be found on this list. Among the beaches in Puerto Galera are Sabang Beach and White Beach, which have an active nightlife with numerous bars and restaurants. Both places are directly accessible from Batangas by '' bangka'' regular lines. On the west, where is only a local boat connection to

Abra de Ilog Abra de Ilog, officially the Municipality of Abra de Ilog (), is a municipality in the province of , Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 35,176 people. Abra de Ilog is classified as partially urban. It is from Ma ...

, the planned road between the two cities has not been completed yet. On the east, the city connects by road to

through the Mindoro circular road.

Tourism

Diving and snorkeling

Puerto Galera, especially the Sabang area, is among the top diving destinations in the Philippines and in Asia. Diving sites are found less than five minutes from Sabang Beach. Diving activities generally focus around the areas either side of Escarceo Point. Marine life is diverse. There are over 180+ species of

nudibranchs Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs, belonging to the order Nudibranchia, that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have be ...

found in the area, and many species of fish can be seen. A variety of wrecks over the years can be found in addition to the one wreck of an engine of a WWII Japanese patrol boat. The major diving federations PADI, CMAS, NAUI and Technical Diving International (TDI) are represented in the area, offering courses from beginners' open water to advanced and technical diving (rebreather, trimix). Diving trips in the

Verde Island Passage The Verde Island Passage is a strait that separates the islands of Luzon and Mindoro in the Philippines, connecting the South China Sea with the Tayabas Bay and the Sibuyan Sea beyond. Traditionally, the sea lane has been one of the busiest ...

, at the heart of the

Coral Triangle The Coral Triangle (CT) is a roughly triangular area in the tropical waters around Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. This area contains at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ...

are organized from Puerto Galera. Many threatened species such as a variety of sea turtles including hawksbills, olive ridleys, and green turtles, humphead wrasses, giant groupers and giant clams are present in the Verde Island Passage.

Environment

The accelerated development of tourism jeopardizes the preservation of its delicate ecological system consumed by "overdevelopment due to a thriving but runaway free-market tourism". Currently, this appears to be the "biggest problem" of Puerto Galera. Accelerated tourist oriented development poses degradation to the environment, among which, seawater pollution brought about by improper sewage and wastewater discharges. Unless serious action is taken, with regular seawater monitoring, this situation poses a serious threat to the sustainability of various tourist activities at the beaches. In the summer of 1998, extensive

coral bleaching Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to loss of Symbiosis, symbiotic algae and Photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigments. This loss of pigment can be caused by various stressors, such as changes in water temperature, light, ...

occurred around Medio Island, and a large section of a shallow

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

system (referred to as the "Coral Gardens") died. Since then, the coral has regrown with a larger diversity of coral species replacing the prolific table corals. Corals in Puerto Galera were largely unaffected by the 2010

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

event. The local government declared the 4,828 ha of municipal waters (12,690 ha) as protected waters, giving special protection to the corals and reef fishes. In 2006, two super typhoons damaged the shallow reefs around Escarceo Point. A major section of the faster-growing coral species growing up to a depth of was destroyed. This represented about 5% of the coral reef in the area. Extensive signs of new coral recruitment were noted in mid-2008. ''

Acropora ''Acropora'' is a genus of small polyp stony coral in the phylum Cnidaria. Some of its species are known as table coral, elkhorn coral, and staghorn coral. Over 149 species are described. ''Acropora'' species are some of the major reef corals ...

'' species (staghorn and table coral) rapidly recolonized the area so that most of the damaged coral has been replaced with new growth.

Gallery

File:PH - Puerto Galera - White Beach - from sea 2.jpg, Puerto Galera white beach File:PH - Puerto Galera - White Beach - sunset 1.jpg, White Beach at sunset, looking towards the north-east end File:Tamaraw Falls, Mindoro, Philippines.jpg, Tamaraw Falls File:Muelle Port, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, April 2023.jpg, Muelle Port File:Puerto Galera Church, Oriental Mindoro, April 2023.jpg, Puerto Galera Church File:Puertogalera chart 4344 1917.jpeg, Nautical chart of Puerto Galera's harbor (1917) File:Puerto galera underwater (1).jpg, Puerto galera underwater coral seascape with hydroid (Aglaophenia) File:Puerto Galera underwater (2).jpg, Two large feather stars anchored to coral File:Puerto Galera underwater (3).jpg, Juvenile fish seeking shelter in coral File:Puerto Galera underwater (4).jpg, Pink anemonefish with its sea anemone host File:Puerto Galera underwater (5).jpg, Underwater seascape with bright crinoid and tropical fish File:Puerto Galera underwater (6).jpg, Underwater seascape File:Puerto Galera underwater (7).jpg, Underwater seascape File:Puerto Galera underwater (8).jpg, Coral File:Puerto Galera underwater (10).jpg, Coral File:Puerto Galera underwater (11).jpg, Turtle on a Puerto Galera coral reef

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Local Governance Performance Management System
* {{Authority control Municipalities of Oriental Mindoro Port cities and towns in the Philippines Former provincial capitals of the Philippines Biosphere reserves of the Philippines Beaches of the Philippines Underwater diving sites in the Philippines