I am surprised at some of the old houses in Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro. Their municipal officers did a great job at preserving these houses. I’ve only visited A. Mabini Avenue in Pinamalayan due to a tie schedule but I’m hoping there are more old houses in the other streets.
I’m also hoping I could visit this town again to explore more.
It’s good to know that old houses in Pinamalayan are being repurposed without losing the architectural component of the house
I looked up the history of the town from the Official Website of Pinamalayan to know more.
The name Pinamalayan, as the story goes, came from the words “IPINAMALAY NA” (“It has been made known to us”), as exclaimed by its first settlers who lost their bearing amidst a turbulent sea, when a rainbow appeared in the horizon and guided them towards safety and to a place where they discovered abundant resources for livelihood. Other sources attribute the name Pinamalayan simply to the fact that the area was once a vast area planted to rice, hence the name “PINAGPALAYAN”.
The Town of Pinamalayan is one of the oldest in the Province of Oriental Mindoro. Its territory once went as far as the old settlements of Sumagui and Anilao which are now part of the towns of Bansud and Bongabong respectively. The Town of Pola was also a former part of Pinamalayan until it got its permanent township status in the early years of American Colonization while Gloria was separated from Pinamalayan in 1964.
These territorial reorganizations signify the role of Pinamalayan as a major political and economic center in the southern part of Oriental Mindoro way back the latter years of Spanish regime. Administrative orders regulating secular activities in these settlements were once sent from Pinamalayan thereby giving the town derivative advantages in trade, infrastructure development, social facilities and even political accommodations at the onset of the century.
Pinamalayan was organized as a permanent settlement in 1800's under the leadership of a Gobernadorcillo. In 1914, the Municipal Council acted on the selection of a new town site through viva-voce voting. It was in 1916 that the seat of the Municipal Government was transferred from Lumambayan to its present site. During the American Occupation American planners made sure that the town is properly laid out according to a planning system that included wide, symmetrical roads with appropriate drainage facilities. It was also during this time that a big plaza was constructed adjacent to the municipal building. To date, Pinamalayan remains a model in town planning.
Cebuana Lhuillier and M Lhuillier side by side.
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