The Colorful City of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

I’ve been hearing a lot about Pinamalayan and to my understanding, it’s one of the most progressive town in the entire Mindoro Island. When I reached Pinamalayan from Victoria (via van, because the jeepney route stops at Victoria), I was impressed with the town.

 

The municipal hall has a character, the main Roman Catholic church of St Augustine is beautiful, the marketplace is huge, the town plaza has a covered court and a Rizal Monument and there are quite some old houses here. I’ll post the pictures of the houses in a separate blog post here.

Pinamalayan has Jollibee, Mercury Drug, Southstar Drug, Metrobank, Novo Hotel, Mang Inasal among others. It’s also a coastal town so they have an aplaya. The Western Strong Republic Nautical Highway doesn’t pass through the town center itself, but I dropped off at the huge monument of a palayok (pot). I guess they’re projecting the town as the end of the rainbow with the pot of gold.

Here is some information about the town from PhilAtlas.

Pinamalayan is a coastal municipality in the province of Oriental Mindoro.

The municipality has a land area of 282.26 square kilometers or 108.98 square miles which constitutes 6.66% of Oriental Mindoro's total area. Its population as determined by the 2015 Census was 86,172. This represented 10.21% of the total population of Oriental Mindoro province, or 2.91% of the overall population of the MIMAROPA region. Based on these figures, the population density is computed at 305 inhabitants per square kilometer or 791 inhabitants per square mile.

You could also visit the Official Website of Pinamalayan here.

 

Mang Inasal, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

King Plaza, Oriental Mindoro

 

 

Novo Hotel, Pinamalayan

Metrobank, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

Jose Rizal Monument, Pinamalayan Park

Chinese Garden, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

Dambana ng Kagitingan, Pinamalayan Public Park

 

Pinamalayan Public Park

Pinamalayan Municipal Building, Oriental Mindoro

Interior Shot of the St Augustine Church, Pinamalayan

 

St Augustine Parish Church, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

Pinamalayan is a coastal town

Pinamalayan Public Market

Mercury Drug, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

Robinson’s Builders, Oriental Mindoro

  

Jollibee, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

Flickr Tags: Pinamalayan,Flickr,Jollibee,Oriental Mindoro

A Walk Through Poblacion, Puerto Galera

After we accompanied our aunt to her birthplace of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro it’s time to go back to Manila. I suggested riding a ferry from Balatero or Muelle Ports in Puerto Galera since I haven’t visited this famous beach town yet. We returned to Calapan City and rode a jeepney to Puerto Galera.

 

It was a long ride through zigzag road, and we reached Puerto Galera around 5:30 PM. The travel guides we check mentioned the last trip to be around 6 PM but since there was a storm named Falcon during our visit last July 17, 2019, the ferry schedule changed. We stayed the night at a beach resort along White Beach.

The next morning, we checked the schedule again at Balatero and Muelle and ferry trips are still suspended. My aunt and older brother decided to go back to Calapan City and rode the ferry from there. I decided to leave behind to tour Poblacion, Puerto Galera.

It's a small barangay and very much rural. I visited the main church in the area, the municipal hall, the marketplace and the aplaya (waterfront) before deciding to ride a jeep to Calapan City. There’s a XentroMall being constructed there.

Here’s some information about the beach town of Puerto Galera taken from Puerto Galera Online Services:

Puerto Galera is classified as a FIRSTCLASS municipality by the Philippine Department of Interior and Local Government.  That means the town is one notch below a CITY.

According to the 2010 CENSUS, the population of Puerto Galera is more than 32,000 spread in 13 barangays (villages).

Puerto Galera is located on the north shore of Mindoro Island, 130 kilometers south of Manila and 14 nautical miles away from Batangas City.  It comprises of 12 coastal villages (barangays) and 1 mountain district scattered over an area of 23,247 hectares, bordered on the north by Verde Island, on the south by Baco and Malasimbo mountains, on the southeast by the town of San Teodoro and on the northwest by the province of Occidental Mindoro.  Its natural seawall, exciting dive sites, lush mountains and pristine beaches make Puerto Galera one of the Philippines’ top travel destinations.

 

 

 

 

XentroMall, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro

 

Poblacion, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro. Seems like a typical barangay in Manila – complete with M Lhuillier, Andok’s, Villarica and a Vivo store.

 

 

“The Most Beautiful Bay in the World” marker

Crossroads to White Beach and Sabang Beach, Puerto Galera

They also have Cebuana Lhuillier in Puerto Galera

 

Poblacion is full of local businesses

Puerto Galera Central School

Puerto Galera Academy

Rural Bank of Puerto Galera, Inc

The Municipal Hall of Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro

 

Puerto Galera Church

Interior shot of the Puerto Galera Church

Excavation Museum, Puerto Galera

A grotto in the vicinity of the Puerto Galera Church

Puerto Galera Church Belltower

Aplaya (waterfront)

Puerto Galera Public Market, Poblacion

Early morning walk along the waterfront

Inside the Puerto Galera Public Market

Puerto Galera Public Market

 

Barangay Hall of Poblacion, Puerto Galera

Technorati Tags: Poblacion,Puerto Galera,Oriental Mindoro,XentroMall