Puerto Galera, officially the Municipality of Puerto Galera (Filipino: Bayan ng Puerto Galera), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 41,961 people.^[3]

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Puerto Galera
Municipality
Municipality of Puerto Galera
Sabang Bay
Flag Seal
Motto:  The Amazing Puerto Galera
Anthem: The Amazing Puerto Galera
Map of Oriental Mindoro with Puerto Galera highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Puerto Galera Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 13°30′00″N 120°57′15″E
Country	Philippines
Region	Mimaropa
Province	Oriental Mindoro
District	1st district
Founded	1574
Barangays	13 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Rocky D. Ilagan
• Vice Mayor	Marlon L. Lopez
• Representative	Paulino Salvador C. Leachon
• Electorate	27,759 voters (2022)
Area [2]
• Total	247.85 km2 (95.70 sq mi)
Elevation	429 m (1,407 ft)
Highest elevation	2,571 m (8,435 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[3]
• Total	41,961
• Density	170/km2 (440/sq mi)
• Households	9,944
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	13.25 % (2018)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 217 million (2020)
• Assets	₱ 547.7 million (2020)
• Expenditure	₱ 209.5 million (2020)
• Liabilities	₱ 122.7 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (ORMECO)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	5203
PSGC	175211000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)43
Native languages	Iraya Tagalog
Website	www.puertogalera.gov.ph

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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.

Chinese traders possibly knew the place before the arrival of the Spaniards but there is no evidence of Chinese settlement.^[5] The place was likely also known by other Southeast Asian merchants, who would have found it convenient to load and unload trading goods. The state of Ma-i extended to the Puerto Galera area. 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.^[6]

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 became the first Spanish governor-general 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 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.^[5]

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.^[7] 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.

Puerto Galera is located at the north-westernmost part of Oriental Mindoro, and at the south-western end of the Isla Verde Passage, about 130 kilometres (81 mi) south of Manila and 51 kilometres (32 mi) from Calapan, the provincial capital.

The Philippine Statistics Authority characterizes the municipality of Puerto Galera as first class based on household income.^[13] The municipality had a population of 32,521 in the 2010 national census. The population in 2012 was estimated to be 35,188.^[14]

Poverty Incidence of Puerto Galera

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[15][16]
[17][18][19][20][21]}

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.^[22] Of the 13 villages ("barangays") in Puerto Galera, half now rely on tourism-based activities for sustenance.^[23]

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.^[24][25]

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".^[28] Currently, this appears to be the "biggest problem" of Puerto Galera.^[29] Accelerated tourist oriented development poses degradation to the environment, among which, seawater pollution brought about by improper sewage and wastewater discharges.^[23] 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 occurred around Medio Island, and a large section of a shallow coral reef 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 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.^[30]

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 6 metres (20 ft) 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 species (staghorn and table coral) rapidly recolonized the area so that most of the damaged coral has been replaced with new growth.

• Puerto Galera white beach
• White Beach at sunset, looking towards the north-east end
• Tamaraw Falls
• Muelle Port
• Puerto Galera Church
• Nautical chart of Puerto Galera's harbor (1917)
• Puerto galera underwater coral seascape with hydroid (Aglaophenia)
• Two large feather stars anchored to coral
• Juvenile fish seeking shelter in coral
• Pink anemonefish with its sea anemone host
• Underwater seascape with bright crinoid and tropical fish
• Underwater seascape
• Underwater seascape
• Coral
• Coral
• Turtle on a Puerto Galera coral reef