Mimaropa

History

Mimaropa, together with Calabarzon, was officially created with the partitioning of Southern Tagalog (Region IV) into the two regions on May 17, 2002, with the issuance of Executive Order No. 103 by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, for the purpose of promoting efficiency in the government, accelerating social and economic development, and improving public services in the provinces covered. Region IV-B was designated as Mimaropa, which stands for the island provinces belonging to the Southern Tagalog region—Mindoro (Oriental and Occidental), Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan. Region IV-A was designated as Calabarzon. Romblon was transferred from Western Visayas to Southern Tagalog.

On May 23, 2005, Executive Order 429 was issued, moving the province of Palawan to the region of Western Visayas, designating Region IV-B as "Mimaro". However, Palawan residents criticized the move, citing a lack of consultation, with most in Puerto Princesa and nearly all municipalities preferring to remain in Region IV-B. Consequently, Administrative Order No. 129 was issued on August 19, 2005, to address this backlash. This order directed the abeyance of Executive Order 429 pending the approval of an implementation plan for the orderly transfer of Palawan from Mimaropa to Region VI.

The 2010 Philippine Census of Population reported the region's name as "Mimaropa" and included Palawan as part of the region. , it is unclear whether the transfer of Palawan to Western Visayas is still pending withhe Philippine government. , the National Statistical Coordinating Board of the Philippines continued to list Palawan province as part of the Mimaropa region.

On July 17, 2016, Republic Act No. 10879 formally established the Southwestern Tagalog Region to be known as the Mimaropa Region. This involved no boundary changes but was in effect merely a renaming and discontinuation of the "Region IV-B" designation.

Demographics

Languages

The native languages of Mimaropa are:

• Alangan, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
• Asi, spoken in Romblon and Marinduque.
• Bonggi, spoken in the southernmost islands of Palawan
• Buhid, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
• Calamian Tagbanwa, spoken in Palawan.
• Cuyonon, spoken in Palawan.
• Hanunoo, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
• Hiligaynon, spoken in Palawan and Romblon.
• Iraya, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
• Jama Mapun, spoken in the southernmost islands of Palawan
• Karay-a or Kinaray-a, spoken in eastern parts of Palawan, southern parts Mindoro and southern parts of Romblon.
• Molbog, spoken in south Palawan.
• Onhan, spoken in Romblon.
• Palawano, spoken in Palawan.
• Ratagnon, spoken in the south Mindoro.
• Romblomanon, spoken in Romblon.
• Sabah Malay, spoken in south Palawan.
• Sibuyanon, spoken in Romblon.
• Tadyawan, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
• Tagalog, spoken in Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan. It is the regional lingua franca, mostly as Filipino.
• Tausug, spoken in southwestern Palawan.
• Tawbuid, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.

Economy

**Poverty Incidence of **

In 2007, Mimaropa's economy surged by 9.4%, making it the fastest growing region in the country in that year. It was aided by robust growth in the industrial sector which grew by 19.1% from -6.1% in 2006. Mimaropa experienced a big slowdown in 2006, posting a decelerated growth of 2.3% from a 6.4% increase in 2005. This resulted mainly from the slump in the industry sector, which shrunk by 5.4% in 2006 from its 10.8% increase in 2005.

The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector, which contributed 42.1% to the total regional economy, grew by 9.1% in 2006, accelerating from 3.2% the previous year. The higher production of rice, maize, other crops, livestock and fishery resulted in the accelerated growth in the total agriculture and fishery sector.

The industry sector, which contributed 38.3% to the region's total economy, was the second largest contributor next to agriculture. Its decline of 5.4% was largely attributed to the decrease in the mining and quarrying sub-sector, which went down by 15.4% due to the reduced production of natural gas in Palawan. Mining and quarrying contributed 16.6% to the total regional economy. The positive growth in the electricity and water, construction and manufacturing sub-sectors were not able to compensate for the drop in the mining and quarrying sub-sector.

The service sector, on the other hand, posted an accelerated growth of 5.1%, which was attributed to the increase in the TCS, finance, private services, government services and trade sub-sectors, which managed to post accelerated growths of 6.0%, 5.5%, 5.1%, 5.1% and 4.7%, respectively. The other sub-sector, however, had a decelerated growth due to the slowdown in the ownership of dwellings.

Tourism

There are many scenic spots in Mimaropa. Some of them are the Bathala Cave, Balanacan Bay, and Tres Reyes Islands in the province of Marinduque; White Island in Mindoro; Fort San Andres, Mount Guiting-Guiting, and Bonbon Beach in Romblon; and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and El Nido Marine Reserve Park in Palawan.

Administrative divisions

Provinces

Mimaropa comprises 5 provinces, 1 highly urbanized city (Puerto Princesa), 1 component city (Calapan), 71 municipalities and 1,460 barangays. |

Governors and vice governors

Notable people

Main article: Marinduque#Notable people, Oriental Mindoro#Notable people, Category:People from Palawan, Puerto Princesa#Notable personalities, Romblon#Notable people

References

References

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2. "Subnational HDI - Philippines - Table - Global Data Lab".
3. (July 17, 2016). "An Act establishing the Southwestern Tagalog Region, to be known as the MIMAROPA Region". [[Official Gazette (Philippines).
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5. (2002-05-17). "Dividing Region IV into Region IV-A and Region IV-B, Transferring the Province of Aurora to Region III and for Other Purposes". [[Philippine Statistics Authority.
6. (2005-05-23). "Providing for the Reorganization of Administrative Region VI to Include the Province of Palawan and Puerto Princesa City". [[Philippine Statistics Authority.
7. (2005-08-19). "Directing the Department of the Interior and Local Government to Hold In Abeyance the Implementation of Executive Order No. 429 (s. 2005) Pending Its Submission of an Implementation Plan and Its Subsequent Approval by the Office of the President". [[Philippine Statistics Authority.
8. Salonga, Kaxandra Alexis. (11 November 2025). "Ombudsman: Malversation case against Co, Sunwest Inc, DPWH Region IV-B officials submitted for resolution". ABS-CBN News.
9. Esguerra, Darryl John. (9 November 2025). "Palace suspends gov't work, classes in 12 regions due to Uwan". Philippine News Agency.
10. (2007-11-22). "Designating Calapan City as the Regional Center of Region IV-B Otherwise Referred to as the MIMAROPA Region". [[Official Gazette (Philippines).
11. "Region IV-B Directory: Regional Office Directory".
12. (September 24, 1972). "Reorginazing the Executive Branch of the National Government".
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23. (July 28, 2008). "NSCB - 2007 Gross Regional Domestic Product". National Statistical Coordination Board.
24. (April 27, 2007). "Puerto Princesa to hold plebiscite simultaneous with May 14 elections". Philippine Information Agency.