Glimpses in the History of Occidental Mindoro

Occidental Mindoro is the western half of the Island of Mindoro. Before the year 1950, the whole island was one province, thus, the history of Occidental Mindoro will not be complete if we will not include some events in the history of Mindoro. The late Dutch researcher and SVD missionary, Antoon Postma, believed that the word Mindoro originated from Minolo, the name of an old settlement of the indigenous people near Puerto Galera. In the archives of the Order of Augustinian Recollects in Madrid, he found a copy of the petition sent by the natives to Corregidor Gregorio Ladero, the administrator of Mindoro, in 1703, where the petitioners called the island as “ang pulo ng Minolo.”