HISTORY of PUERTO GALERA

Puerto Galera is very rich in history. It was such an important port that some historians even believe the name "Mindoro" was derived from Minolo, one of Puerto Galera's old settlements. There are claims, too, that 16th century references to Mindoro often only meant the harbor of Minolo. Also spelled Minoro, Minolo was a small coastal settlement northwest of the Poblacion of present-day Puerto Galera.

Then the center of trading, Chinese merchants bartered with natives of Minolo, exchanging glazed porcelains for gold, jade, corals, shells, birds, rattan and other forest products that were abundunt in the island.

An excavation of an ancient gravesite near Minolo lends proof to this-the antiques unearthed from the gravesite were traced back to the 10th and 15th centuries, mostly from China, Thailand and Vietnam.