Mimaropa

Mimaropa (officially stylized in all caps), officially the Southwestern Tagalog Region, is an administrative region in the Philippines. It is one of two regions in the country having no land border with another region (the other being Eastern Visayas). The name is an acronym combination of its constituent provinces: Mindoro (divided into Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro), Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan. The region was part of the now-defunct Southern Tagalog region until May 17, 2002. On May 23, 2005, Palawan and the highly urbanized city of Puerto Princesa were moved to the region of Western Visayas by Executive Order No. 429. However, on August 19, 2005, President Arroyo issued Administrative Order No. 129 to put in abeyance Executive Order No. 429 pending a review. On July 17, 2016, Republic Act No. 10879 formally established the Southwestern Tagalog Region to be known as Mimaropa, discontinuing the Region IV-B designation; however, no boundary changes were involved. Calapan is Mimaropa's regional center. However, most regional government offices such as the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Budget and Management are in Quezon City, Metro Manila. History Mimaropa, together with Calabarzon, were 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. Marinduque was a sub-province of Quezon, at that time known as Tayabas; it became independent province in 1920. Quezon is now part of Calabarzon.