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Mimaropa (usually capitalized in official government documents), formally known as the Southwestern Tagalog Region,[3] is an administrative region in the Philippines. It was also formerly designated as Region IV-B until 2016. 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.[4] 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.[5] However, on August 19, 2005, then-President Arroyo issued Administrative Order No. 129 to put in abeyance Executive Order No. 429 pending a review.[6] 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.[3]
Calapan is Mimaropa's regional center. However, most regional government offices such as the Department of Public Works and Highways[7] and the Department of Budget and Management are in Quezon City, Metro Manila.
The Visayas (/vɪˈsaɪəz/ vi-SY-əz), or the Visayan Islands[2] (Cebuano: Kabisay-an, locally [kabiˈsajʔan]; Tagalog: Kabisayaan [kabiˈsɐjaʔan]), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, it consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are also considered the northeast extremity of the entire Sulu Sea.[3] Its inhabitants are predominantly the Visayan peoples.
The major islands of the Visayas are Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar.[6] The region may also include the provinces of Palawan, Romblon, and Masbate whose populations identify as Visayan and whose languages are more closely related to other Visayan languages than to the major languages of Luzon.
