Mamburao is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. It is the capital municipality of Occidental Mindoro. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 34,487 people and has 20,344 registered voters (2010). The town has an approximate land area of 33,950 hectares.
The first settlement in Mindoro to have been visited by the Spaniards was the village of Mamburao, which according to accepted history made this village the Moro stronghold in the island. Early on January 1, 1560, Legaspi dispatched his grandson Juan de Salcedo with a combined Panay Forces in 15 boats, sailed from Mamburao and destroyed this Mohammedan town and demolished the pirate port. Salcedo returned richly laden with spoils of war and covered with martial glory. On May 3, 1560, another expedition was sent from Panay which included Salcedo and Martin de Goiti and touched at Mamburao.
In the early days of the propagation of Christianity, the Village of Mamburao belonged to the third convent district established at Calavite. Mamburao later became a ‘colossal empire”, for it either incorporated three towns or gave birth to the municipality. From the end of the Spanish period in 1902, Sablayan was a barrio of Mamburao as barrios. Under Act 1280 in 1905, Paluan and Abra de Ilog were annexed to Mamburao as barrios. All these places however, eventually were created as separate municipalities, In 1929, Sta. Cruz, a barrio of Mamburao, was also given independent status as a municipality.
Before the separation of Sta. Cruz from Mamburao, the latter had an area of 1,050 square kilometers, or 105,000 hectares. The population of Mamburao in 1903 was only 894, in 1939, it increased at 4,423, and in 1948 it jumped to 5,571. Literacy percentage then was 46.6%.Mamburao’s population at the turn of the century was very sparse because it was depopulated during the Muslim invasion and piracy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Mamburao itself was made the base of Muslim piratical raids of the coastal towns of Mindoro, Luzon and Visayas. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, Mamburao was peopled again by immigrants. The first batch if immigrants were Ilocanos who came from Zambales. Among the pioneering settlers were Simon Agpalo, Juan Ladao and Hermogenes Alcaide. Agpalo came in with his relatives, the de Jesuses, the Regudos and Ladaos. Simon Agpalo settled in Mamburao in 1860. At the turn of the century, Tagalogs came to Mamburao. Most of them came from Lubang, Looc, and Paluan, but some came from Batangas and Cavite.
Mamburao is located on the northern part of Occidental Mindoro, which is the seat of the provincial government. Three (3) – neighboring towns bounded the municipal area, on the west is the town Paluan, on the north is Abra de Ilog and on the southeast is the municipality of Sta. Cruz. It is about 170 kilometers from San Jose, the southern town of Occidental Mindoro within the Island.
The National Highway is passing thru the heart of the town via Abra de Ilog going to Oriental Mindoro. The rest is going to Paluan and Sta. Cruz.
The municipality of Mamburao can be connected in the mainland like Manila and other of Luzon provinces by air and water transportation. Mamburao is accessible by water transportation thru its port at Barangay Tayamaan where big vessels are anchored and Matabang Port located at Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro.
Mamburao is politically subdivided into 15 barangays. The eight (8) barangays are found in the population created under P.D. 86 and the seven (7) are outside the poblacion area.
| Barangay | Urban/Rural | Population* |
|---|---|---|
| Balansay | | |
| Fatima (Tii) | | |
| Payompon | | |
| San Luis (Ligang) | | |
| Talabaan | | |
| Tayamaan | | |
| Talabaan | | |
| Poblacion 1 (Barangay 1) | | |
| Poblacion 2 (Barangay 2) | | |
| Poblacion 3 (Barangay 3) | | |
| Poblacion 4 (Barangay 4) | | |
| Poblacion 5 (Barangay 5) | | |
| Poblacion 6 (Barangay 6) | | |
| Poblacion 7 (Barangay 7) | | |
| Poblacion 8 (Barangay 8) | | |
