Welcome to San Jose
Occidental Mindoro - More Than a Paradise
Occidental Mindoro - More Than a Paradise
Explore the rich cultural heritage, stunning landscapes, and authentic local delicacies of San Jose. Your gateway to unforgettable experiences and hidden gems.
Richblitz Sweets began with Grace D. Dinglasan, a single mother from San Jose, Occidental Mindoro whose determination turned a small idea into a growing business. Starting with no capital and using only borrowed equipment, she created her first product, the Cheesy Cake, which quickly became popular in local offices and shops. Her major breakthrough came when the DOST discovered her products during the AGBILIWA Trade Fair. Through their training and support, Grace improved her production methods, upgraded packaging, and expanded her product line. This increased her output and income significantly, transforming Richblitz from a home-based venture into a recognized local brand. Today, Richblitz Sweets stands as a symbol of perseverance, innovation, and the power of starting small.
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Mangarin Alamang, a traditional shrimp paste from Mangarin, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, is made through a process passed down over generations. Small shrimp are harvested from the coastal waters, cleaned, salted, and fermented for weeks or months in shaded, cool areas. The shrimp paste is then refined, packaged, and sold locally and beyond to places like Calapan and Metro Manila. It is used in Filipino dishes like sinigang, bagnet, and paksiw. This practice takes place in Mangarin’s coastal barangay, where the abundant shrimp are harvested in the mangrove-lined waters. The process serves multiple purposes: preserving shrimp, providing income, and maintaining cultural heritage. The production is a family affair, with generations participating, fostering community bonds. Mangarin Alamang also carries cultural significance, symbolizing the community’s connection to the sea, sustainable fishing, and local pride. It is a culinary staple that represents the community's identity, contributing to both local and regional trade. Currently, they are in stall inside San Jose Night Market (near the San Jose Town Plaza) and are currently selling their one of a kind alamang.
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San Jose Longganisa, a well-loved product of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, represents the unity of various ethnic groups who settled in the town. One of its pioneers is 80-year-old Mrs. Chonchita “Gng. Conching” Valera Aquino, who, together with her husband Eddie and nephew Edwin Pineda, has preserved their family’s longganisa-making tradition for decades. The longganisa reflects the town’s migration history. Ilocanos, Kapampangans, Bisayas, and Pangasinans moved to San Jose due to factors such as post–World War II recovery, the promise of farmland, and the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption. They brought their own culinary techniques—Ilocano garlicky-spicy flavors, Kapampangan sweet-savory styles, and Bisaya–Pangasinan balanced blends—which slowly merged into what is now known as San Jose Longganisa. After Liberation Day in 1944, the town became a refuge for migrants whose food preservation methods influenced local cooking. As Edwin shared, their family learned from these groups, combining different techniques to create the longganisa’s unique taste. Today, San Jose Longganisa stands as more than a delicacy—it is a symbol of resilience, cultural fusion, and the shared history of diverse communities whose traditions came together in one flavorful product.
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The old church at the center of the mission station founded by the Spanish missionaries at the south western part of Mindoro. Improved and beautified in 2013 by Fr. Fernando Suarez, MMMP, this house of worship was already being used by the Catholic faithful in the Island of Iling. This was formerly a wooden chapel built by the Spanish friars, when they made Iling as a mission station in 1820. After many years, they installed at the belfry of this chapel a church bell with the inscription “Aπo 1843.”
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The site where the building of the first secondary school in the south western part of Mindoro was erected in 1945. That year, Professor Gabriel Fabella and his fellow educators, founded in Central, Southern Mindoro Academy (SMA). When soldiers of the Allied Armed Forces who liberated San Jose on December 15, 1944 left the municipality, one of the long quonset huts in Pandurucan, which they used as living quarter, was bought by the incorporators of the school and converted into classrooms. In 1960, the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) bought SMA and renamed it as Divine Word Academy. Years later, it became known as Divine Word College-San Jose.
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The site where the buildings for the classrooms of a Catholic school founded by Fr. Carlos Brendel, SVD were erected. Called as St. Joseph’s School, this educational institution gave quality education to the youth of San Jose and neighboring municipalities, who became leaders in various fields of endeavour. In 1960, when Southern Mindoro Academy was acquired by the SVD fathers, this secondary school became an exclusive school for girls. One of the alumni of this school is Representative Josephine Ramirez-Sato, the longest serving public official of Occidental Mindoro. St. Joseph’s School closed in 1984.
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This building was used as first post office of San Jose, when this town was created by Gov.-Gen. William Cameroon Forbes, on May 1, 1910. During World War II, this building was also used as a garrison by the Japanese soldiers. When a building was constructed at Pandurucan, to house the permanent post office, Holy Family Academy used this structure as its library in 1957. Only minor repairs were made in this structure. Despite existing for more than a century, this building is still standing.
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The center of the first parish created by the Order of the Augustinian Recollects, in the south western part of Mindoro, in 1683. A stone fort was constructed here to defend the parishioners against the marauding pirates. However, since the center of the parish was located between two rivers, it was frequently flooded. The inhabitants, led by Fr. Valentin Diaz delos Sagrados Corazones de Jesus y Maria requested the government to transfer it to another place. The government granted their request. In 1866, the barrio site of Mangarin was transferred to the place where it is located at present.
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The church where the seat of the vicar apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose is found. This house of worship was a former parish church built by Fr. George Koshinski, SVD in 1961. In 1983, when the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose was created and Bishop Vicente Manuel, SVD, DD was installed as the apostolic vicar, this church was elevated to the status of a cathedral for it became the center of an ecclesiastical territory. The cathedral was made wider by members of Basic Ecclesial Communities in Occ. Mindoro. In 2001, the Cathedral Renovation Committee headed by Ms. Fe Ronquillo-Arrastia was created. With the financial support of the Catholic faithful here and abroad, the cathedral was renovated and made bigger.
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The tourist magnet church in Iling Island. This is a church constructed by “the healing priest” Rev. Fr. Fernando Suarez, MMMP, founder of the religious congregation Missionaries of Mary Mother of the Poor (MMMP). Structurally, the brick-clad edifice is a modern adaptation of Romanesque architecture; it has a floor area of nearly 600 square meter, and has its own choir loft. The Byzantine inspired structure is made of banal solid wood featuring 40 sacred icons, 12 apostles and the last supper. A painter from Israel came and volunteered to paint the sacred icons, apostles and picture of the last supper inside the church.
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The only Gabaldon type of school building which is still standing in San Jose. This building of Siete Central Farm School, which was the 3rd educational institution opened in San Jose, after Iling Elementary School & Caminawit Elementary School was constructed in 1913. This type of school building was named after Representative Isauro Gabaldon, who sponsored in the Philippine Assembly the bill which allotted one million pesos for the construction of school buildings for elementary school pupils. During World War II, this building was also used as a garrison by the Japanese soldiers who occupied San Jose.
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The portion of the beach in San Jose where approximately 300 soldiers of the Allied Armed Forces first landed. From Leyte, the liberation forces proceeded to San Jose on December 15, 1944 and made this part of the beach of Brgy. San Roque, at present, as their Second Landing Site. Aside from soldiers, supplies, ammunitions, transport vehicles, tanks and heavy equipment were unloaded in this area. Airfields were hastily constructed at strategic places in San Jose. Warplanes from those airfields helped liberate many places in the Philippines from Japanese occupation.
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The statue erected to perpetuate the memory of the liberation of San Jose by the Allied Armed Forces, from Japanese occupation on December 15, 1944. In 1947, the first graduates of Southern Mindoro Academy (SMA) implemented their project of acquiring a statue of liberty and donating it to the municipal government, to commemorate the liberation of San Jose by the Allied Armed Forces from Japanese occupation. Mayor Isabelo Abeleda happily received the donation. It was erected at the western part of the town plaza. Many years later, the statue was transferred in front of the municipal compound, near the entrance.
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An old community of the Mangyans which played an important role in the liberation of the Philippines. In 1944, during the liberation of San Jose from Japanese occupation, this airfield was constructed by the engineers of the Allied Armed Forces. It was named in honor of Colonel John Murtha, commander of the 310th Bombardment Wing who died when the fighter plane of a Japanese kamikaze pilot dove and exploded in the battleship carrying him and other by the Allied Armed Forces to liberate other parts of the Philippines from Japanese occupation. Warplanes from this airfield were used to liberate other parts of the country from the occupation of Japanese soldiers. After the war, Upper Mangyan, the old name of the place where the airfield was located, was changed to Murtha.
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The building where passengers of ships docking at the south western portion of Mindoro Strait used to come and wait for the train from Central. Built as a canteen in 1912, near the wooden wharf of Caminawit by the owners of Mindoro Sugar Company (later renamed Philippine Milling Company), this structure also served as a waiting place of passengers who wanted to go to Central to work at the sugarcane plantation & sugar mill. Oftentimes, they waited for the train to arrive from Central for several hours. The canteen supervisor used to utter this joke to the passengers: “You come and wait.” Later on the words joined and became “Caminawit,” the name of the community where the canteen is located. In 1971, the second floor of this old building was used as the broadcast studio of DZYM-AM, the first radio station in Occidental Mindoro
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The place where the airplane carrying then Manila Auxiliary Bishop William Finnemann, SVD, DD landed in 1934. The bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to thousands of children of workers & employees of Philippine Milling Company. He was the first bishop who visited the sugar mill & sugarcane plantation. When the Apostolic Prefecture of Mindoro was established in 1936, he was installed as the first bishop of the ecclesiastical territory in the island.
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A park created to perpetuate the memory of the most progressive community in the island of Mindoro, in 1912. When Philippine Milling Company ceased to operate, during Decade 70s, its buildings were dismantled and its reusable equipment & machineries were sold to sugar millers at Iloilo. Pioneers of Central felt extremely sad for the demise of the once progressive company. To remind the people of the physical appearance of the center of the sugar company, Brgy Captain Amado Tan set aside an area at the exact location of the sugar mill, beautified the surroundings and constructed a concrete stage with replicas of the important structures of Philippine Milling Company.
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The house of worship where two Spanish friars declared holy by the Catholic Church had celebrated mass. In 1850, Fr. Pablo Bienzobas de San Antonio de Padua, encouraged the parishioners of Mangarin Parish to build a stone church which would also serve as stronghold (baluarte), whenever the pirates attack their settlement. The inhabitants upon hearing the ringing of the bell at Mangarin fort would hide inside the massive walls of the stone church. Old records at the archives of the Order of the Augustinian Recollect, mentioned that St. Exequiel Moreno and Blessed Diego de Sanvitores celebrated mass inside this church.
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A structure used to defend the inhabitants of Mangarin against the marauding pirates. In 1844, the parish priest of Mangarin, Fr. Pedro Soto de San Juan Bautista, led his parishioners in building this stone fort with four cannons. Day and night, guards were assigned at the fort and every time they see the colorful sails of the pirates’ vinta in Mindoro Strait, they ring the bell on the watchtower to warn the inhabitants of impending danger. The pirates stopped marauding Mangarin when, the defenders of the fort killed some of them with the use of the bronze cannons.
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The hiding place of marauding pirates and the guide of seagoing vessels in the southern portion of Mindoro Strait. In an article published in Singapore, in 1849, the late Dutch researcher & SVD priest, Fr. Antoon Postma, read that the Muslim pirates sought shelter in the cove or sheltered bay of Ambulong (Minanga Cove), during stormy weather. In 1860, the Spanish colonial government built a lighthouse on the hill located in the northwestern part of the island. When the elements of nature destroyed the lighthouse, the American government built a more durable lighthouse on the same hill in 1901. The structure is still standing up to the present time.
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The first community visited by the Spaniards in Mindoro. Historian Dr. Gregorio Zaide wrote that in 1571, Captain Juan de Salcedo with boatloads of Visayan & Spanish warriors, visited Iling Island, on their way to Mamburao to drive the Muslim pirates from their headquarters. The old settlement which they visited is now called Ingbanwahan which originally came from a Visayan term meaning “Pinagbayanan”. Captain Juan de Salcedo reported to Gov.-Gen. Martin Lopez de Legazpi that the inhabitants of this community are peace-loving people.
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The settlement of the first inhabitants of San Jose. From July 13-August 15, 2015 a group of archaeologists from UP, led by Professor Alfred Pawlik discovered that Iling Island, specifically, Sitio Bubog of Brgy. Pawican, at present, was inhabited by people belonging to the hunter-gatherer society. The said group excavated shell adzes from the island. After being subjected to carbon dating in a laboratory in Australia, it was determined that the shell adzes were used for cutting wood by the hunter-gatherers 6500 - 6250 years before the birth of Jesus Christ
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Onion ice cream is made in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines, at the Occidental Mindoro State College (OMSC) Food Processing Center. The college developed the product to help local farmers by finding new uses for onions, especially those that are not marketable due to size or low prices.
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This airfield was also constructed by the Allied Armed Forces, in 1944, during the liberation of San Jose from Japanese occupation. It was named after Major Thomas McGuire, an ace pilot of the U.S. Air Force. Like Murtha Airfield, warplanes from this airfield were used by the Allied Armed Forces, to liberate other parts of the Philippines from Japanese occupation. After World War II, it was converted into a commercial airport by the national government and was inaugurated by President Elpidio Quirino, in 1951. Great improvements were made by the government to this airport, through the years and it contributed much to the progress of the municipality of San Jose. San Jose Airport formerly known as McGuire Field, is an airport serving the general area of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro in the Philippines. It is one of three airports in Occidental Mindoro, the others being Mamburao Airport and Lubang Airport. The airport is classified as a Principal class 1 domestic airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, an agency of the Department of Transportation that is responsible for the operations of not only this airport but also of all other airports in the Philippines, except the major international airports.
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