Mangarin

Mangarin is an old coastal settlement on the southern side of Mindoro, overlooking the bay that bears its name, with the island of Ilin lying off the coast. Chinese traders are recalled anchoring on its shore to trade from the fourteenth century, and local tradition derives the name from the Chinese word Mandarin, claiming that the remains of a Chinese official's residence stood in the old village. The district is linked to Ma-i, the early trading polity of Mindoro known from Chinese records, before Brunei's power reached the island.

The sheltered waters face the islands to the south, while the interior rises into Mindoro's mountainous country, where the Mangyan people lived. After the Spanish took firm possession of the island in the eighteenth century, the first presidencia of the south was built at Sinaoga, a short way west of Mangarin, and moved a year later to Caminawit.