Puerto De Galera

23/09/2025

BAGYONG OPONG, LUMIHIS NG LANDAS PAPALAYO NG MINDORO!

Sa pinakahuling update PAGASA (Sept 23, 8PM), lumihis ng tinatahak na landas si Bagyong Opong at ngayo’y unti-unting gumagalaw pahilaga at palayo sa isla ng Mindoro.

Sa pinakahuling ulat ng ahensya, bahagyang tumaas ang ruta nito at tinutumbok ang Calabarzon at Metro Manila ngunit patuloy na magdudulot ng malalakas na pag-ulan at pagbugso ng hangin sa ilang bahagi ng MIMAROPA at Visayas. Gayunpaman, nakikitang hindi na tuwirang tatama ang sentro ng bagyo sa Mindoro gaya ng naunang inaasahan.

Bunga nito, inaasahang mas mababawasan ang panganib ng malawakang pagbaha at pagguho ng lupa sa probinsya, bagama’t pinapayuhan pa rin ang publiko na manatiling alerto at patuloy na sumubaybay sa mga weather bulletin.

Samantala, patuloy namang binabantayan ng PAGASA ang posibilidad ng mas malakas na ulan sa Bicol Region, Quezon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon at ilang bahagi ng Eastern Visayas dahil sa lawak ng sirkulasyon ni Opong.

Nagpaalala rin ang PAGASA na huwag maging kampante at manatiling handa, lalo na sa mga lugar na mababa ang lokasyon at malapit sa baybayin, dahil maaari pa ring maranasan ang pagtaas ng alon at malalakas na hangin dulot ng bagyo.

- DOST PAGASA

23/09/2025

Tumataas.

September 2025 Overall Electricity Rate

22/09/2025

🌑⚡ THE DARK NIGHT: PUERTO GALERA EDITION ⚡🌑

Why do we always have brownouts (a.k.a. blackouts)?
Because apparently ORMECO thinks candlelight dinners build character.

The reasons?
👉 Aging lines older than your lolo’s jokes
👉 Undersupply from the grid (parang naka-layaway lang kuryente)
👉 Management na allergic sa word na “efficient”

What can we mere mortals do?
🕯 Stockpile candles like it’s the apocalypse
🌀 Buy rechargeable fans (good for 30 minutes bago mag-init ulit)
📞 Call the hotline? Sure, if gusto mong ma-stress audition for a teleserye

Proposed solutions?
Renewables daw, new lines daw, submarine cabling daw… Ang dami nang daw, wala pang wow.

And the best part?
From ₱9k to ₱13k ang bill ko. Congratulations to us — we now pay the highest electricity rate in the Philippines.

Puerto Galera: world-class beaches, world-class blackout. 👏👏👏

💡 Moral lesson: The “Dark Night” isn’t just Batman. It’s everyday life here.

22/09/2025

A new weather disturbance has formed east of the Philippines and could develop into a tropical cyclone this week.

22/09/2025

22/09/2025

Ganire.

22/09/2025

The Infamous Skin Tax: The Unholy Mark-Up of Puerto Galera

Ah, the legendary “skin tax.” For those blissfully unaware, this is the special surcharge we lovingly reserve for our Kano—a term that once meant Amerikano but now covers any foreigner, whether white, black, brown, tall, short, bald, or with a man bun. If you’ve got a foreign face, congratulations! You’ve just unlocked Puerto Galera’s premium pricing plan.

A bottle of beer? For locals, it’s ₱60–₱70. For the Kano? ₱80–₱120. That’s a 100% gratitude fee for the privilege of being… well, you. Need a trinket from a sari-sari store? That’ll be 100% extra if your nose is too pointed or your accent too nasal. We’ve mastered the art of currency conversion: foreign skin = dollar sign.

But let’s be honest: it doesn’t stop with the Kano. Even fellow Filipinos—especially the poor first-timers from Manila who look like they’ve just escaped the office—become accidental victims of our creative accounting. “Mukha kang turista? Congratulations, you’ve leveled up into the ‘premium customer’ bracket.”

Why This Is Ugly

The few who practice skin tax make all of us look greedy, small-minded, and—let’s say it plainly—un-Christian. Or if you’re Muslim, un-Muslim. Because nowhere in the Bible or the Qur’an does it say:

> “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself… unless thy neighbor is Kano, then charge double.”

When tourists realize they’re being played, they don’t just blame the one tricycle driver, or the one tindera who slapped a “foreign face fee.” They blame Puerto Galera. And when they post it online, the whole town wears the shame.

Why We Must Do Better

Skin tax is not clever entrepreneurship. It’s a slow poison. It might give you a few extra pesos today, but it robs Puerto Galera of return guests tomorrow. The tourist who paid ₱120 for the ₱70 beer isn’t thinking, “Wow, what a charming cultural quirk!” No, they’re thinking, “Never again.” And they’ll tell their friends.

If we want Puerto Galera to rise, to compete with Batangas, Boracay, Palawan, we cannot keep biting the very hands that feed us. Remember: tourists are blessings, not prey. God entrusted us with beauty—our beaches, our mountains, our bay. Are we really going to insult His gift by practicing daylight robbery in broad daylight?

Final Word

So next time you’re tempted to add a “skin tax,” ask yourself:

Would I charge Jesus more if He walked into my store looking like a foreigner?

Would Allah be proud if I inflated prices by 300% because the buyer looked clueless?

If the answer makes you sweat, then maybe it’s time to stop.

Puerto Galera doesn’t need skin tax. What we need is fair tax—fair treatment, fair pricing, fair dealings. Because fairness brings blessings. Greed only brings curses, Facebook rants, and TripAdvisor horror stories.

👉 Let’s stop making Puerto Galera ugly. Be fair, be honest, and yes—be Christian or Muslim in the truest sense.

Photo is AI Generated.

22/09/2025

SUPERCAT,SPRINT, FASTCAT kansilado ang byaheng Calapan to Batangas
at Batangas to Calapan. Ibang barko ay regular pa rin ang byahe.

22/09/2025

💭 Why I Write as Puerto De Galera (the Man with No Face) 💭

Alam mo na ako. Kahit wala akong mukha, kilala mo ‘ko. I’ve lived here more than 5 decades — and trust me, I’ve seen it all.

Puerto Galera is paradise, yes. But paradise has its cast of ehem. Eto sila 👇

1️⃣ The Pessimists
Ito yung mga taong kahit anong good news, gagawin nilang funeral announcement. “Maraming turista ngayon!” – “Oo pero bukas wala na ‘yan.” 🙄 Cheerleaders of negativity.

2️⃣ The Overly Fearful
Yung tipong natatakot sa sariling anino. Sabihin mong may problema? “Wag mong ipost, baka mawalan tayo ng turista!” Eh paano kung wala na talagang turista? At least may honesty.

3️⃣ The Power Trippers
Bigyan mo lang ng maliit na posisyon, kala mo si Alexander the Great na. May uniform? Lalo nang feeling general. Ang lakas mag-rant, pero zero logic.

4️⃣ The Pretenders
Magaling sa “unity-unity” pero sa likod, may sariling agenda. Kunwari concerned, pero actually… concerned lang sa sarili. Oscar-worthy acting, bawat barangay fiesta. 🎭

5️⃣ The Exploiters
“200 pesos lang dapat? Gawin nating 1,200!” Ang tingin nila sa turista, walking ATM. Tapos sila pa magtataka kung bakit ayaw bumalik ng mga bisita. 🤷‍♂️

6️⃣ The Gossip Mongers
Ito na ang CNN, ABS-CBN, GMA rolled into one… minus the facts. Nakakita ng chismis? Boom, breaking news agad! Minsan pati utak nila gawa-gawa lang.

7️⃣ The Complacent
“Eh ganyan na talaga.” Ito yung mga naka-folded arms habang lumulubog ang bangka. Apathy na, in denial pa.

8️⃣ The Dividers
Unity is boring for them. Mas gusto nila yung may “kami laban sa kanila.” Every issue, ginagawang barangay basketball league. 🏀

So now you understand. Kaya ako si Puerto De Galera.
A man with history, but no face. Kasi minsan, to tell the truth in this town… mas ligtas (at mas nakakatawa) kung naka-maskara ka.

21/09/2025

Puerto Galera: Time to Wake Up

Mga kababayan, the writing on the wall is clear—our neighbors in Batangas and other nearby provinces of Metro Manila and Calabarzon are no longer sleeping giants. Their beaches are alive with activity, their tourism councils are aggressive, their operators are united, and their marketing is relentless. Every weekend, thousands of tourists are pouring into Laiya, Calatagan, and Nasugbu. Meanwhile, Puerto Galera, once the jewel of Mindoro, risks fading into memory if we don’t act—now.

Let us not be lulled by resilience. Resilience is good, yes, but it is not enough. Kung puro tiis, puro katahimikan, puro “okay lang,” then nothing will change. Tourism is our lifeblood, and if we lose it, we don’t just lose tourists—we lose jobs, we lose businesses, we lose meals on the table. Hunger will not wait for tomorrow.

Puerto Galera has always been blessed—with world-class diving, with White Beach nightlife, with a bay recognized among the most beautiful in the world, and with the Verde Island Passage right in our backyard. Yet blessings alone will not sustain us if selfishness, disunity, and complacency keep pulling us down.

This is not the time for division, not the time for “sariling diskarte lang.” The call is simple but urgent: Alisin muna ang pagka-masarili. Think beyond your business, beyond your barangay, beyond your pride. Think of Puerto Galera tourism as a whole. Because when Puerto Galera rises, we all rise.

Yes, we have a hundred problems—maybe even a thousand. But let us start with one problem today, then the next tomorrow, and so on. If we gather, if we speak honestly, if we act decisively, then we can still change the tide.

Time is no longer our ally. The spiral of decline is real, and if left unchecked, it could become irreversible. But there is hope if there is unity.

So I say: Gather the troops. Let’s talk. Let’s plan. Let’s act.

Puerto Galera is too precious to lose. Our children deserve better. Our town deserves better. And together, in unity, we can reclaim our rightful place as the crown jewel of Philippine tourism.

In unity, there is strength. In action, there is salvation.

Time to act now.

21/09/2025

The Rise of the “Buwa-Buwa”

Sounds funny, doesn’t it? Like some carnival game or a new dance craze. But nope — in Puerto Galera, “Buwa-Buwa” is the infamous nickname for colurum tour guides. The fake ones. The impostors. The pretend tour guides who walk, talk, and act like they belong — but don’t.

Now, the thing about Buwa-Buwa is they don’t just overcharge, they also undercharge. Confused? Don’t be. It’s a two-sided hustle:

1. The Snatch-and-Grab Discount Tactic

They undercut the legitimate operators by offering tours at suspiciously low prices. Why can they afford to do that? Easy. They don’t pay taxes. They don’t follow LGU rules. They don’t shell out for accreditation fees. They don’t even buy receipts. So while legitimate tour operators bleed just to keep things above board, these Buwa-Buwas happily rake in the cash without any of the responsibilities.

2. The Surprise Upgrade Overcharge

Once the tourist is hooked, the upselling begins. “Sir, madam, we have special spot, secret place, bonus adventure — but, of course, may additional.” Suddenly, the “cheap” tour costs more than what a legit operator would’ve charged in the first place. Congratulations, you just bought a ticket to the Buwa-Buwa circus.

But wait, it gets better. To cut corners, the Buwa-Buwa will reroute tourists to free spots instead of official destinations with entrance fees. Imagine signing up for a Puerto Galera highlights tour, only to end up in a random beach because “mas maganda dito, libre pa!” The result? A watered-down experience that leaves tourists scratching their heads, disappointed, and ready to rant online.

And here’s the kicker: tourists don’t usually say, “Oh, I got scammed by a Buwa-Buwa.” Nope. They’ll say: “Puerto Galera tour guides are a scam.”

Boom. One rotten tomato spoils the whole basket. The bad apples drag down the name of legitimate tour guides and operators who actually follow the rules and deliver quality service.

The damage? Not just one tourist complaining, but thousands of potential tourists reading those complaints on Facebook, TripAdvisor, or TikTok. And every bad review plants a seed of doubt about Puerto Galera.

So here we are. On one side, hardworking, legitimate tour operators paying taxes, training guides, giving tourists the best experience possible. On the other, the Buwa-Buwas — cutting, slashing, scamming, and smiling.

The sad part? The tourists can’t tell the difference. And in the end, Puerto Galera tourism takes the hit.

So the next time you hear “Buwa-Buwa,” don’t laugh. Cry a little. Because every Buwa-Buwa out there is another nail in the coffin of our already struggling tourism industry.

Photo is AI Generated.

24/03/2025

𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞! 🌊

Did you know? Puerto Galera boasts 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟓 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 waiting to be explored! From vibrant coral reefs to stunning marine life, every dive is an unforgettable adventure.

📍 Experience the underwater magic of Puerto Galera—a diver’s dream destination!