Editing Mimaropa (section)

== History ==
Mimaropa, together with [[Calabarzon]], were officially created with the [[partition (politics)|partitioning]] of [[Southern Tagalog]] (Region IV) into the two regions on May 17, 2002, with the issuance of ''Executive Order No. 103'' by then-President [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]]; for the purpose of promoting efficiency in the government, accelerating social and economic development and improving public services in the provinces covered. Region IV-B was designated as Mimaropa, which stands for the island provinces belonging to the Southern Tagalog region—[[Mindoro Island|Mindoro]] ([[Oriental Mindoro|Oriental]] and [[Occidental Mindoro|Occidental]]), [[Marinduque]], [[Romblon]] and [[Palawan]]. Region IV-A was designated as Calabarzon.<ref name=PSA-NSCB /> Marinduque was a sub-province of [[Quezon]], at that time known as Tayabas; it became independent province in 1920. Quezon is now part of Calabarzon. Romblon was a sub-province of [[Capiz]] & was part of Western Visayas. When President [[Ferdinand Marcos]] enacted ''Presidential Decree No. 1'', which organized the provinces into 11 regions as part of Marcos' Integrated Reorganization Plan,<ref name="PD1">{{cite act |date=September 24, 1972 |title=Reorginazing the Executive Branch of the National Government |type= Presidential Decree |number=1 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1972/09/24/presidential-decree-no-1-s-1972/ |access-date=April 12, 2017}}</ref> Romblon was transferred from Western Visayas to Southern Tagalog.

On May 23, 2005, ''Executive Order 429'' was issued, moving the province of [[Palawan]] to the region of [[Western Visayas]],<ref name=PSA-NSCB[2] /> designating Region IV-B as "Mimaro". However, Palawan residents criticized the move, citing a lack of consultation, with most residents in [[Puerto Princesa]] and nearly all municipalities preferring to stay with Region IV-B. Consequently, ''Administrative Order No. 129'' was issued on August 19, 2005, to address this backlash. This order directed the abeyance of ''Executive Order 429'' pending the approval of an implementation plan for the orderly transfer of Palawan from Mimaropa to Region VI.<ref name="AO129"/>

The 2010 Philippine Census of Population reported the region's name as "Mimaropa" and included [[Palawan]] as part of the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://census.gov.ph/data/census2010/index.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707155208/http://census.gov.ph/data/census2010/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 7, 2012 |title=Population and Annual Growth Rates by Province, City, and Municipality : Region IVB - MIMAROPA: 1990, 2000, and 2010 |work=2010 Philippine Census of Population |publisher=Census.gov.ph }}</ref> {{as of|2014}}, it is not clear whether the transfer of Palawan to [[Western Visayas]] is still considered pending by the Philippine government. {{as of|2014}}, the National Statistical Coordinating Board of the Philippines continued to list Palawan province as part of the Mimaropa region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/regview.asp?region=17|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802172716/http://nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/regview.asp?region=17|archivedate=August 2, 2014 |title=Region: REGION IV-B (MIMAROPA)|work=National Statistical Coordinating Board of the Philippines|access-date=May 26, 2012}}</ref>{{update after|2014|reason=final official status of EO429 is undetermined}}

On July 17, 2016, ''Republic Act No. 10879'' formally established the ''Southwestern Tagalog Region'' to be known as the Mimaropa Region. This involved no boundary changes but was in effect merely a renaming and discontinuation of the "Region IV-B" designation.<ref name="RA10869" />