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The History Masinloc was among the native settlements visited by Juan de Salcedo in his exploration of Zambales in 1572. The first village is what is now called San Andres in the Barrio of Bani. Thirty five years later, the town was founded on the southern mouth of the river across the bay from the island of Salvia or San Salvador. However, the first convent was built on the east shore of Salvia , while the first town site, now covered by the sea, was just in front of the stone church. Actually, the town is now behind the church( San Andres Church) and is growing inland across the river towards Collat, Lipay and Baloganon to the North.
Organized in 1607, the first town in the province of Zambales, Masinloc has come to play an important role in every phase of provincial development. Masinloc was the first capital of the then extensive province of Zambales that extended from Cape Bolinao to Olongapo, until Sta. Cruz, Botolan and Iba, all came from Masinloc.Masinloc in the early days have only flat section on its area occupied by people. Food crops and animals particularly fish are abundant in the lower section. The San Andres Church was constructed in 1607 and at present facing to the west towards Masinloc bay .
The Legend The town in the early days is so wide traversing in the Middle of the Masinloc River. It is through this geographical position of the town lying in the river where the legend of the name Masinloc (Ma'h -sihn`lok) came from. In the Bolinao -Zambal dialect interpretation of the saying " it is in the town where there is a river" which is "Babali nin Masin Ilog"...which had been repeated and mispronouced phrase "Masin Ilog" , eventually , evolved the name MASINLOC FAST FACTS
Masinloc is a natural deep-sea all weather harbor
Blessed with abundant natural and valuable man-made resources
about 150 kilometers northwest of Manila 4 hours by vessel to & from Manila Harbor & 2 hours from Subic Bay
Total Land Area
38,200 hectares with about 30,600 hectares of land area and 7,600 hectares of sea area. Only about 30% of the land area are developed
Industrial
116 hectares
Cost per square meter
150-250 Php(50= US$1)
Minimum Daily Wage
P171.50/day for those employed in establishments with 30 or more employees, or with P30M or more of total assets P164.50/day for those employed in establishments with less than 30 employees, or with less than P30M assets
Manpower Supply
19,530 labor force with a high literacy rate of about 98% and with a diverse trainable labor force
Preferred Industries
Light to medium scale industries
Infra Facilities
Power
2x 300 MV coal-fired thermal power plant with a power capacity of 69 KVA /MVA supplied by the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) through the Zambales Electric Corporation (ZAMECO)
Telecommunications
Modern telecommunication facilities available [ DIGITEL Radio Communications Philippines, Inc. (RCPI), Bayantel, Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) and LBC. ]
Water
Ample supply of drinking and industrial water
Available spring water ( Tinantapi and Lawis River)
NATURAL RESOURCES
Resources available in the area include chromite, mineral resources like construction aggregates (mix sand and gravel, base coarse, and rubble stones); aquatic resources like marine species (yellow fin tuna), skipjack (roundscud), squid, octopus, lapu-lapu, sea urchin, sea cucumber, spanish mackerel, seaweed, and other marine species, and forest resources like timber, lumber, rattan and buho
POPULATION
34,942 as of 1995 est.
DIALECT
Zambal/ Tagalog /English
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MASINLOC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW
Masinloc is a vital component of the tourism belt of the Western Luzon Growth Corridor. It has 5 islands inside its bay and the largest, the San Salvador Island, is a potential site for marina, casino and golf course development. It has clear water areas and white sand beaches. The island also has a marine sanctuary that claims to be one of the best scuba diving spots in the country with rich underwater scenarios.
Masinloc is also one of the specially selected areas identified by the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 as an ecozone area. Under this scheme various incentives are available for locators in ecozones like fiscal and tax incentives. Identified industrial estates and ecozones include Barangay Baloganon, Barangay Taltal, and Barangay Bani.
MAJOR INDUSTRIES Existing industries in Masinloc include chromite mining and industrial forest tree farming.Potential industries in the municipality are food processing, seaweed culture, and castor oil production and mineral industries like mineral water processing, stonecraft, and chromite-based products. |
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INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES The port of Masinloc is the focus of development, building around existing port facilities of the Benguet Consolidated Mines, Inc. and encouraging other industries,businesses & tourist facilities to locate in the easily accessible port. There is an economic zone covering some 37,000 acres with costs as low as $3 per square meter (10 square feet).
Manpower is put at 180,000 with a literacy rate of about 98% and a diverse labor force.The zone caters particularly for light to medium size industries. Infrastructure in-cludes two 300-megawatt coal-fired thermal power plants, modern telecommunications on two systems and ample drinking and industrial water.
There are a lot of investment projects for investor developer groups to undertake in Masinloc. One of them is the operations and maintenance of the Masinloc 2x300 MW powerplant. Another is the Masinloc Project of the SmithGroup GEXIS Inc., which is divided into 4 phases: Phase I is the construction of the Iba-Tarlac Tollways and the Masinloc International Transshipment Port; Phase II is the development of a 1,500-hectare Masinloc Ecozone Industrial Park and the Central Luzon Food Terminal Complex; Phase III shall establish a ship building industry, and finally, Phase IV shall be the development of nearby beach front areas of Masinloc and Palauig and select mountain top areas of the Zambales Mountain Range.
The Island of San Salvador, a fish sanctuary in the vicinity of Masinloc, boasts of manta rays and lobsters in an unspoiled marine setting. Masinloc Bay is a prime tourist destination waiting to be developed, with good diving, watersports and eco-tourism possibilities. The province's varied forest and wildlife ecosystems have also attracted the attention of an increasing number of eco-tourists.
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