Bolinao

Bolinao is a municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines, with a population of 84,658 at the 2024 census. It is a fishing town where sea urchins are regularly harvested at Isla Silaki, and it is also a heritage site with an old church surrounded by heritage houses. The cave where the Bolinao Skulls were found, gold-toothed skulls with fish scale designs, lies in the town. Scholars have pushed for the town's cultural landscape to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Folk etymology derives the name from the fish species monamon, which the Tagalogs, Bicolanos and Visayans call bolinao, and another theory points to pamulinawen trees along its shores. It is also said that Captain Pedro Lombi founded the town of Bolinao in 1575, and Japanese forces landed and occupied it in December 1941 and set up a military garrison.