The Hundred Islands National Park is located in the City of Alaminos, Pangasinan. The 123 islands (Hundred Islands National Park Map) are scattered north along the Lingayen Gulf and cover an area of approximately 1,860 hectares. They are believed to be about two million years old. Only three of them have been developed for tourists: Governor Island, Quezon Island and Children’s Island. To date, there are only 30 islets that were named with a total area of 970,606.15 square meters (Inventory of islands named in the HINP, Location map of islands with names in the HINP)
The islands are actually ancient corals that stretch inland, in an area that previously comprised the seafloor of an ancient sea. The lowering of the sea level has exposed them to the surface and the peculiar “umbrella-like” shapes of some of the islands have been caused by the erosive action of ocean waves. The Hundred Islands were officially declared a National Park on January 8, 1940 during the time of President Manuel L. Quezon under Presidential Proclamation No. 667 “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the Philippines.”
Initially under the administration, management and control of the Hundred Islands Development and Conversation Authority (HICDA), this function passed to the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 564 of March 30, 1982. The Park plays a very critical role in maintaining the biodiversity of the Lingayen Gulf, which was established as an Environmentally Critical Area (ECA) and administered as a special Coastal Management Area according to the proclamation No. 156 of March 25, 1993 of the then President Fidel V. Ramos.
On June 24, 2005, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 436 transferring the administration of the Philippine Tourism Authority to the City of Alaminos. On September 29, 2005, the Philippine Tourism Authority formally handed over the HINP to the City of Alaminos