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BetterBicolRegion V · Philippines

Bicol Region · verified listings only

The Bicol business directory

Eighteen categories, chosen because they are what people here actually search for, and every listing checked against the permit record held by the LGU that issued it. That makes this directory slow to fill and worth something when it does.

Ordered by storm demand, not alphabetically. Bicol takes more tropical cyclones than any other region in the Philippines, and that changes what gets searched and when. For roughly three weeks after a typhoon the queries are roofing, hardware, hollow blocks, generators, water and LPG. Those categories are first on this page for that reason. The steady categories below them are not less important, they are just searched every week instead of in bursts.

Storm demand · first eight

What Bicol searches for after a typhoon

Rebuild categories, in roughly the order the searches arrive. A hardware store that is open and stocked is the single most useful listing on this site in the week after a storm.

Hardware and construction supply

0 listedStorm demand

The first search after every typhoon and the busiest category in the region.

Hollow blocks and aggregates

0 listedStorm demand

Sold by the piece from yards that rarely have a website and never have a map pin.

Roofing and tinsmith

0 listedStorm demand

A separate category from hardware on purpose.

Electricians and plumbers

0 listedStorm demand

Licensed and unlicensed both exist and the difference matters for anything touching a meter.

Generators and solar

0 listedStorm demand

Brownouts here are not hypothetical.

Water refilling stations

0 listedStorm demand

After a storm the mains go out and the refilling station is the water supply.

LPG dealers

0 listedStorm demand

Cooking gas, sold through a dealer network that is invisible online.

Auto and motorcycle repair

0 listedStorm demand

Includes vulcanizing, which deserves its own mention: flooded roads shred tyres and a vulcanizing shop that is open at 6am is a genuinely searched thing..

Steady demand · the other ten

Searched every week of the year

Pharmacies, clinics, vets, feeds, internet, printing, remittance. Lower drama, higher total volume, and for several of these the opening hours are the most valuable thing a listing can carry.

Pharmacies

2 listed

Steady demand every week of the year, and the one category where opening hours are the single most valuable field.

Medical clinics, diagnostic laboratories, X-ray.

Dental clinics

0 listed

High-intent, purely local, and almost never listed anywhere structured.

Two things in one category because in practice they are the same shop.

Fertiliser, seed, pesticide, feed.

The most asked and worst answered local question in the Philippines: who actually has coverage on my street.

Tarpaulin printing is its own economy here: every fiesta, election, birthday and store opening runs on it.

Padala, palit, sanla.

Neighbourhood-level and searched by barangay.

A category nobody browses and everybody eventually searches, usually urgently and at a bad hour.

Browse by place

Start from your city

Seven cities and 107 municipalities. City pages carry local government contacts now; business listings appear against a place as they are verified.

Getting listed

What a submission needs

Five things. Listing is free, there is no paid position, and we check the permit before publishing.

  • Registered business name

    As it appears on the mayor’s permit, not the signage.

  • The LGU that issued the permit

    This is what we check against. Without it there is nothing to verify.

  • Barangay and municipality

    A street address if there is one. Many businesses here are findable by barangay and landmark rather than by street number, and that is fine.

  • One contact number that is answered

    One working number beats three dead ones.

  • What you actually do

    In your own words. We are not writing marketing copy for anyone.

What we will not list

Four deliberate exclusions

A directory that says what it refuses to carry is easier to trust than one that quietly carries everything.

  • Lending and online lending apps

    Predatory lending is a live problem in the region and we are not going to be a distribution channel for it. Legitimate cooperatives and rural banks are a different thing and are welcome.

  • Anything without a mayor’s permit

    Not a judgement about the business. It is that the permit is the only thing we can actually verify, so without one there is no entry to make.

  • Paid placement, featured tiers, sponsored ranking

    There is no paid position in this directory and there will not be one. If that ever changes it gets announced on this page before it happens, not after.

  • Reviews and star ratings

    We are not running a reputation system. Ratings need moderation we cannot staff, and an unmoderated one punishes small businesses with a single angry customer.

Verification means a mayor’s permit checked against the issuing LGU’s record, with the date of that check printed on the listing. An entry awaiting verification says so on its face rather than being held back silently. How we handle data.