Bing Imagery in the Philippines

It’s Christmas in November, when Openstreetmap founder SteveC broke the news that Bing/Microsoft is allowing royalty-free use of the Bing Maps Imagery for tracing data into OSM.

The geo-blogosphere goes haywire a few hours later. Some people thinks that OSM “just sold its soul to the devil“, but the general sentiment of the community was very positive.

In the Philippines, the bulk of contributions are centered around where imagery is available. Yahoo! has allowed imagery tracing almost 4 years ago and this helped expand data contributions in Metro Manila and Davao.

The Philippine community also initiated imagery donation requests and we were able to get high-res imagery in Pangasinan and portions of Bulacan, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija

Therefore, it comes as no surprise how excited we are upon reading the OSM-Bing imagery news. An example of what we can use is this image of San Juanico Bridge connecting the islands of Samar and Leyte.

Perhaps your town is listed. You can start editing now and make the best map of your town in Openstreetmap. Full details on how to use the data is available in the wiki.

Here’s the initial list of Bing imagery (compiled by the OSM-PH Contributors) covered provinces and towns in the Philippines (Ctrl-F to find your town). I will update this post as soon as we stumble upon new areas.
Luzon

• Cagayan – Santa Praxedes, Claveria
• Ilocos Norte – portions of Pagudpud
• Occidental Mindoro – Abra de Ilog
• Oriental Mindoro – Puerto Galera, San Teodoro
• Albay – Bacacay, Camalig, Daraga, Guinobatan, Jovellar, Legazpi, Malilipot, Malinao, Santo Domingo, Tabaco, Tiwi. Mayon summit is covered with clouds.
• Sorsogon – Donsol and Pilar
• Palawan – downtown Puerto Princesa, not including Honda Bay
• Cavite – Amadeo, Bacoor, Carmona Dasmarinas, General Mariano Alvarez, General Trias, Imus, Naic, Silang, Tanza, Trece Marteres
• Laguna – Bian, Cabuyao, Calamba City, San Pedro, Santa Rosa
• Batangas – Alitagtag, Balete, Batangas City, Bauan, Cuenca, Ibaan, Lipa City, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Jose, San Pascual, Santo Tomas, Tanauan City, Whole volcano Island, portions of San Nicolas and Talisay
• Rizal – Binangonan, Cardona, Pililla

Visayas

• Cebu – Cebu City, Consolacion, Cordoba, Lapu-lapu City, Liloan, Mandaue City
• Iloilo – San Joaquin, Iloilo City and Oton
• Antique – Hamtic, San Jose, Sibalom, Tobias Fornier
• Leyte – Dulag, Julita, Mayorga, Palo, Santa Fe, Tacloban City, Tanauna, Tolosa
• Samar – Basey, Santa Rita

Mindanao

• Zamboanga City up to Pasonanca, and the southeastern islands
• Misamis Oriental – Cagayan de Oror City, El Salvador City, Opol, Tagoloan, Villanueva
• Lanao del Norte – Iligan City, Baloi, Linamon, Matungao, Pantao Ragat, Pantar, Tagoloan
• Lanao del Sur – Balindong, Marnato, Marawi City, Piagapo, Saguiarian, Tugaya, Balabagan, Kapatagan, Marogong, Sultan Dumalondong
• Cotabato City
• Maguindanao – Guindulungan, Mamasapano, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Piang, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Rajah Buayan, Talayan, Talitay, Barira, Baldon, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura
• North Cotabato – Aleosan, Midsayap, Pigkawayan, Pikit
• Sulu – Indanan, Jolo, Maimbung, Patikol, Talipao
• Tawi-tawi – Bongao