Batangas Province, Philippines

By James Barcelona

Attractions

Taal Volcano. It is a complex volcano located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the second most active volcano in the Philippines with 33 historical eruptions. All of these eruptions are concentrated on Volcano Island, an island near the middle of Taal Lake. The lake partially fills Taal Caldera, which was formed by prehistoric eruptions between 140,000 and 5,380 BP. Viewed from Tagaytay Ridge, Taal Volcano and Lake presents one of the most picturesque and attractive views in the Philippines. It is located about 50 km (31 mi) south of the capital of the country, the city of Manila.

The volcano had several violent eruptions in the past causing loss of life in the island and the populated areas surrounding the lake, with the death toll estimated at around 5,000 to 6,000. Because of its proximity to populated areas and its eruptive history, the volcano was designated a Decade Volcano, worthy of close study to prevent future natural disasters. All volcanoes of the Philippines are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Batangas is a first class province of the Philippines located on the southwestern part of Luzon in the CALABARZON region. Its capital is Batangas City and it is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna to the north and Quezon to the east. Across the Verde Island Passages to the south is the island of Mindoro and to the west lies the South China Sea. Poetically, Batangas is often referred to by its ancient name Kumintáng.

Batangas is one of the most popular tourist destinations near Metro Manila. It is home to the famous Taal Volcano, one of the Decade Volcanoes, and Taal Heritage town, a small picturesque town that has ancestral houses and structures dating back to the 19th century. The province also has many excellent beaches and diving spots including Anilao in Mabini, Sombrero Island in Tingloy, Ligpo Island in Bauan, Matabungkay in Lian, Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Calatagan and Laiya in San Juan.

This is how the Taal Lake really 
looks like.

Batangas City has the second largest international seaport in the Philippines after Metro Manila. The identification of the city as an industrial growth center in the region and being the focal point of the CALABARZON program resulted to the increasing number of business establishments in the city's Central Business District (CBD) as well as numerous industries operating at the province's industrial parks.

Etymology

The first recorded name of the province was Kumintáng, whose political centre was the present-day Balayan and was the most progressive town of the region. An eruption of the Taal Volcano destroyed a significant portion of the town, causing residents to transfer to Bonbon (now Taal), the name eventually encompassing the bounds of the modern province.

The term Batangan means a raft, the people used so that they could fish in the nearby Taal Lake. It also meant the numerous logs found in the Calumpang River, the body of water that runs through the northeastern portion of the town and assumes the shape of a tuning fork.

Geography

Batangas is a combination of plains and mountains, including the world's smallest volcano, Mt. Taal, with an elevation of 600 metres (2,000 ft), located in the middle of the Taal Lake. Other important peaks are Mt. Makulot with an elevation of 830 metres (2,720 ft), Mt. Talamitan with 700 metres (2,300 ft), Mt. Pico de Loro with 664 metres (2,178 ft), Mt. Batulao with 811 metres (2,661 ft), Mt. Manabo with 830 metres (2,720 ft), and Mt. Daguldol with 672 metres (2,205 ft).

The Municipality of Nasugbu is the home of the plantation of Central Azucarera Don Pedro, the Philippines' largest producer of sugar and other sugarcane products.

Batangas also has many islands, including Tingloy, Verde Island (Isla Verde), and Fortune Island of Nasugbu.

According to Guinness World Records, the largest island in a lake on an island is situated in Batangas (Vulcan Point, in Crater Lake, which rests in the middle of Taal Island, in Lake Taal, on the island of Luzon, where Batangas is located).

Demographics

In the recent years, waves of migration from the Visayas had brought significant number of Visayans to the province. There are also a few who can speak Spanish, since Batangas was an important centre during the colonial period.

Batangas also has one of the highest literacy rates in the country at 96.5%, wherein the males have a slightly higher literacy rate at 97.1% than females with 95.9%. Combined average of literacy is 96%.

Language

The dialect of Tagalog spoken in the province closely resembles the Old Tagalog spoken before the arrival of the Spanish. Hence, the Summer Institute of Linguistics [1] called this province the heartland of the Tagalog Language. A strong presence of the Tagalog culture is clearly visible to the present day.

Linguistically, Batangueños are also known for their unique affectation of often placing the particles eh or ga (equivalent to the particle ba in Filipino), usually as a marker of stress on the sentence, at the end of their spoken sentences or speech; for example: "Ay, oo, eh!" ("Aye, yes, indeed!"). Some even prolong the particle 'eh' into 'ala eh', though it really has no meaning in itself.

Although much can be said about the way a Batangueño speaks his or her Tagalog, the high literacy of the locals means English is also widely spoken in the province. Spanish is also understood to some extent. In fact, towns such as Nasugbu, Taal, and Lemery still have significant Spanish-speaking minorities. Visayan is also spoken by a significant minority due to the influx of migration from the Southern Philippines.