

The main falls of Pagsanjan are actually
located within the boundaries of Cavinti, Laguna, but the more popular access
by canoes originates from the town of Pagsanjan. An unsuccessful move by the
ruling body of the town of Cavinti was submitted to the Sangguniang Bayan
(legislature of municipalities in the Philippines) on February 10, 2009
proposing the renaming of the falls to Cavinti Falls.


Laguna is notable for being the birthplace of Jose Rizal, the country’s
national hero. The province is subdivided into 26 municipalities and 4 cities.
Santa Cruz is the provincial capital. Laguna lies in the southern shores of
Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the country. In the southern border of
Laguna are Mt. Makiling and Mt. Banahaw, both are long dormant volcanoes but
are still sources of geothermal energy.
Laguna got its name from the
Spanish word lago, which means lake or lagoon because the province completely
surrounds Laguna de Bay. In 1571, Spanish-Mexican soldiers and many Visayan
allies conquered the province and its surrounding regions for Spain. In 1578,
Franciscan missionaries started evangelizing Laguna.
The natives of the province
proved loyal to the Spanish crown but their loyalty gradually deteriorated into
bitter hostility because of the grave abuses by the colonizers especially those
of the clergy. Towards the end of the century, the persecution of Jose Rizal
and his family aggravated the situation and caused thousands of inhabitants to
join the revolutionary Katipunan. Laguna was one of the eight provinces to
first revolt against Spanish misrule. The province was cleared of Spaniards
when the last Spanish garrison surrendered to the victorious patriots in Santa
Cruz on August 31, 1898.
Laguna is endowed with abundant
natural resources. Their forests are filled with bamboo, rattan and hardwood.
Its vast fields are ideal for growing rice, coconuts, vegetables, tropical
fruits, orchids, and other ornamental flowers and exotic plants. The province
is also rich in mineral resources such as clay, jasper and basalt glass. In the
forests of Mount Makiling and in the waters of Laguna de Bay exists an
abundance of flora and fauna.
Laguna’s greatest natural
resource is water. There are about forty rivers in Laguna and an estimated 300
million US gallons of underground water, capable of generating energy for
Laguna’s expanding power needs.
Laguna is famous among tourists
for the Pagsanjan Falls, the University of the Philippines Campus and the hot
spring resorts in Los Baños in the slopes of Mount Makiling. Other famous
attractions in the province are the Pila Town Plaza, Taytay Falls, Majayjay,
the wood carvings and papier mache created by the people of Paete, the turumba
of Pakil, the Seven Lakes of San Pablo City and the Hidden Valley Springs in
Calauan.
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