Taal, Batangas

Taal
Municipality
The Heritage Town of Taal
Seal
Nickname(s): Balisong and Barong Tagalog Capital of the Philippines
Map of Batangas showing the location of Taal
Taal Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 13°53′39″N 120°55′45″E / 13.89417°N 120.92917°ECoordinates: 13°53′39″N 120°55′45″E / 13.89417°N 120.92917°E
Country	Philippines
Region	CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Province	Batangas
District	1st District
Founded	1572
Barangays	42
Government[1]
• Mayor	Michael D. Montenegro
Area[2]
• Total	29.76 km^2 (11.49 sq mi)
Population (2010)[3]
• Total	51,503
• Density	1,700/km^2 (4,500/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	4208
Dialing code	43
Income class	3rd class[2]

Taal is a third class municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,503 people.^[3] Taal is famous for its old ancestral houses. Its poblacion (central business district) is designated as a National Historical Landmark.^[4] It is also known as the Balisong and Barong Tagalog Capital of the Philippines.

Geography

A dominant feature of the province of Batangas is Taal Lake. It covers an area of 270 square kilometres (100 sq mi) and is drained by Pansipit River down into Balayan Bay. Pansipit is one of the major ecological highways that allow migration of two fish species: maliputo (Cranx ignobilis) and muslo (Cranx marginalis) which are unique to lake Taal. Adult fish migrate to the sea from Taal Lake via Pansipit River and Palanas River in Lemery. The tawilis (Harengula tawilis) is a freshwater sardine also endemic to Taal lake.

Barangays

Taal is politically subdivided into 42 barangays.

• Apacay
• Balisong
• Bihis
• Bolbok
• Buli
• Butong
• Carasuche
• Cawit
• Caysasay
• Cubamba
• Cultihan
• Gahol
• Halang
• Iba
• Ilog
• Imamawo
• Ipil
• Luntal
• Mahabang Lodlod
• Niogan
• Pansol
• Poblacion 1
• Poblacion 2
• Poblacion 3
• Poblacion 4
• Poblacion 5
• Poblacion 6
• Poblacion 7
• Poblacion 8
• Poblacion 9
• Poblacion 10
• Poblacion 11
• Poblacion 12
• Poblacion 13
• Poblacion 14
• Pook
• Seiran
• Laguile
• Latag
• Tierra Alta
• Tulo
• Tatlong Maria

Climate

Taal has two seasons: dry from November to April, and wet during the rest of the year. The lowest minimum temperature does not drop below 20 °C (68 °F) while the highest maximum temperature of 34.5 °C (94.1 °F) occurs from March to July of each year.

History

The town of Taal was founded by Augustinian friars in 1572.^[5] In 1575, the town transferred later to the edge of Bombon lake, now Taal Lake in 1575. In 1754, Taal Volcano erupted endangering the town of Taal which stood at present day San Nicolas. Threatened by the new danger the townspeople together with, the Augustinian Francisco Benchucillo, sought refuge in the sanctuary of Caysasay.^[6]

In 1955 the barrios of San Nicolas, Gipit, Bangin, Pansipit, Calangay, Sinturisan, Talang, Abilo, Balete, Bancora, Saimsim, Maabud, Mulawin, Tambo, Calumala, Alasas, Calawit and Pulangbato, then part of this municipality, were separated and constituted into a new and separate municipality known as San Nicolas, Batangas.^[7]

Demographics

Population census of Taal
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1990	34,925	—
1995	38,722	+1.95%
2000	43,455	+2.50%
2007	51,459	+2.36%
2010	51,503	+0.03%
Source: National Statistics Office[3]

The first census in 1903 recorded a total population of 17,525. The 2007 population was 51,459 growing at 2.44% annually over the previous 7 years, with 7,961 households. By 2010, the population slightly increased to 51,503.

Cultural events

• The EL PASUBAT Festival, celebrated annually during the month of April, is the conglomeration of the trademarks of Taal, Batangas. EL PASUBAT stands for Empanada, Longganisa, Panutsa, Suman, Balisong, Barong Tagalog, Tapa, Tamales, Tawilis, Tulingan — the delicacies and crafts that Taal is known for.^[8]
• The Feast of St. Martin of Tours is held November 11 every year. Celebrations are in the form of prayer, hymns, declamation, flower offerings and big religious processions. Most houses celebrate with food and drinks for visitors right after.
• The Feast of Our Lady of Caysasay, the well known miraculous image of the Immaculate Conception, is celebrated every December 8. A joint town fiesta celebrated on December 9 honoring both Our Lady of Caysasay and St. Martin of Tours.
• Lua is a traditional declamation in the vernacular recited by a maiden to honor the Virgin Mary or a boy in praise of a male saint like St. Martin of Tours. In the procession, young girls and ladies in their pretty gowns make up the hila (pull), so called because they are supposed to pull the cord of lights originating from the Virgin’s karosa (procession carriage) bedecked with flowers.

List of Cultural Properties of Taal

Cultural Property wmph identifier	Site name	Description	Province	City/Municipality	Address/Location	Coordinates	Image
	Casa Villavicencio	Ancestral House of Don Eulalio Villlavicencio, husband of Doña Gliceria Marella y Legaspi.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	#33 Calle Gliceria Marella, corner Calle Del Castillo	13°52′49″N 120°55′16″E / 13.880313°N 120.921186°ECasa Villavicencio)
	Villavicencio-Marella House	Wedding gift house of Don Eulalio Villlavicencio to Doña Gliceria Marella y Legaspi.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Gliceria Marella	13°52′49″N 120°55′17″E / 13.880376°N 120.921430°EVillavicencio-Marella House)
	Goco House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Del Castillo, corner Calle Gliceria Marella	13°52′48″N 120°55′16″E / 13.880072°N 120.921054°E
	Del Castillo House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Del Castillo	13°52′50″N 120°55′15″E / 13.880652°N 120.920797°E
	Casa Victrola		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Del Castillo	13°52′50″N 120°55′15″E / 13.880652°N 120.920797°E
	Ylagan-Noble House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Del Castillo, corner Calle Marcela Agoncillo	13°52′47″N 120°55′15″E / 13.879740°N 120.920950°E
	Agaton Orosa House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Jose W. Diokno	13°52′46″N 120°55′15″E / 13.879545°N 120.920848°E
	Ilagan Ancestral House	Ancestral House of former Mayor Ignacio "Totoy" Ilagan.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Marcela Mariño. Agoncillo	13°52′46″N 120°55′13″E / 13.879475°N 120.920207°E
	Ilagan-Barrion House	Present-day Galleria Taal of Mr. Manny Inumerable.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Marcela Mariño. Agoncillo	13°52′46″N 120°55′12″E / 13.879420°N 120.919998°E
	Leon Apacible Mansion	House of Leon Apacible, the first ancestral house museum in Taal.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Marcela Mariño. Agoncillo	13°52′46″N 120°55′11″E / 13.879509°N 120.919697°E
	Casa Rio		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Marcela Mariño. Agoncillo	13°52′45″N 120°55′07″E / 13.879050°N 120.918745°E
	Garcia House	Present-day Tampuhan Cafe	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Marcela Mariño. Agoncillo	13°52′44″N 120°55′07″E / 13.878936°N 120.918598°E
	Villa Tortuga	Gahol Ancestral house now a bed and breakfast of Lito Perez.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Marcela Mariño. Agoncillo	13°52′44″N 120°55′06″E / 13.878808°N 120.918461°E
	Gahol-Orlina House	Ancestral house of Ramon Orlina, Casa Gahol.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Marcela Mariño. Agoncillo	13°52′44″N 120°55′06″E / 13.878753°N 120.918324°E
	Agoncillo-Mariño House	Ancestral house of Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Marcela Mariño. Agoncillo	13°52′43″N 120°55′05″E / 13.878477°N 120.918115°EAgoncillo-Mariño House)
	Mitra House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Ramon Diokno, corner Calle Jose P. Rizal	13°52′33″N 120°55′04″E / 13.875897°N 120.917822°E
	Villa Severina	Old house now a bed and breakfast.	Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Del Castillo	13°52′44″N 120°55′17″E / 13.879003°N 120.921352°E
	De la Rosa House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Antonio De Las Alas	13°52′43″N 120°55′18″E / 13.878628°N 120.921765°E
	De Leon House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Antonio De Las Alas
	Fracisca Orlina House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Antonio De Las Alas	13°52′44″N 120°55′18″E / 13.878782°N 120.921671°E
	Emmanuel Noble House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Antonio De Las Alas	13°52′44″N 120°55′21″E / 13.878881°N 120.922567°E
	Ernesto Alvarez House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas		13°52′45″N 120°55′19″E / 13.879045°N 120.921974°E
	Lolita Holgado House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Conrado Sanchez	13°52′41″N 120°55′22″E / 13.878181°N 120.922758°E
	Vicente Orlina House		Batangas	Taal, Batangas	Calle Conrado Sanchez	13°52′41″N 120°55′19″E / 13.878053°N 120.921907°E

Local products and delicacies

Plaza and heritage houses in Taal

Since the Spanish period, the people of Taal lived by farming and commerce. The main produce are cotton, cacao and sugar which are made through the use of crude sugar mill called trapeche. Weaving and embroidery of barong and camisa (blouses) made from piña are popular home industries. Local embroidery businesses later expanded their products to include curtains, piano covers, pillow cases, table cloth, table napkins and bed covers, adding more fame already earned by Taal embroidery.

Other products produced in the town are: balisong (fan knife) and various food treats such as the panocha (peanut brittle candy) and suman salehiya (a sweet suman), tapa (cured pork product) and the local longganisa, all of which are available at the public market. Popular Filipino dishes that originated from Taal are Adobo sa Dilaw (Yellow Adobo) and Sinaing na Tulingan (Bonita Fish Soup).

Famous people from Taal

People from the Philippine revolutionary history:

• Gliceria de Villavicencio was named as the “godmother of the revolutionary forces” by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. She supported the revolution against the Spaniards, and later the Americans inflamed by the death of her husband, Eulalio Villavicencio, in February 1898.
• Felipe Agoncillo is a revolutionary hero, statesman, and diplomat Philippine Republic to the United States and to the Treaty of Paris in 1898.
• Marcela Agoncillo, Don Felipe Agoncillo, is best known as the maker of the present flag of the Philippines, first unfurled at the declaration of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite.
• Vicente Ilustre was associated with other Filipino patriots like Rizal, Plaridel, Naning Ponce, Galicano Apacible and others in Madrid. He later became a member of the Philippine Commission under Gov. Gen. Francis Burton Harrison where he served as president of the Committee for Mindanao and Sulu. Thereafter, he became a Senator in the First Senate of the Philippines. He was also instrumental in the installation of public light and water utilities in Taal.
• Ananias Diokno was the only Tagalog general to lead a full-scale military expedition to the Visayas against the Spanish forces.
• Galicano Apacible, a cousin of Jose Rizal, was a co-founder of La Solidaridad. He later became a politician and co-founded the Nacionalista Party.

Other famous Taaleños:

• Father Fernando Suarez, a Catholic priest known worldwide for faith healing, was born here in 1967.

See also

• Basilica de San Martin de Tours (Taal) - The biggest Catholic Basilica Church in the Far East.
• Our Lady of Caysasay
• Our Lady of Caysasay Academy

References

1. "Official City/Municipal 2013 Election Results". Intramuros, Manila, Philippines: Commission on Elections (COMELEC). 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
2. "Province: BATANGAS". PSGC Interactive. Makati City, Philippines: National Statistical Coordination Board. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
3. "Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay: as of May 1, 2010" (PDF). 2010 Census of Population and Housing. National Statistics Office. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
4. NHCP Historic Preservation Division. "Portion of the Town of Taal". National Registry of Historic Sites & Structures in the Philippines. Retrieved on 2013-07-03.
5. Worcester, Dean C. (April 1912). "Taal Volcano and Its Recent Destructive Eruption". The National Geographic Magazine.
6. Galende, O.S.A, Pedro G.; Javellana, S.J, Rene B. (1993). Great Churches of the Philppines. pp. 46–47.
7. "An Act Creating the Municipality of San Nicolas, Province of Batangas". LawPH.com. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
8. "El Pasubat". Taal Tourism Office.

External links

• Official Tourism Website of Taal
• Taal Municipality's Website
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• The Best of Taal Batangas
• Filipinos in History