Batangas
Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas, is a first class province of the Philippines located in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Calabarzon region. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 2,994,795, making it the 7th most populous province in the country. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and 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.
The province of Batangas was billed as the second richest province in the Philippines by the Commission on Audit by the year 2020. It has been the second richest province in the country for two consecutive years. In 2020, its provincial government posted a record high of ₱25.2 billion worth of assets, the largest in Calabarzon and the whole Luzon.
Batangas is one of the most popular tourist destinations near Metro Manila. It is home to the well-known Taal Volcano, one of the Decade Volcanoes, and the small nearby town of Taal which keeps ancestral houses, churches, and other architecture dating back to the 19th century. The province also has numerous beaches and diving spots including Anilao in Mabini, Sombrero Island in Tingloy, Ligpo Island and Sampaguita Beach in Bauan, Matabungkay in Lian, Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, the municipality of Calatagan, and Laiya in San Juan. All of the marine waters of the province are part of the Verde Island Passage, the center of the world's marine biodiversity.
Batangas International Port in Batangas City is the second largest international seaport in the Philippines after Port of Manila. The identification of the city as an industrial growth center in the region and being the focal point of the Calabarzon program is seen in the increasing number of business establishments in the city's Central Business District as well as numerous industries operating in the province's industrial parks. Lipa City has passed Batangas City as the most populous city in the province.
Etymology
The name Batangas is derived from the term batangan, which has two definitions: a log found in the Calumpang River, and rafts used to fish in Taal Lake.The Batangas dialect of Tagalog closely resembles the Old Tagalog spoken before the arrival of the Spanish. This is why the Summer Institute of Linguistics calls this province the center of the Tagalog language. The strong presence of Tagalog culture is evident to this day.
Batangas also has one of the highest literacy rates in the country at 96.5%, with men having a slightly higher literacy rate at 97.1% compared to women at 95.9%. The combined average literacy rate is 96%.
Historical precedents
The first recorded name of the province was Kumintáng, whose political center was the present-day municipality of Taal, prior to moving to the municipality of Balayan. Balayan was considered the most progressive town of the region. An eruption of Taal Volcano destroyed a significant portion of the town, causing residents to transfer to Bonbon, the name eventually encompassing the bounds of the modern province.History
Early history
Large centers of population already thrived along the coasts and rivers of present-day Batangas. Barangays lined the Pansipit River draining Bombon Lake, a major waterway. The area was a major site for the Maritime Jade Road, one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world, operating for ~3,000 years from ~2000 BCE to ~1000 CE. Trading relations with other Philippine peoples, Borneo, Chinese, Japanese, among others were maintained.Archaeological findings and written accounts by the Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century show that pre-colonial Tagalogs have long histories in complex, stratified societies with trade networks encompassing Southeast and East Asia. This was shown by certain jewelry, made from a chambered nautilus shell, where tiny holes were created by a drill-like tool. The ancient peoples of present-day Batangas were influenced by trade with Indianized states and to a lesser degree China, as shown in many loanwords from Sanskrit and unearthed tradeware ceramics primarily from China and present-day Vietnam and Thailand. A Buddhist image unearthed in Calatagan was reproduced in mould on a clay medallion in bas-relief. According to experts, the image in the pot strongly resembles the iconographic portrayal of Buddha in Siam, India, and Nepal. The pot shows Buddha Amithāba in the tribhanga pose inside an oval nimbus. Scholars also noted that there is a strong Mahāyānic orientation in the image, since the Boddhisattva Avalokiteśvara was also depicted.
One of the major archaeological finds was in January 1941, where two crude stone figures were found in Palapat, also in Calatagan. They were later donated to the National Museum. One of them was destroyed during World War II.
Eighteen years later, a grave was excavated in nearby Punta Buaya. Pieces of brain coral were carved behind the heads of the 12 remains that were found. The site was named Likha. The remains were accompanied by furniture that could be traced as early as the 14th century. Potteries, as well as bracelets, stoneware, and metal objects were also found in the area, suggesting that the people who lived there had extensive contact with people from as far as China.
The presence of dining utensils such as plates or "chalices" found with the remains also suggest that prehistoric Batangueños believed in the idea of life-after-death. Thus, the Batangueños, like their neighbors in other parts of Asia, have similar customs of burying furniture with the dead.
Like the nearby tribes, the Batangan or the early Batangueños were a non-aggressive people. Partly because most of the tribes in their immediate environment were related to them by blood. Some weapons Batangans used included the bakyang, the bangkaw, and the suwan.
Being highly superstitious, the use of agimat showed that these people believed in the presence of higher beings and other things unseen. The natives believed that forces of nature were a manifestation these higher beings.
The term 'Tagalog' may have been derived from the word taga-ilog or "river dwellers" referring to the Pasig River located further up north of the region. However, Wang Teh-Ming in his writings on Sino-Filipino relations points out that Batangas was the real center of the Tagalogs, which he then identified as Ma-yi or Ma-i. According to the Chinese Imperial Annals, Ma-yi had its center in the province and extends to as far as present-day Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, Bataan, Bulacan, Mindoro, Marinduque, Nueva Ecija, some parts of Zambales, and Tarlac. However, many historians interchangeably use the term Tagalog and Batangueño.
Henry Otley Beyer, an American archaeologist, also showed in his studies that the early Batangueños had a special affinity with the precious stone known as the jade. He named the Late Paleolithic Period of the Philippines as the Batangas Period in recognition of the multitude of jade found in the excavated caves in the province. Beyer identified that the jade-cult reached the province as early as 800 B.C. and lasted until 200 B.C.
Precolonial period
During the precolonial era, there were many prominent settlements in Batangas, including that of Balayan, Bonbon and Kumintang. Kumintang was a large polity around the Calumpang River in modern-day Batangas ruled by the legendary figure Gat Pulintan according to local tradition, was the paramount datu in the region who refused to be Christianized continued resistance against Spanish occupation in the hills.Spanish colonial period
In 1570, Spanish generals Martin de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo explored the coast of Batangas on their way to Manila and came upon a settlement at the mouth of Pansipit River. In 1572, the town of Taal was founded and its convent and stone church were constructed later.Officially, the Province of Bonbon was founded by Spain in 1578, through Fr. Estaban Ortiz and Fr. Juan de Porras. It was named after the name that was given to it by the Muslim natives who inhabited the area.
In 1581, the Spanish government abolished Bonbon Province and created a new province which came to be known as Balayan Province. The new province was composed of the present provinces of Batangas, Mindoro, Marinduque, southeast Laguna, southeast Quezon, and Camarines. After the devastating eruption of Taal Volcano in 1754, the old town of Taal, present day San Nicolas, was buried. The capital was eventually transferred to Batangas for fear of further eruptions where it has remained to date.
In the same years that de Goiti and Salcedo visited the province, the Franciscan missionaries came to Taal, which later became the first Spanish settlement in Batangas and one of the earliest in the Philippines. In 1572, the Augustinians founded Taal in the place of Wawa, now San Nicolas, and from there began preaching in Balayan and in all the big settlements around the lake of Bombon. The Augustinians, who were the first missionaries in the diocese, remained until the revolution against Spain. Among the first missionaries were eminent men, which included Alfonso de Albuquerque, Diego Espinas, Juan de Montojo, and others.
During the first ten years, the whole region around the Lake of Bombon was completely Christianized. It was done through the preaching of men who had learned the first rudiments of the language of the people. At the same time, they started writing manuals of devotion in Tagalog, such as novenas, and had written the first Tagalog grammar that served other missionaries who came.
Foundation of important parishes followed throughout the years: 1572, the Taal Parish was founded by the Augustinians; 1581, the Batangas Parish under Fray Diego Mexica; 1596, Bauan Parish administered by the Augustinian missionaries; 1605, Lipa Parish under the Augustinian administration; 1774, Balayan Parish was founded; By the end of the 1700s, Batangas had 15,014 native families and 451 Spanish Filipino families; 1852, was established; and 1868, Lemery Parish too.
The town of Nasugbu became an important centre of trade during the Spanish occupation of the country. It was the site of the first recorded battle between two European Forces in Asia in Fortune Island, Nasugbu, Batangas. In the late part of the 20th century, the inhabitants of Fortune Island discovered a sunken galleon that contained materials sold in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.
Batangas was also among the first of the eight Philippine provinces to revolt against Spain and one of the provinces placed under Martial Law by Spanish Governor-General Ramon Blanco on August 30, 1896. This event was given distinction when Marcela Agoncillo, also a native of the province, made the Philippine Flag, which bears a sun with eight rays to represent these eight provinces.