Batangas City
Batangas City, Batangas officially called the City of Batangas, is a component city and capital of the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the, it had a population of.
Batangas City is classified as one of the fastest urbanizing cities of the Philippines, and is known as the "Industrial Port City of Calabarzon". It is home to the Batangas International Port, one of the busiest passenger and container terminals in the Philippines. It also hosts one of the largest oil refineries in the country, three natural gas power plants, and several other major industries. In addition, the city also serves as the educational, industrial and the transportation center of the province.
Batangas City is one of the proposed metropolitan areas in the Philippines. Metro Batangas is proposed to include the component city of Batangas, as well as the towns of Alitagtag, Bauan, Ibaan, Lobo, Mabini, Rosario, San Juan, San Luis, San Pascual, Santa Teresita, Taal, Taysan and Tingloy.
History
Kumintang
Kumintang was a large precolonial polity around the Calumpang River in modern-day Batangas. According to local tradition, it was ruled by a legendary figure named Gat Pulintan, who refused to be Christianized and settled to the hills to take refuge and continue resistance against Spanish occupation. It became a Spanish town in 1581 and unofficially renamed as Batangan.Foreign rule
The first Spanish missionaries arrived in Batangas City in 1572 due to group migration. Finally, in 1581, Spanish authorities governing the Philippines created a pueblo in the area which included the hill where the present Provincial Capitol of Batangas stands after the formal end of Kumintang. The town was named "Batangan" because huge logs, locally called "batang", abounded in the place. The Spanish government appointed Don Agustin Casilao as Batangan's first gobernadorcillo. Said title of "little governor" as head of the pueblo or municipio was replaced in 1894 by "capital municipal". It is not clear who succeeded Casilao nor is it known whether there were subsequent appointments of capital municipal. Don Agustin Casilao is sometimes referred to as Agustino or Augustino in some sources. By 1870, its barangays were Balagtas, Bilogo, Bolbok, Bukal, Catandala, Konde, De La Paz, Kumintang Ibaba, Matuko, Mapagong, Paharang Kanluran, Pairang, Pinamucan, Patulo, Sampaga, San Agapito, San Isidro and Talahib.At the coming of the Americans in the early 1900s, local civil government of Batangas was set up. It took effect on July 4, 1901, with Jose Villanueva elected as "Municipal President." His term expired in 1903.
Subsequent elections installed the following as municipal presidents: Juan Palacios, 1904–1905; Jose Arguelles, 1906; Marcelo Llana, 1907; Sisenando Ferriols, 1908–1909; Ventura Tolentino, 1910–1914; Julian Rosales, 1915; Juan Gutierrez, 1916–1919; Julian Rosales, 1920–1922; Juan Buenafe, 1923–1930; Perfecto Condez, 1931–1937; Juan Buenafe, 1938–1940. In 1941 the title "Municipal President" was changed to "Municipal Mayor." Pedro Berberabe was elected first municipal mayor.
Batangas City was severely damaged due to the Japanese A6M Zero bombardment and on December 12, 1941, the Batangas Airport which is located in Barangay Alangilan was destroyed. On October 14, 1943, municipal councilor Roman L. Perez was appointed Mayor by the Japanese after the inauguration of the Second Republic of the Philippines. Liberation begun when 158th Regimental Combat Team under the command of the US 6th Army reached Poblacion, Batangas City by March 11 during the Philippines Liberation Campaign of 1944–45. By the end of April the same that year, some elements of the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division was left to clear the barangays east and mountains south of the city as the main Allied Force continued their drive towards Tayabas Province. Some local guerrillas and irregulars of the President Quezon's Own Guerrillas entered Batangas City. Throughout the battle, guerrilla fighters played an important role in the advancement of the combined American and Philippine troops, providing key roads and information for the Japanese location of defenses and movements. Hostilities ended as the war came closer to the end.
Independence and onwards
After the Liberation, President Manuel Roxas issued his reappointment. Mayor Perez ran and won in 1944, the first post-War elections in the country. In November 1949, he was killed by an unknown assassin. Vice Mayor Atilano Magadia succeeded Perez as Mayor, serving until 1951. Mayor Macario Chavez was elected in 1951; his four-year term ended in 1955.People voted Pedro S. Tolentino overwhelmingly as mayor in 1956. He was reelected three times.
Cityhood
In 1965, Republic Act No. 4586 was signed by President Diosdado Macapagal, converting Batangas into a city. If successful, it would be renamed as Laurel, after former President Jose P. Laurel, a native of Tanauan. However, the voters rejected the cityhood and renaming of Batangas in a plebiscite.On June 21, 1969, Republic Act No. 5495 was enacted to convert Batangas into a city, this time using its same name. Later on July 23, Batangas formally became a city by virtue of Proclamation No. 581 that was signed a week earlier. Pedro S. Tolentino became its first city mayor.
Contemporary history
The succeeding city mayors are Mayor Macario M. Mendoza, 1974–1979; Alfredo M. Borbon, 1979–1980, Conrado C. Berberabe, 1980–1986; Jose M. Atienza, 1986–1987; Mario M. Perez, 1987, Eduardo B. Dimacuha, 1988–1998, Angelito A. Dimacuha, 1998–2001 and again Eduardo B. Dimacuha, 2001–2010, Vilma A. Dimacuha, 2010–2013 and again Eduardo B. Dimacuha, 2013–2016, Beverley Rose A. Dimacuha, 2016–2025, Marvey Mariño, 2025-present.Meanwhile, on January 19, 2008, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo opened Phase II project of the Batangas City International Container Port. She also inspected a major road project in Southern Tagalog. She then inspected the P1.5-billion Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, Stage II-Phase 1 connecting Lipa road widening, expansion and the STAR toll way development projects in Batangas.
Geography
Batangas City lies in the southernmost part of Batangas, facing Batangas Bay. It is bordered by San Jose to the north, Verde Island Passage to the south, Ibaan, Taysan, and Lobo to the east, and San Pascual to the west. The Calumpang River crosses the city from northeast to southwest. The area west of Calumpang River is generally plains while the eastern area is mostly foothills and mountains.Batangas City is from Manila.
Barangays
Batangas City is politically subdivided into 105 barangays, as indicated in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.Pagkilatan was formerly a sitio of Matoco. Malalim was formerly the "southern portion of the barrio of Sirang Lupa, the northern portion of the barrio Mahabang Dahilig, and the eastern portion of San Isidro" "together with the sitio of Malalim"; this territory became a barrio in 1954. In the same year, sitio Malitam, formerly part of barrio Libjo, was elevated as a barrio. San Antonio was constituted from the sitios of Ilaya, Labac, Matalisay, Pajo and Cacawan, from the barrio of San Agapito. In 1957, the barrio of Talumpok was divided into two. Sitios Romano, Poyesan, Bondeo and Latag were constituted into Talumpok Silangan, while sitios Ginto, Duhatan, Kulingkang, Piit and Cuaba were constituted into Talumpok Kanluran.
Balagtas was formerly known as Patay, Kumintang Ilaya as Sambat Ilaya, and Kumintang Ibaba as Sambat Ibaba.
Climate
Batangas City has a tropical savanna climate, straddling on a bordering tropical monsoon climate to the east. The city is dry from January to April, with temperatures reaching up to in April, and rainy for the rest of the year, with July being the rainiest month, with up to of rainfall. Humidity levels are high for most of the year.Demographics
In the 2024 census, the population of Batangas City was 358,267 people, with a density of.Economy
With the expansion of Batangas Port, the operation of different heavy industries and the construction of Phase II of the STAR Tollway project and diversion roads, Batangas City has seen a gradual shift from an agricultural economy to a commercial economy and eventually to an industrial economy.The northwest of the city hosts different commercial establishments while the lowland areas surrounding Batangas Bay hosts the heavy industries of the city. However, despite its gradual shift in becoming a major commercial/industrial hub for Calabarzon, it still shares rural landscapes that is still preserved in the north part of the city. The Poblacion area is the major retail and commercial center of the city. It is filled with banks, restaurants, and local businesses.
Being a major port city, Batangas has seen an increase in migrants from nearby provinces, islands, and even nation states such as China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.