Tayabas

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For other places with the same name, see Tayabas (disambiguation).
For the barangay in Quezon City, see Payatas.
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Tayabas

Component City

City of Tayabas
Lungsod ng Tayabas

Seal
Nickname(s): City of Festivals
Home of The Finest Lambanog
Rest and Recreation Destination of Quezon
City of 11 Spanish Bridges

Map of Quezon showing the location of Tayabas

Tayabas

Location within the Philippines

Coordinates:

1401N 12135ECoordinates:

Country

Philippines

Region

CALABARZON (Region IV-A)

Province

Quezon Province

District

1st district of Quezon

Founded

1578

Barangays

66

1401N 12135E

Government[1]
Mayor

Faustino Silang (LakasCMD)

Area[2]
Total

230.95 km2 (89.17 sq mi)

Population (2010)[3]
Total

91,428

Density

400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)

Demonym

Tayabense (In Tayabasin)

Time zone

PST (UTC+8)

ZIP code

4327

Dialing code

42

Income class

6th class, partially urban

Website

tayabas.gov.ph

Tayabas, officially the City of Tayabas (Filipino: Lungsod ng Tayabas), is a city located
in Quezon Province, the Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 91,428
people. Tayabas is known for lambanog (coconut arrack) and sweet food/delicacies, as well as
tourism resorts. Tayabas is also known as the City of Festivals because of its colorful festivals. The
city is famous for resorts, heritage houses, historical landmarks, rest and recreation destination and
festivities. It is the former capital of the Province of Tayabas, now Aurora and Quezon.
[3]

Contents
[hide]

1 Barangays
2 History

3 Demographics
4 Economy
5 The City of Festivals

5.1 Festivals/ Celebration

6 Places of Interest
7 Notable Ancestral Houses of Tayabas

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

2.1 Cityhood

7.1 Nagar House

7.2 Ruins of the San Agustin Mansion
7.3 Sun Yat-sen School
7.4 Baldevino House
7.5 Abesamis House
7.6 Sumilang House
7.7 Orias House

8 Transportation
9 Local government
10 Education
11 Notable people from Tayabas
12 References
13 External links

Barangays[edit]
Tayabas is politically subdivided into 66 barangays.

[2]

Alitao
Alsam Ibaba
Alsam Ilaya
Alupay
Angeles Zone I (Pob.)
Angeles Zone II
Angeles Zone III
Angeles Zone IV
Angustias Zone I (Pob.)
Angustias Zone II
Angustias Zone III
Angustias Zone IV
Anos
Ayaas
Baguio
Banilad
Ibabang Bukal
Ilayang Bukal
Calantas
Calumpang
Camaysa
Dapdap
Kanlurang Domoit
Silangang Domoit
Gibanga
Ibas
Ilasan Ibaba
Ilasan Ilaya
Ipilan
Isabang
Katigan Kanluran
Katigan Silangan
Lakawan
Lalo
Lawigue
Lita
Malaoa
Masin
Mate
Mateuna
Mayowe
Ibabang Nangka
Ilayang Nangka
Opias

Ibabang Palale
Ilayang Palale
Kanlurang Palale
Silangang Palale
Pandakaki
Pook
Potol
San Diego Zone I (Pob.)
San Diego Zone II (Pob)
San Diego Zone III
San Diego Zone IV
San Isidro Zone I (Pob.)
San Isidro Zone II
San Isidro Zone III
San Isidro Zone IV
San Roque Zone I (Pob.)
San Roque Zone II
Talolong
Tamlong
Tongko
Valencia
Wakas

History[edit]
In 1578, Fray Juan de Plasencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa, two Franciscan missionaries from
Spain founded the town of Tayabas in order to spread Christianity to its natives. Prior to the
occupation, however, the native Tayabenses lived in rural settings typical to those times, with
barangays headed by village chiefs and councils of elders.
[4]

From 1749 to 1901, Tayabas was the capital of the Province of Tayabas, now known as Quezon. In
the 19th century, Tayabas was among the biggest towns in the country. Its Minor Basilica of St.
Michael the Archangel, which was enlarged in the mid-1850s, is the longest church in the country
and is a lasting testament to its glorious and historic past.
In more than three centuries of Spanish occupation, only eight cities and towns were given the title
of Villa, and Tayabas was one of them. These are La Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus de Cebu
in 1565, La Villa de Santiago de Libon (Albay, 1573), La Villa Fernandina de Vigan (Ilocos, 1574), La
Villa Rica de Arevalo (Iloilo, 1581), La Noble Villa de Pila (Laguna, 1610), La Muy Noble Villa de
Tayabas, (Tayabas, 1703), La Villa de Bacolor (Pampanga, 1765), La Villa de Lipa (Batangas,
1887). Interestingly, that Tayabas was given the title of 'most noble' villa even before it became the
provincial capital shows its importance even before 1749.
In the book "The Philippines," written by French traveler Jean Baptiste Mallat, and published in 1846,
it appears that Tayabas had more than 21,000 people at that time. This was reduced to 16,000 when
Lucena became an independent town in 1879. Due to low population growth during the Spanish
period, this number remained unchanged until the coming of the Americans.
Tayabas is at the center of the province's long-settled heartland, which possessed the best lands,
the oldest parishes, and the most active commercial centers. The provincial heartland was described
by Pres. Manuel L. Quezon as having the richest and gayest places in the province.

Tayabas has many places of interest. Its Casa Comunidad, a centuries-old building, is the place
where Apolinario "Hermano Pule" Dela Cruz was tried and sentenced to death in 1841. It was
restored in the 1990s through funds donated by the "Friends of Casa Comunidad," an organization
of affluent Manila-based Tayabenses.
Its numerous Spanish-era bridges mirror its rich architectural past. Two of the longest are
the Malagonlong and the Malaoa bridges. Malagonlong's high and beautiful arches and its solid
design are some of the reasons why it was declared a national historical site. It is so strong that it
withstood the dynamites planted there to stop the Japanese advance during World War II.
Tayabas suffered a terrible blow near the end of World War II when it was completely burned to the
ground after a bombing raid on March 15, 1945. Prior to that, the old houses of Tayabas rival those
of Vigan's Spanish-era structures.

Cityhood[edit]
During the 11th Congress (19982001), Congress enacted into law 33 bills converting 33
municipalities into cities. However, Congress did not act on a further 24 bills converting 24 other
municipalities into cities.
During the 12th Congress (20012004), Congress enacted into law Republic Act No. 9009 (RA
9009), which took effect on 30 June 2001. RA 9009 amended Section 450 of the Local Government
Code by increasing the annual income requirement for conversion of a municipality into a city from
20 million to 100 million. The rationale for the amendment was to restrain, in the words of Senator
Aquilino Pimentel, "the mad rush" of municipalities to convert into cities solely to secure a larger
share in the Internal Revenue Allotment despite the fact that they are incapable of fiscal
independence.
After the effectivity of RA 9009, the House of Representatives of the 12th Congress adopted Joint
Resolution No. 29, which sought to exempt from the 100 million income requirement in RA 9009
the 24 municipalities whose cityhood bills were not approved in the 11th Congress. However, the
12th Congress ended without the Senate having approved Joint Resolution No. 29.
During the 13th Congress (20042007), the House of Representatives re-adopted former Joint
Resolution No. 29 as Joint Resolution No. 1 and forwarded it to the Senate for approval. However,
the Senate again failed to approve the Joint Resolution. Following the suggestion of Senator
Aquilino Pimentel (Senate President), 16 municipalities filed, through their respective sponsors,
individual cityhood bills. The 16 cityhood bills each contained a common provision exempting it from
the 100 million income requirement of RA 9009
[5]

"Exemption from Republic Act No. 9009. The City of x x x shall be exempted from the income
requirement prescribed under Republic Act No. 9009."
On 22 December 2006, the House of Representatives approved the cityhood bills. The Senate also
approved the cityhood bills in February 2007, except that of Naga, Cebu which was passed on 7
June 2007. These cityhood bills lapsed into law on various dates from March to July 2007 after
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo failed to sign them.
On July 14, 2007, the municipality held a plebiscite to ratify the conversion of the said act, with the
residents voting in favor of the move, although there was a low turnout of voters for the plebiscite.
The point of law at issue in 2007 was whether there had been a breach of Section 10, Article X of
the 1987 Constitution, which provides
No province, city, municipality, or barangay shall be created, divided, merged, abolished or its
boundary substantially altered, except in accordance with the criteria established in the local
government code and subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite in the political
units directly affected.

 and in each case the established criteria were far from met.
In November 2008, Tayabas lost its cityhood, along with 15 other cities, after the Supreme Court of
the Philippines granted a petition filed by the League of Cities of the Philippines, and declared
unconstitutional the cityhood law (RA 9398) which had allowed the town to acquire its city
status. The Supreme Court ruled that they did not pass the requirements for cityhood.
[5]

[6]

[7][8]

On 10 December 2008, the 16 cities affected acting together filed a motion for reconsideration with
the Supreme Court. More than a year later, on 22 December 2009, acting on said appeal, the Court
reversed its earlier ruling as it ruled that "at the end of the day, the passage of the amendatory
law" (regarding the criteria for cityhood as set by Congress)"is no different from the enactment of a
law, i.e., the cityhood laws specifically exempting a particular political subdivision from the criteria
earlier mentioned. Congress, in enacting the exempting law/s, effectively decreased the already
codified indicators." Accordingly cityhood status was restored.
[9]

But on 27 August 2010, the 16 cities lost their city status again, after the Supreme Court voted 7-6,
with two justices not taking part, to reinstate the 2008 decision declaring as "unconstitutional" the
Republic Acts that converted the 16 municipalities into cities. A previous law required towns aspiring
to become cities to earn at least 100 million annually, which none of the 16 did.
[10]

On 15 February 2011, the Supreme Court made another volte-face and upheld for the third time the
cityhood of 16 towns in the Philippines.
[11]

And on 12 April 2011, a Supreme Court en banc ruling delivered in Baguio City, promulgated and
resolved that:
We should not ever lose sight of the fact that the 16 cities covered by the Cityhood Laws not only
had conversion bills pending during the 11th Congress, but have also complied with the
requirements of the LGC prescribed prior to its amendment by R.A. No. 9009. Congress undeniably
gave these cities all the considerations that justice and fair play demanded. Hence, this Court should
do no less by stamping its imprimatur to the clear and unmistakable legislative intent and by duly
recognizing the certain collective wisdom of Congress. WHEREFORE, the Ad Cautelam Motion for
Reconsideration (of the Decision dated 15 February 2011) is denied with finality.
[10]

[11]

So affirming the finality of the constitutionality of the 16 cityhood laws.

On 28 June 2011 the Supreme Court directed the Clerk of Court to issue forthwith the entry of
judgment on the cityhood case of 16 municipalities. Sealing with "the finality of the resolution
upholding the constitutionality of the 16 Cityhood Laws absolutely warrants the respondents' "Motion
for Entry of Judgment", the SC ruled."
[12]

This entry of judgment ended the cityhood battle of the 16 cities in the Philippines.