About Tayabas

Within the Province of Quezon, Tayabas is a land-locked town which is situated at the south-eastern of “Mt. Banahaw” – one of the famous volcanoes in the country. It is surrounded by several municipalities of Quezon Province such as Lucban, Mauban and Sampaloc to the north; Atimonan and Pagbilao to the south-east; Lucena City to the south; and Sariaya to the west. It shares its boundary with the Province of Laguna in its north-eastern extremity. From southeast of Manila, it lies some 150 km. and approximately 10 km. from the provincial capital, Lucena City.

Tayabas has a total land area of 23,095 hectares divided among its 66 barangays, 19 of which are within the Poblacion; 47 classified as rural with respective areas ranging from a mere 10 hectares to an enormous 3,002.41 hectares. The compact urban core measures only 82.15 hectares which is less than one (1) percent of the total land area.

A portion of the once flourishing coconut plantation and rice fields is now converted into 35 residential subdivisions (e.g. Sta. Isabel Estates, Santa Barbara and San Juan Estates, all of the Ayala Land thru Laguna Properties Holdings Inc., Village of St. Jude, Lovely Village/Meadows, Intertown, and Green Valley)

History of the Town

Prior to the coming of the Spaniards in 1521, the natives of Tayabas lived in scattered villages. These Tayabenses had their own system of government, strict code of ethics, communal type of economy, and a very indigenous from of religion. Just like any rural village in the Philippines, social order in Tayabas was affected by the barangay set up that was headed by a chief or council of elders. Retribution was facilitated as the set of norms was known by everyone in the village. There was a strong sense of cooperation among the people as evidenced by the atagan (bayanihan system). Communal landholdings were prevalent at that time. Peasants of Tayabas helped one another, on a rotation basis, in connection to their agricultural activities such as planting and harvesting crops locally known as turnohan. Marketing of products was through barter within the village or in nearby areas when production exceeded consumption needs in the locality.

In 1578, two Franciscan missionaries, Fray Juan de Plasencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa founded Tayabas while pursuing Spain’s missionary objective, and planted the first seed of Christian faith among the natives.

For 131 years (1779-1910), the City of Tayabas was the cabecera of the then called Tayabas Province. The province is now called Quezon Province.
City of Tayabas is a component city in the province of Quezon. On March 18, 2007, Republic Act No. 9398, An Act converting the Municipality of Tayabas in the Province of Quezon into a Component City to be known as City of Tayabas, was enacted into law and 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.

POPULATION                 :    80, 917 (as of 2007)
REGISTERED VOTERS     :    38, 013
INCOME CLASS              :    6th Class
GROWTH RATE              :    1.35%

PHYSICAL FEATURES

LOCATION

A 3-hour drive from Manila, this stately municipality rests at the foot of Mount Banahaw at 14°50 latitude east-southeast of this mystical mountain. Bounded on the north by Lucban; Pagbilao to the south-east; Lucena City to the south; and Sariaya to the west.

Distance from Lucena City and Manila
It lies some 150 km. South-east of Manila and only about 10 km. from the provincial capital, Lucena City.

BOUNDARY

Bounded on the north by Lucban; Pagbilao to the south-east; Lucena City to the south; and Sariaya to the west.

SOIL TYPES
There are eight (8) soil series and two (2) miscellaneous land types identified. Soils of the Land Management Unit 92 or the volcanic cone were classified in higher category, great group level due to lack of observation made. Likewise, soils of the strongly rolling to steep high relief, limestone hills were classified as complex.

The soils of the area are Tayabas, Macolod, Ibaan, Alimodian, Bolinao, Sibul-Rockland Complex, Annam, Luisiana and Hapludults – Dystropepts Association.

TOPOGRAPHY

The slopes of Tayabas are level to nearly level (0-3%) nearly level to undulating (3-8%), undulating to rolling (18-30%), and steep to very steep (>50%).

Generally, areas with slopes of 0-18% are good farmlands suited for seasonal inter-tilled crops. Those with 18-30% slopes are best suited to agro-forestry, while those with greater than 50% slopes should be devoted to forest development or wildlife.

CLIMATE

Belongs to the second type of climate characterized by the absence of a distinct dry season; the rainy season occurring between the months of June and January with pronounced maximum rain period occurring from November to January.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Minerals
There is a limestone mineral deposit in Tayabas. This mineral deposit is located in Brgy. Lawigue and Brgy. Ibabang Palale.

Forests
The Quezon National Park (Proclamation No. 594) and the Mt. Banahaw-San Cristobal National Park (Proclamation No. 716 and No. 75), cover some portions of the municipality of Tayabas. The covered areas, to some extent, are Barangays Ibabang Palale, Lawigue and Ilayang Bukal.

MAJOR AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES/CROPS

Coconut Production
Rice Production
Livestock Production

EMPLOYMENT
Labor force : 57% of the population

HEALTH INFORMATION

There are twelve (12) Health Stations including the City Health Center. The 66 barangays which comprise the city are clustered into twelve (12) health stations. Each health station service an average of five (5) barangays.

Most of the causes of morbidity such as cough and cold, URI, abdominal pain and fever in the City of Tayabas are readily preventable thru existing and affordable technology. This is true also in the case of bronchopneumonia which tops among the ten leading causes of mortality for the previous five years. All of these can be attributed to poor environmental sanitation, unhealthy lifestyle, lack of vitamin supplementation and malnutrition.

From year 2003 to 2005, number of cases of maternal deaths are few and almost insignificant. Though the figure is not alarming, vigorous measures are implemented like prenatal care and better care delivery services among birthing homes.

There are not enough public health personnel. But shortage is compensated by numerous barangay health workers and nutrition scholars.

The financial support of the public health services (RHU and health stations) comes from the city government. The total health budget for the year 2009 is P27, 799,436.00. An increase of 10% from last year’s P25, 265,440.00.

TRANSPORT FACILITIES
The municipality of Tayabas relies solely on road-based transportation for the movement of its people and goods. There are about 234 kilometers of roads in the municipality and most of these are concentrated in the rural areas considering that Tayabas is basically an agricultural town and good road condition is a basic infrastructure needed to facilitate the transportation of agricultural products from the rural barangays to the public market. There are approximately 36 kilometers of national roads, 16 kilometers of provincial roads, 7 kilometers of municipal roads and 176 kilometers barangay roads in the municipality.

A national highway which stretches from Aparri in the northernmost Luzon to Zamboanga City in southernmost Mindanao traverses the southwestern portion of Tayabas at Barangay Isabang. The Lucena-Tayabas, Tayabas-Lucban, Tayabas-Sariaya and Tayabas-Pagbilao are first class roads made of concrete and asphalt. While a circumferential road connecting the towns of Tayabas-Mauban-Sampaloc-Lucban is presently undergoing construction.

Public transportation available: jeepneys, that carry passengers to and from neighboring Lucena City, Lucban and Sariaya; tricycles, which service short distances and are the most widely used public transport within the poblacion.

COMMUNICATION FACILITIES

The telecommunication needs are provided by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company with 12,392 enlisted subscribers as of year 2000. Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular cell sites are also in service to large number of cellular phone subscribers.

MEDIA/HANDLING FACILITIES

Media Services
Cable TV services are also made available from two local companies, Tayabas Resource Ventures Corp. and Celebrity Cable Network. HBO, Cinemax, CNN, BBC can easily be accessed for home viewing.

Mailing Services
The City of Tayabas relies solely on PhilPost for the mailing services.

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

Banks: UCPB, Grand Agri Rural Bank, Rural Bank of Tayabas, Rural Bank of Lucban, Turumba Rural Bank, United People’s Rural Bank, Inc., and QCRB.

Other Financial Institutions: LESMA Lending Investor, Raquel Pawnshop, Querubin Pawnshop, Quickloan,
MV Lhuiller, Unitrade Pawnshop, Tayabas Lending Investor.

Tayabas.ph