HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

TAGAYTAY

HISTORY
Legendarily, the word Tagaytay came from TAGA meaning to cut and ITAY
which means father. A father and son were said to be on a wild boar chase
when the animal they were pursuing suddenly turned and attacked them.
Fearing for his fathers safety as the boar violently charged the old man, the
son cried out TAGA, ITAY! which means cut him down, father! The sons
exhortation and shouts reverberated in the valleys of the ridge and were
heard by the residents, wood gatherers, hunters and kaingeros in the
forests. Thus, the shout and the words Taga, Itay became the subject of
conversation among the people in the countryside for several days. In time,
the place from where the shouts came began to be known as the beautiful
southern city of Tagaytay.

During the Philippine Revolution of 1896, Tagaytay became a place of refuge

and hideaway for revolutionaries from the nearby provinces of Batangas and
Laguna and other neighboring towns of Masilao (now Amadeo), Malabon
Grande (now Gen. Trias), Silang, Dasmarias, Mendez and Indang. Its central
location amidst these towns and provinces, the wild preponderance of forests
on its ridges and the vast undulating topography of its lands characterized
by wide stretches of cogon offered a ready sanctuary and haven from pursuit
of the Katipuneros. As a passageway for the revolutionary activities in the
said provinces, the natives and revolutionaries described movement to and
from the towns via Tagaytay with the word MANANAGAYTAY, which means
traversing the ridges of Tagaytay.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the 11th Ariborne Division of
Lieutenants General William Krugers 8th Army airdropped military supplies
and personnel on the Tagaytay ridge, prior to the Liberation of Manila from
the Japanese on February 3, 1945. To commemorate this event, the city

officials, in coordination with the Philippine Historical Institute installed a

marker at the junction of the Silang-Canlubang-Nasugbu roads.

On June 21, 1938, Tagaytay became a chartered city with the passage and
signing by the late President Manuel L. Quezon of Commonwealth Act No.
338, a bill authored by Rep. Justiniano S. Montano of Cavite. Among the
citys past mayors were Arsenio Natividad, Mariano Bondoc, Melchor Benitez,
Miguel Taa, Isaac Tolentino, Hilarion Maglabe, Benjamin Erni, and Francis
Tolentino. The incumbent City Mayor is Hon. Abraham N. Tolentino.

Today, the City of Tagaytay is identified as one of the priority areas for
tourism development of the Department of Tourism. Likewise, the city has
been identified in the CALABARZON as a tourist center.

Old Tanauan Church Ruins

Tanauan was among the earliest lake shore towns established by the
Augustinian missionaries (together with Taal, Lipa, Bauan and Sala) in
Batangas around the late 16th century. Founded in 1584, the town was
established at the northern shore of the Taal Lake (originally called Bonbon)
near the foot of Tagaytay Ridge,
ARCHEOLOGY

In 2010, human remains were accidentally unearthed during the landscaping

activities of the Club Balai Isabel Resort, which was brought to the attention
of the National Museum of the Philippines.[1] The initial assessment of the
archaeologists from the National Museum on the site prompted them to
conduct an archaeological investigation. In 2011 systematic excavations
were conducted within the ruins around the area where the human bones
have been found and beside one of the walls. The excavations revealed
evidences of major wall collapses on the upper stratigraphic levels of

archaeological trenches, which occurred around 19th to early 20th century.

On the lower layers of the trenches, articulated human burials and scatters
of fragmented human bones have been recovered, suggesting the reuse of
the church ruins as a cemetery, sometime after the 1754 eruption. Adobe
structures and the stony foundation of the walls were also exposed during
the excavation, revealing more of the masonry of the church ruins.

People's Park in the Sky

The People's Park in the Sky also known as simply People's Park is a
historical urban park in Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines. The park was converted
from an incomplete mansion, known as the Palace in the Sky built during
the Marcos Era. The incomplete scaffolding of the mansion remained intact.
The Shrine of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love and a doppler weather
radar station maintained by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is also within the park.
ARCHEOLOGY
Imelda Marcos decided to build a mansion on top of Mount Gonzales, which
was at that time a land owned by the government. The summit before was
used by the Bureau of Air Transport as a radar station. Construction of the
Palace in the Sky began in 1981. The construction of the mansion was a
tedious one as roads were built for supplies to reach the top of the 2,500 ft
Mount Gonzales. The mountain was leveled by bulldozers and farmers living
on the mountainside were asked to relocate. Construction of the mansion
was hastened when US President Ronald Reagan announced his intention to
visit the Philippines in November 1983. It was reported that the Marcos
administration planned to accommodate Reagan at the Palace in the Sky.
Post-People Power Revolution critics of the Marcos administration described
the unfinished mansion as a symbol of the Marcos administration's excess.

Taal Volcano

Taal Volcano ) is a complex volcano located on the island of Luzon in

the Philippines.It is the second most active volcano in the Philippines with 33

historical eruptions. All of these eruptions are concentrated on Volcano

Island, an island near the middle of Taal Lake. The lake partially fills Taal
Caldera, which was formed by prehistoric eruptions between 140,000 and
5,380 BP. Viewed from Tagaytay Ridge, Taal Volcano and Lake presents one
of the most picturesque and attractive views in the Philippines. It is located
about 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of the capital of the country, the city
of Manila.
GEOGRAPHY
Taal Volcano and Lake are wholly located in the province of Batangas. The
northern half of Volcano Island falls under the jurisdiction of the lake shore
town of Talisay, and the southern half to San Nicolas. The other communities
that encircle Taal Lake include the cities of Tanauan and Lipa, and the
municipalities of Talisay, Laurel, Agoncillo, Santa
Teresita, Alitagtag, Cuenca, Balete and Mataas na Kahoy.[5]
Permanent settlement on the island is prohibited by the Philippine Institute of
Volcanology and Seismology or PHIVOLCS, declaring the whole Volcano Island
as a high-risk area and a Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ).[6] Despite the
warnings, poor families have settled on the island, risking their lives, earning
a living by fishing and farming crops from the rich volcanic soil.
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY
aal Volcano is part of a chain of volcanoes along the western side of the edge
of the island of Luzon, which were formed by the subduction of the Eurasian
Plate underneath the Philippine Mobile Belt. Taal Lake lies within a 2530 km
(1619 mi) caldera formed by explosive eruptions between 140,000 and
5,380 BP.[2] Each of these eruptions created extensive ignimbrite deposits,
reaching as far away as where Manila stands today
Since the formation of the caldera, subsequent eruptions have created a
volcanic island within the caldera known as Volcano Island. This 5-kilometre
(3.1 mi) island covers an area of about 23 square kilometres (8.9 sq mi) with
the center of the island occupied by the 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) Main Crater with
a single crater lake formed from the 1911 eruption. The island consists of
different overlapping cones and craters of which forty-seven have been
identified. Twenty six (26) of these are tuff cones, five are cinder cones and
four are maars. With its highest elevation at only 311 m (1,020 ft), Taal is one
of the lowest volcanoes in the world.

SANITATION
Home industry classified as cottage industry:
Backyard livestock and fowl raising provided that the total number of heads
does not exceed six (6) and provided that adequate sanitation facilities (e.g.
septic tanks) are provided; permit to engage in such activities may be
revoked by the Zoning Administrator upon proper justification should the
activity become a nuisance to the public in general and the neighbors in
particular.

DRAINAGE
Tagaytay suffers from the absence of a central sewerage system/waste water
treatment systems. Since these facilities require massive resources, the city
resorts to using natural drainage and a multi-chamber (sealed) septic vault.

TRAFFIC CIRCULATION