Filipina Soul

Hannah Masuhud, one of the readers of Filipina Soul, wanted to know more about CALABARZON, and I thought, ‘yeah I can help her with that, easy enough, I live in the area.’ Well, apparently there are a few things that I don’t know about this new region.

CALABARZON is a portmanteau of five provinces: Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon. Traditionally, these five provinces were part of Region IV, but an executive order (No. 246) in 2002/2003 split the region into two: CALABARZON and MIMARO (Mindoro, Marinduque and Romblon).

In October 2003, Calamba City was designated as the regional center of Calabarzon.

What is special about this region?

Historically, these were the provinces involved in the uprisings against Spain in the 1890s. The Philippine Independence was declared in Cavite. Dr. Jose Rizal was born in Calamba, Laguna. Many of the country’s heroes were born or lived in this region.

The region is rich in natural beauty and travel destinations. Corregidor Island is found in Cavite. The numerous hotsprings and mineral resorts of Laguna are famous all over the country. Pagsanjan Falls has been a tourist destination since the time of Rizal. Batangas is home to Taal Lake. Rizal is spectacular for the Sierra Madras mountain ranges. Quezon is the gateway to the southern Luzon.

In the coming days, we will look at each of these travel destination inside the Calabarzon region.

image: Wikimedia Commons under GNU Free Documentation License