General Information

The region is located in southwestern Luzon, just south and west of Metro Manila and is the second most densely populated region. CALABARZON and MIMARO were previously combined together as Southern Tagalog, until they were separated in 2002. Palawan was subsequently moved from western visayas to the more logical Western Visayas, turning the former into MIMAROPA. Region IV-A had a very important role in the history of the Philippines. Philippine independence was held by 1st Philippine president, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898. People from Batangas,Cavite and Laguna were a part of those who first revolted against the Spaniards for freedom. While the Philippines' national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal was born in Calamba, Laguna .MIMARO, also known as Region IV-B, is a region of the Philippines located in Luzon. The name is an acronym that stands for its provinces, which are: Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, and Romblon. There is only one city in the entire region: Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro.

History

In the late nineteenth century the Philippines became one of the world's leading sources of coffee, and Batangas was heavily given over to coffee cultivation, but the coffee blight of the eighteen-eighties eventually overleapt quarantine measures and devastated the Philippine crops. The Philippines would not again export coffee for almost a century. The stately homes of the coffee planters still stand. Batangas was home to several early nationalist leaders, and contains museum-monuments to General Malvar, the last military leader in the Philippine-American War (Philippine Insurrection) to surrender to the United States, to Apolinario Mabini, to President José P. Laurel, and to Marcela Agoncillo, who made the first official Philippine flag during the insurrection against the Spanish.

Batangas offers a number of vacation destinations, including Taal Volcano, the world's smallest, on an island in Lake Bombon. Dive spots are extremely numerous, and there is a "submarine garden" of coral, visible at low tide, at the town of Lobo. The first balisong, or Philippine butterfly knife, was made in Taal, Batangas, in 1905, and the province is still a center for their manufacture. It produces rice, maize, coconuts, sugar, pepper, fruits, vegetables, poultry, cattle, horses, other livestock, and fish, and has a considerable variety of light and heavy industries, from garments to electronics to steel. It is also a shipping center.

The Moriones festival also plays a prominent role in Marinduque's culture. During the month of April, parades and celebrations can be seen on the streets. In Gasan, Boac, and Mogpog, a parade of people dressed as Moriones can be seen on the main road connecting the towns of the island. Boac shows a reenactment in the evening of the actual event when Longinus, a blind soldier, punctures Jesus with his spear and blood droplets from the wound restores Longinus' sight.