Lucena

In the 1570s, Captain Juan de Salcedo first explored what was then Kalilayan, later founded as a province in 1591. The Franciscan priests Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa between 1580 and 1583 founded its town, also named "Tayabas". Tayabas was organized by the Spaniards through the Franciscan missionaries and Lucena was just one of its barrios. Tayabas became the provincial capital in 1749, renaming the province after it.^[7][8]

The Spaniards of the 16th century called the area "Buenavista" because of its scenic beauty; several years later, the barrio was renamed "Oroquieta". A century later, Muslim pirates began terrorizing the entire Philippine coastline, including Oroquieta. The barrio folks built forts along the seashores to defend it against the attacking pirates along the coast, particularly in the present-day Cotta and in Barangay Mayao, though these structures are no longer extant. Hence, the place became known as Cotta, the Spanish form of the Tagalog kuta ('fort'). The growth of local maritime trade facilitated in the Cotta port and the final defeat of Moro pirates plying the Luzon and Visayan waters, afforded the growth of Lucena as a town which eventually led to its being the provincial capital of Tayabas in 1901.

Finally on November 3, 1879, a royal decree was issued and the Orden Superior Civil officially adopted the name "Lucena" in honor of a Spanish friar by the name of Father Mariano Granja, who came from Lucena, Córdoba in Andalucia, Spain. Fr. Granja was responsible for the development of the barrio that became a Parish in 1881. Lucena became an independent municipality on June 1, 1882.^[9]

During the 1896 Philippine Revolution, the people of Lucena showed their brand of patriotism. José Zaballero led the local revolutionists who were under the barrage of Spanish muskets. Later, Miguel Arguilles with Jose Barcelona as president formed a revolutionary government in Lucena.

After Aguinaldo proclaimed the nation's independence on June 12, 1898, Gen. Miguel Malvar, as Commanding General for Southern Luzon, took over Tayabas province on August 15, 1898. Don Crisanto Marquez became Lucena's first elected Municipal president during the first Philippine Republic.

 

Lucena was involved in the Philippine–American War in 1899. The Americans established a civil government in the country, and on March 12, 1901, the provincial capital was transferred from Tayabas to Lucena.

On December 27, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Forces overran the city of Lucena (referred to by the locals as The Fall of Lucena), just 19 days after they set foot on Philippine soil. The Japanese wanted to strengthen their military presence in the region, sending units to capture key points in the town. The invasion was initially successful; however, the Japanese Imperial Forces would soon encounter stiff resistance from members of the local resistance and members of the Hunters ROTC.

The underground resistance movement was tenacious. Japanese Forces would be caught off-guard with surprise assaults which often resulted in fierce close-quarters combat. Constant assaults and logistical issues would take its toll on the Japanese forces.

By January 25, 1945, the Hunters ROTC guerrillas had penetrated into the town. Using their knowledge of the local surroundings to their advantage, they moved quickly in order prevent Japanese forces from organizing a proper defense. After a hard-fought offensive, the Filipino forces had successfully driven the Japanese out of Lucena. The people of Lucena would fortify their defenses in preparation for another assault. Attempts by the Japanese to re-establish their occupation of Lucena failed.

Tayabas Province stood by and waited for the American Liberation forces and the Philippine Commonwealth troops, who would soon hand them their freedom on April 4, 1945.

Lucena was made into a chartered city through the efforts of then-Congressman Manuel S. Enverga of Quezon's 1st district. Republic Act No. 3271 lapsed into law on June 17, 1961, without the signature of then-President Carlos P. Garcia.The induction of its city officials led by then-Mayor Castro Profugo, as well as its formal inauguration took place on August 20, 1961, as formally stated on Section 90 of Republic Act No. 3271.^[10] On July 1, 1991, Lucena became a highly urbanized city, thereby making the city independent from the province.^[11]

 

 

Lucena is situated 130 kilometers (81 mi) south of Manila. The city proper is wedged between two rivers, Dumacaa River on the east and Iyam River on the west. Seven other rivers and six creeks serve as natural drainage for the city. Its port on the coast along Tayabas Bay is home to several boat and ferry lines operating and serving the sea lanes between Lucena and the different points in the region and as far as the Visayas.

Being the provincial capital and former Government Center of the former Southern Tagalog Region, Lucena is host to most of the branches of governmental agencies, businesses, banks and service facilities in the Southern Tagalog region.

Lucena is politically subdivided into 33 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Lucena falls under Type III of the Corona's climatic classification system.^[13] It is characterized by no pronounced wet and dry seasons. Generally, the wet season is from June to November and sometimes extends up to December when the southwest monsoon is predominant. The dry season is from January to May but is sometimes interrupted by erratic rainfall. The annual mean temperature is 27 °C (81 °F), with February as the coldest month with temperatures dropping to 20 °C (68 °F), and May as the warmest month with temperatures reaching up to 35 °C (95 °F). Habagat monsoon winds pass through the province from June to October while northeasterly winds or Amihan blows through the islands from December to February.

Poverty incidence of Lucena

 

Economic activities in Lucena are heavily concentrated in the poblacion and other suburban barangays where the highly dense and constricted central business district (CBD) is home to a large cluster of different business enterprises. As population grows in tandem with new and promising business prospects, business activities spill over adjoining barangays, thus forming mini satellite commercial areas.

Other commercial strips are located in the poblacion and suburban barangays where both retail and wholesale trade, including other essential services, are being engaged in. Lucena City features SM City Lucena, the biggest mall in the city located in Ibabang Dupay, which is also one of the first SM Malls in Luzon. Other Shopping Centers include Pacific Mall Lucena (Metro Gaisano Mall), SM Savemore Agora, and Puregold Gulang-Gulang Lucena.

Big factories and warehouses are present in these suburban barangays like San Miguel Brewery, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc., PepsiCo Philippines, Inc., Asia Brewery, Inc. Nestlé Philippines, and Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly La Tondeña Distillers Inc.), do business in sales, distribution, and transport of assorted business products in bulk.

Of the total 8,316.90 ha (20,551.5 acres) land area of Lucena City, 19.86% or 1,651.77 hectares (4,081.6 acres) cover the existing built-up area. Almost 0.56% of this or 46.62 hectares (115.2 acres) cover the industrial section, located in different barangays of the city. These areas are home to significant industrial and manufacturing activities.

Industry in Lucena produces a sustainable amount of agro-industrial-based products, dried and smoked fish, distilled liquors, bamboo and rattan furniture, ornamental flowers/plants, vegetable as well as meat products.

Lucena is also known as the "Cocopalm City of the South". Nestled midst a wide expanse of coconut lands, Lucena has coconut oil mills which produce oil-based household products like cooking oil, soap, lard, margarine, and oil-based medicines. Exora Cooking Oil and Vegetable Lard and Miyami Cooking Oil are proudly made in this city. Tantuco Industries, JnJ Oil Industries, Inc., and Monaco Oil Company are some of the well-known coconut oil companies in the city.

Car assembly and manufacturing plants have also established in the city, while Manila-based car shops are starting to put up some branches like Toyota-Lucena, Isuzu-Lucena, SFM-Lucena, and Foton Motor.

San Pedro Shipping Yard, a subsidiary of MSLI, is also located in Dalahican.

 

 

Road network provides access from all key cities and towns in the island of Luzon to this highly urbanized city. Well-paved radial and by-pass routes criss-crossing in and out of the city facilitate the transport of unlimited assortment of merchandise, supplies, and raw materials to and from the city on a round-the-clock basis.

Over the years, it was observed that a growing number of visitors from other places come to Lucena. Travelers of various types and sizes are drawn to Lucena because of modern facilities and good amenities that could be found in the city such as the Quezon Convention Center when the City of Lucena hosted the 2004 SEABA Under-18 Championship qualifying tournament for the 2004 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship in India, Kalilayan Civic Centre, Sentro Pastoral Auditorium, Alcala Sports Complex a two time host of a Palarong Pambansa (1976, 1989), Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation Gymnasium, Sacred Heart College Gymnasium, and Marcial Punzalan Gymnasium.

• Lucena Botanical Garden & Arboretum
• Orchids Country Farm
• Perez Park
• Quezon Convention Center
• Saint Ferdinand Cathedral
• Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Church
• Talaba Eco Park^[26]
• Lucena City Promenade
• Museo de Lucena
• Port of Lucena^[27]

• Cabana Ancestral House
• Calixto (Zaballero) Ancestral House
• Granja Panciteria
• Governor's Mansion
• Old Carlos Superdrug
• Farmacia Chionglo
• PNR Lucena Station

The city features various celebrations, and one of the most prominent is the festival of Pasayahan in Lucena.^[29][30]

 

Pasayahan sa Lucena is a secular festival conceptualized to showcase the natural and ecological interrelationship and independence between nature and man. This local festival is managed and hosted by the local government unit of Lucena.^[31] It also promotes the ways of life inherent among the people of Lucena. Entertainment, cuisine, social drinking, dancing, live music, arts, and other leisure activities are traditionally included in the Pasayahan Festival.

The Grand Parade of Pasayahan, also known as Mardi Gras among the city’s more senior residents, is the main highlight of the Pasayahan. It features a parade of enormous and vibrant floats made by the participating businesses and groups, as well as street dancing, marching bands, a Pandong (hat) competition, and a gay-friendly Carnival Queen competition.^[32]

The first Pasayahan in 1987 was a big triumph that it has become an annual affair. Year after year, the Pasayahan draws a sea of frolicking humanity. Pasayahan features the Chami Festival to promote Lucena’s very own native delicacies, the chami and tinapa. Other features, such as the Binibining Pasayahan, a street fashion show, a talent competition for LGBTQ youth, and other street concerts, take the stage in Pasayahan. Originally intended as three days of spirited merrymaking in the streets, the event has become a weeklong to monthlong tourist attraction.^[33][34]

The celebration also coincides with the Feast of St. Ferdinand, one of the patrons of the Catholic churches in Lucena, celebrated every 30th of May.

 

 

As a highly urbanized city, Lucena is independent of the province, but its residents are still allowed by Section 452-C of the Local Government Code of 1991 and its city charter (Republic Act No. 3271) to vote and run in provincial government elections. The provincial government have no political jurisdiction over local transactions of the city government. Residents of this city can also vote and run for provincial board and congressional positions as the city is part of Quezon's 2nd legislative district.

Pursuant to the Local Government Code of 1991,^[35] the city of Lucena is to be composed of a mayor (Punong Lungsod), a vice mayor (Pangalawang Punong Lungsod) and members (Kagawad) of the legislative branch Sangguniang Panlungsod alongside a secretary to the said legislature, all of which are elected to a three-year term and are eligible to run for three consecutive terms.

Barangays are also headed by elected officials: Barangay Chairman, Barangay Council, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. The barangays have SK federation which represents the barangay, headed by SK chairperson and whose members are called SK councilors. All officials are also elected every three years.

The current seat of the city government is the Lucena City Government Complex, located along Lucena Diversion Road in Barangay Mayao Kanluran, with some offices still located at the old Lucena City Hall in the poblacion.

Head of the municipality during the Spanish occupation:

• Jorge Zaballero (1896) (Captain Municipal)
• Crisanto Márquez (First Municipal President of Lucena)

Municipal presidents during the American Civil Government:

• Gabriel Cord (1902–1903)
• Gregorio Márquez (1903–1904)
• Juan Carmona (1904–1906)
• Venancio Queblar (1906–1910)
• Feliciano Zoleta (1910–1912)
• Fortunato Álvarez (1912–1916)
• Pedro Nieva (1916–1919, 1919–1922)
• José Nava (1922–1925)
• Venancio Queblar (1925–1928)
• Domingo Gamboa (1928–1931)
• Fernando Barcelona (1931–1934)

Mayors under the Commonwealth Government:

• Federico V. Márquez (1940–1943)
• José Mendoza (1943–1944)
• Teotimo Atienza (1944–1945)

Acting mayors (after World War II):

• Julian Zoleta (April 1945)
• Federico Márquez (May 1945)
• Honorio Abadilla (October 1946)

Elected mayors:

• Amando Zaballero (1947–1952)
• Honorio Abadilla (1952–1955)
• Casto T. Profugo (1955–1960, 1961–1963)
• Mario L. Tagarao (1963–1967, 1967–1971, 1971–1981,1981–1986)
• Euclides Abecedê (May 1986 – November 1987) (appointed)
• Romeo Mendoza (December 4–7, 1987) (appointed)
• Julio T. Alzona (December 8, 1987 – February 7, 1988) (appointed)
• Cesar Zaballero (February 8, 1988 – June 1992)
• Ramon Y. Talaga, Jr. (1992–1995, 1995–1998)
• Bernard G. Tagarao (1998 – May 12, 2000)
• Ramon Y. Talaga, Jr. (May 13, 2000 – June 30, 2010)
• Barbara "Ruby" C. Talaga (2010 – October 2012)^[a]
• Roderick "Dondon" A. Alcala (November 2012 – 2022)^[38]
• Mark Don Victor B. Alcala (2022–Present)

Notes

 

 

Lucena City has a central transportation hub called the Lucena Grand Central Terminal, located along Lucena Diversion Road in Barangay Ilayang Dupay. The terminal also hosts the Lucena City Land Transportation Office (LTO).

New and modern buses connect Lucena to Pasay, Quezon City, and Alabang in Muntinlupa, while UV Express and van routes connect to Taytay, Pililla, eastern Laguna, and other parts of Quezon, including Bondoc Peninsula towns. Bus companies such as JAC Liner, Lucena Lines, JAM Liner, DLTBCo and N. Dela Rosa Bus Lines bring passengers to Manila and Lucena back and forth.

Lucena also has a wide network of jeepney routes, all emanating from the city proper (Bayan) and reaching out to the major barangays of the city, as well as nearby towns. Thousands of tricycles also roam the streets of the city, bringing passengers right at their point of destination. These tricycles usually are the mode of transport when night falls. The under-construction South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Toll Road 4 (TR-4) Extension from Calamba, Laguna will end in Lucena at the connection of Maharlika Highway at Barangay Mayao. There is an expressway project to Bicol planned to extend the South Luzon Expressway to Matnog, Sorsogon as SLEX Toll Road 5.^[39]

Furthermore, taxis as mode of transportation are available servicing passengers in this city.^[40]

 

There exists a Lucena Airport (known locally as Landing), which is located west of the poblacion. However, it is no longer usable as light aircraft can no longer make use of it and a road was built as an intersection during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

 

The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is on the process of rehabilitating the existing Manila-Bicol and Baguio-Bicol Railway Line, which includes stops in Quezon province, including PNR Lucena station, which traditionally then is a major loading and pick-up point for passengers and cargoes alike when the railway system was once the primary transportation mode going to Manila. Modern air-conditioned coaches will ply this route.

Despite undergoing renovation, Lucena station is still active, servicing passengers to and from San Pablo City daily.^[41]

 

The Passenger Ferry Terminal in Lucena has RORO vessels that transport passengers across Tayabas Bay to Marinduque, Romblon and Masbate.

The Port of Lucena, located in Dalahican, is known as the gateway and melting pot city of Southern Luzon.

The port complex, built along the fishing village of Barangay Talao-Talao, is a kilometer away to the east of Dalahican Fishing Port. The total port area of TMO Lustacena is 5,174.75 square meters (55,700.5 sq ft). Operational area of 576.00 square meters (6,200.0 sq ft) and commercial area of 4,598.75 square meters (49,500.5 sq ft) as delineated under Executive order No. 199 dated September 20, 1994, signed by then-President Fidel V. Ramos.

The port is accessible via the paved provincial road connecting the Dalahican Road and a rough causeway leading to the port. It is 27 nautical miles (50 km; 31 mi) to Dalahican, and 57 nautical miles (106 km; 66 mi) to Batangas City and sea distance to Manila is 150 nautical miles (280 km; 170 mi). Passenger ferry services include Montenegro Shipping Lines and Star Horse Shipping Lines.^[42]

Lucena City is served by landline and mobile phone companies like the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Digitel Telecommunications (PLDT-Digitel). Major mobile phone providers in the area include Globe, Smart, DITO Telecommunity, and Asian Vision. Wi-Fi providers like Converge ICT also operate within the city.

 

Lucena has private and public hospitals. Both types of institutions are considered to provide the same standard of healthcare and services, differing mainly with the medical and diagnostic facilities.

Here are the hospitals available in the city:

 

In 2006, the city had a literacy rate of 98.6 percent. Lucena City has numerous tertiary and secondary schools, including public and private. The tertiary education system in Lucena provides instruction and training in fields of study, both for baccalaureate degrees and vocational courses.

Institutions offering degree programs including Liberal Arts, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Information Technology include the Lucena Campus of Southern Luzon State University, STI College Lucena, ABE International College of Business and Economics, Philtech Institute of Arts and Technology Inc. (PIAT), Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation, City College of Lucena, Columbus College-Lucena, AMA Computer College-Lucena,Maryhill College, Sacred Heart College (Lucena) (the oldest Catholic school in Quezon), the International School of Better Beginnings (ISBB), and Educational Foundation, Inc.

Aside from tertiary schools, the city also has an expanse footprint on the pre-school, primary and secondary levels of education, both in public and private schools such as the Holy Rosary Catholic School (HRCS), Infant Jesus Montessori Center Philippines (IJMCP), Saint Philomena School, International School for Better Beginnings (ISBB). There are numerous day-care centers found all over the city.

• Encarnacion Alzona, historian, National Scientist of the Philippines, chairwoman of the National Historical Commission from 1966 to 1967, and the first Filipino woman to receive a Ph.D.
• Nilo Alcala, composer, 2019 The American Prize Winner in Composition. First Philippine-born composer to be commissioned by Grammy-winner Los Angeles Master Chorale, and also to receive the Aaron Copland House Residency Award; Natatanging Lucenahin 2021.
• Proceso Alcala, 12th Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and graduate of Luzonian University Foundation (now MSEUF)
• Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, National Artist of the Philippines for Music
• Jessie Dellosa, 43rd AFP Chief of Staff and graduate of Quezon National High School.
• Jenny Miller, Filipina actress and graduate of Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation
• Mau Marcelo, first winner of Philippine Idol talent search in 2006 and graduate of Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation
• Neil Ryan Sese, film and theatre actor
• Paz Márquez-Benítez, Filipina short-story writer and graduate of Quezon National High School
• Zaijian Jaranilla - Filipino actor best known for his role as the orphan Santino in the 2009–2010 ABS-CBN religious-themed teleserye, May Bukas Pa. His mother Glendelle Lara Jaranilla is from Lucena along with some relatives, making him descent from the city.
• Zymic Jaranilla - Zaijian Jaranilla's sibling who is a GMA Network contract artist. Like Zaijian, Zymic is also a descent from Lucena.

•   Tayabas City, Philippines
•   General Santos, Philippines^[43]
•   Calabanga, Camarines Sur, Philippines
•   Cabanatuan, Philippines

 

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Lucena.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lucena, Quezon.

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information