Quezon
For other meanings, see Quezon (disambiguation).Quezon is a
province of the
Philippines located in the
CALABARZON region in
Luzon. The province was named after
Manuel L. Quezon, the second
President of the Philippines, and its capital is
Lucena City.
Quezon City is not located in and should not be confused with Quezon province: Quezon City is located in
Metro Manila, a region to the west of CALABARZON, while Quezon province is in eastern CALABARZON.
Quezon is located southeast of
Metro Manila and it is surrounded by the provinces of
Aurora to the north,
Bulacan,
Rizal,
Laguna and
Batangas to the west and the
Camarines provinces to the east. Quezon lies on an
isthmus separating the
Bicol Peninsula from the main part of
Luzon. The province also covers the
Polillo Islands in the
Philippine Sea.
A major tourism draw of the province is the famed
Mt. Banahaw. The mountain is surrounded by spiritual mysticism. Many cults and religious organizations stay in the mountains and numerous
Catholics visit the mountain during
Holy Week.
Quezon is the country's leading producer of
coconut products such as
coconut oil and
copra. A large part of the province is covered in coconut plantations. Fishing is also a large part of the province's economy.
Political
Quezon is subdivided into 40
municipalities and 1
city.
City
*
Lucena CityMunicipalities
Physical
Quezon is a long province having an area of 8,706.6 km². The northern part of the province sandwiched between the
Sierra Madre mountain range and the
Philippine Sea. The southern part consists of the
Tayabas Isthmus, which separates the
Bicol Peninsula from the main part of
Luzon Island, and the
Bondoc Peninsula which lies between
Tayabas Bay and
Ragay Gulf.
The major islands of Quezon are
Alabat Island and
Polillo Islands.
Mt. Banahaw, an extinct volcano, is the highest peak at 2,188 m. It supplies
geothermal power to the Makban Geothermal Power Plant.
Originally, what now forms part of Quezon was divided among the provinces of
Batangas,
Laguna, and
Nueva Ecija. The area was first explored by
Juan de Salcedo in
1571-
1572, during his expedition from
Laguna to
Camarines provinces.
In
1591, the province was created and called
Kaliraya or
Kalilayan, after the capital town which later became
Unisan. In about the middle of the
18th century, the capital was transferred to the town of
Tayabas, from which the province got its new name.
Depredation and plunder by the
Moros were rampant during the
Spanish regime, because they opposed the colonizers, especially in their efforts to spread
Christianity. The destruction of Kalilayan in
1604 by a big fleet of moro pirates caused the inhabitants to transfer to Palsabangon (
Pagbilao).
However, even the colonized people grew discontent with the Spaniards over the centuries. The most important event in the history of the province was the
Confradia Revolt in
1841, which was led by the famous
Lucbano, Apolinario dela Cruz, popularly known as
Hermano Pule. The province, under
Gen. Miguel Malvar, was also among the earliest to join the
Philippine Revolution. The
Revolutionary Government took control over the province on
August 15,
1898.
The
Americans then came and annexed the Philippines. A civil government was established in the province on
March 2,
1901, with
Lucena as its capital.
Japanese occupation of the province during
World War II began on
December 23,
1941, when the
Japanese Imperial Army landed in
Atimonan. The occupation witnessed the brutal murders of prominent sons of Tayabas.
April 4,
1945 was the day the province was liberated as the American army reached Lucena.
After the war, on
September 7,
1946,
Republic Act No. 14 changed the name Tayabas to Quezon, in honor of
Manuel L. Quezon, the
Commonwealth president who hailed from
Baler, which was one of the province's towns.
In
1951, the northern part of Quezon was made into the sub-province of
Aurora (which included Baler). Aurora was the name of the president's wife,
Aurora A. Quezon. In
1979, Aurora was finally separated from Quezon as an independent province.
