Tourism

One of the vital industries that enhance the growth of economy in the Province of Batangas

is its tourism. The province is endowed with natural richness developed into tourism resources.

Introduction of community based tourism, green tourism, religious tourism, heritage tourism, tourism

activities and man-made attractions make Batangas a famous tourist destination.

One of the most prominent tourist attractions is the Taal Volcano, which is considered as the

Heart of Batangas, and popularly known for being a “volcano within a lake and a lake within a

volcano”.

In addition to these, the province’s rich traditions, historical and cultural heritage including the

vintage houses found in the municipalities of Taal, Balayan, Calaca, Lemery, San Juan, Lipa City,

Tanauan City and Batangas City are tourist come-ons. Its world-class dive sites, wide shoreline,

sprawling beaches and rich marine life especially in the municipalities of Mabini, Tingloy, Nasugbu,

Lian and other coastal municipalities have been acclaimed not only by local standards but

internationally as well. The province takes pride of the multi-awardee and internationally renowned

dive spots of Anilao, Mabini.

Suiting the preference of hikers, climbers, mountaineers, sports enthusiasts, are its

impressive Level One Mountains like Mt. Maculot, Mt. Pico de Loro, Mt. Batulao, Mt. Talimitam and

Mt. Banoy. The many islands get-away like Tingloy, Isla Verde, and Taal Volcano.

Island and Fortune Island serve as the most feasible respite from the activities of the urban

and commercial districts.

The presence of a number of religious sites, sanctuaries, retreat houses and places of

worship particularly, Lipa City, provide serene and solemn respite for the devout, being one of

the most prominent and powerful base of the Roman Catholic faith in the country. The biggest

Catholic Church in Asia, the Basilica of St. Martin of Tours is located in Taal.

Executive Order 647 was passed creating Nasugbu, Batangas as Special Tourism Zone

that mandates designation of Eminent Persons Group to oversee the sustainable development

of Nasugbu in order to preserve its attractiveness as a major tourism destination. The territorial

scope of Nasugbu Special Tourism Zone shall cover the areas included in the Nasugbu Tourism

Development Plan prepared by the municipality and validated by the Philippine Tourism

Authority. The formation of the Eminent Persons Group will eventually boosts the tourism and

economic activities in Nasugbu as well as the nearby municipalities and increase tourist arrivals.
 In order to encourage social involvement and participation of all the local government

units, the ALA-Eh Festival was officially launched in 2008 to commemorate the founding of the

province. It is celebrated annually from December 1 to 8. As part of the Tourism Development

Program, this celebration showcases the province’s art, culture and history and highlights the

objective of promoting and enhancing the tourism potential of the province thru LGU

corroboration, Civil Society Organization and private individuals participation. The occasion

commences with the exposition or fair pertaining to One Town One Product (OTOP) of all

participating municipalities. Its objective is to further enhance the marketability of the products

and for domestic tourism revitalization.

In addition to the Ala Eh festival, all of the thirty four LGUs have their own celebration

that they take pride of, and the year-round festivals like the ALA-EH features the intrinsic

tourism potentials of their locality.

The availability of adequate infrastructure like the South Luzon Expressway, the

Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, Mabini Circumferential Road, Taal Lake Circumferential Road

and the Nasugbu-Ternate Road Tunnel facilitate fast, reduce travel time and easy access to the

Province’s tourism destinations.

Economy

The strategic location and positive economic climate in the Province of Batangas have

been considered as the stimulating factors that brought in the remarkable influx of

industrialization and economic activities. With low crime rate and stable labor condition,

existence of sufficient power generation and supply, infrastructure, communication and other

support facilities and technologically advanced educational facilities, the economic progress in

the province continues to accelerate and areas for development have been identified to create a

model economic development entity, self-sufficient in terms of livelihood, education, health

services, food production and infrastructure development.

There are diverse sources of income in the province. Each of the six districts has their

own share in the province’s economy. While industrial and commercial entities contribute

significantly, services and Overseas Filipinos (OFs) remittances, agriculture, fisheries and

tourism follow closely behind. Among the provinces, Batangas ranks fourth in deployment in

2009 per Overseas Worker Welfare Authority (OWWA) records, and first per Philippine

Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and OWWA records in 2011.

Batangueños. Their distinctive qualities carry (either expressed or implied) the “Batangas” mark,

and known not only locally but also internationally.

The economic activity by kind of business and industry in the province is grouped into

three (3) basic sectors such as: 1) Agriculture/Fishing and Forestry; 2) Industry Sector, which

encompasses activities in mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction and electricity, gas

and water; and 3) Services Sector, which include wholesale and retail,

transportation/storage/communication; financial/real estate or dwellings; and community, social

and personal services or private and government services.

Another structure by which the economy in Batangas can be classified is into primary,

secondary and tertiary. The primary sector of the economy can be classified as the "extractive"

industry. These include the industries that produce or extract raw materials. Farmers are

examples of primary sector workers, as food items are collected as raw materials, activities in

this sector is prevalent, and agriculture, being one of the major sources of income in the

province.

The secondary sector of the economy is comprised of the manufacturing industries. The

increasing number of these establishments, which take raw materials and produce products,

pave for a more vigorous business activities in the province.

The tertiary sector of the economy is the service industry. The rise in activities in the secondary

sector heralds the upturns in the demand for services, which the province of Batangas readily

supplies, being it an abundant manpower source.

HEALTH

Based on the data from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) there are 46,281 live births in

2012 resulting to 18.3 percent Crude Birth Rate (CBR) which is the actual number of live births per

thousand population. CBR in 2012 has decreased by 5.43 percent compared with the 23.73 percent

CBR in 2008. For the past five years, a continuous annual decrease is noted.

The General Medical Morbidity rate in the province is 84.16 percent. Among the leading causes of

morbidity is Respiratory Tract Infection/Disorder which consistently ranks first from 2010 to 2012 with

87,784; 54,173; and 8,029 numbers of deaths annually, respectively. It is followed by Hypertension,

from 2010 to 2012 with 8,397; 1,707; and 2,430, respectively. Acute Gastroenteritis/Diarrhea comes

third in with 7,409; 1,149; and 801 number of deaths, respectively.

Failure, Cardiac Arthymias, Ischemic Heart Disease, Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease and

Unspecified Heart diseases) ranked first in 2010 and 2012 with 2,011 total number of cases in 2011

and 713 cases in 2012 respectively. Myocardial Infarction is on the top in 2011 with 427 cases

followed by Cancer in all forms with 396 cases in 2011 and 357 cases in 2012. Pneumonia with 490

cases was also one of the top leading causes in 2012.

The Crude Death Rate (CDR) in 2008 has descended annually, with 4.17 percent in 2009,

4.23 percent in 2010, 3.66 percent in 2011 and only 2.62 percent in 2012 which is 1.71 percent

lower as compared with the 4.33 percent CDR five years ago. This means that concerns regarding

health in this area were addressed effectively by the Health Program of the Provincial Government

as its top priority and having a big slice of budget.

A gradual decrease in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 9.2 percent in 2008 is noted every year

with IMR of 4.77 percent in 2009, 4.28 in 2010, 5.67 percent in 2011 and 4.42 percent in 2012 which

is 4.78 percent lower as compared with IMR 5 years ago. Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) of 0.08

percent in 2009 increases to 0.14 percent in 2010, 0.20 percent in 2011 and down by 0.16 percent in

2012.