How Batangas’ Towns and Cities Have Grown in Terms of Population Since 1970

Uptown Lipa City.  Image source:  Google Earth Street View.

I am old enough to recall when a trip from inside Fernando Air Base to the Lipa City market took five to six minutes. Vehicular traffic was unheard of. Roads were deserted by nine at night; household lights went off as families went to sleep. Neighborhoods were quiet but for crickets or, if the night was wet, frogs croaking. Although one naturally did not know everyone else in the city, faces were still familiar and one could easily spot somebody not from hereabouts. I am talking, of course, about the sixties and the early seventies, a far different era from the present.

Days gone by! These days, to get to the market, you need to allot at least 20 minutes – and that’s on good days. There are vehicles on the road practically round the clock. There are so many people in the city just for the day or passing through that most of the people you see even in the busiest establishments are complete strangers. Suffice it to say that these are true not just in Lipa but elsewhere in Batangas.

One does not have to be Einstein to figure out what happened. Philippine population simply burgeoned beyond imaginable levels in the 45 years from 1970 to 2015, when the last Philippine population survey was undertaken. I mean, in high school current events classes in the early seventies, we were already discussing population explosion in the country – and this was when the estimated population was 36-37 million.



To get a better appreciation of this growth from a Batangas perspective, let us examine population statistics from the 1970 Philippine Census and compare these to the one undertaken in 2015.

TOWN AND CITIES WITH THE HIGHEST POPULATIONS
It goes without saying that the highest population growth in PLAIN NUMBERS occurred in the four cities of Batangas, as the table below shows. Lipa, the province’s most highly populated geopolitical unit as per the 2015 census, grew by 238,415 from its 1970 population of 93,971. Batangas City is next, growing by 221,006 from its 1970 figure of 108,868. Batangas’ newest city Santo Tomas’ growth has been even more staggering, rising from just 31,935 in 1970 to a mind-blowing 174,909 in 2015. Of Batangas’ 30 municipalities, only Nasugbu is in the top 5 in terms of population growth, rising from 45,849 in 1970 to 88,264 in 2015.

City/Town	1970	2015	+/-
Lipa City	93,971	332,386	238,415
Batangas City	108,868	329,874	221,006
Sto. Tomas City	31,935	179,844	147,909
Tanauan City	61,910	173,366	111,456
Nasugbu	45,849	134,113	88,264
Rosario	42,704	116,764	74,060
San Juan	47,101	108,585	61,484
Lemery	32,337	93,157	60,820
Balayan	33,198	90,699	57,501
Bauan	36,862	91,297	54,435

Below is the graphic representation of the table above:

Graph of population growth in Batangas' Geo-political units from 1970 to 2015,

TOWNS AND CITIES WITH THE HIGHEST % GROWTH
Now, if one considers population growth in Batangas in terms of percentage growth IN PROPORTION to each geopolitical unit’s 1970 population, then there will be very surprising shake-ups in the rankings. This time, the new city of Santo Tomas is on top with a really staggering 463.16% growth from its 1970 population. The Municipality of Malvar has grown 297.13% from its 1970 population of 14,169 to 42,101 in 2015 for a 297.13% growth. Meanwhile San Pascual and Balete grew from 19,377 and 7,131 in 1970, respectively, to 46,047 and 15,427, respectively, for growth rates of 237.64% and 217.65%, respectively. Lipa City, the most populous geopolitical unit, grew by 253.71%, third in the entire province.

City/Town	1970	2015	% Growth
Sto. Tomas City	31,935	179,844	463.16
Malvar	14,169	56,270	297.13
Lipa City	93,971	332,386	253.71
San Pascual	19,377	65,424	237.64
Balete	7,134	22,661	217.65
San Jose	24,450	76,971	214.81
Agoncillo	12,169	38,059	212.75
Padre Garcia	15,498	48,302	211.67
Talisay	14,821	45,301	205.65
Batangas City	108,868	329,874	203.00

Below is the graphical representation of the table above:

Graph of population percentage growth in Batangas' geopolitical units.

POPULATION DENSITY OF BATANGAS’ GEOPOLITICAL UNITS
Now here’s the remarkable thing. Off-hand, anyone can be forgiven for thinking that the most congested geopolitical units in Batangas are its four cities: Batangas, Lipa, Santo Tomas and Tanauan. Indeed, these are where you find establishments crammed next to each other, crowds of people and, needless to say, the accompanying traffic.

But in terms of actual population density, i.e. the ratio of population to land area, for our purposes the number of people living per square kilometer, the numbers will spring quite a few surprises. Of course, the numbers are skewed in city centers or poblacions as we like to call them, but the geopolitical units that rank high will still raise eyebrows in terms of population density.

First, consider the 10 most densely population geopolitical units in Batangas in 1970; i.e. if the word “dense” even applies considering how the provincial population then was less than 1 million (926,308) compared to 2,377,395 in 2015.

City/Town	1970	LA (sq km)	PD 1970
Taal	24,907	29.76	836.93
Bauan	36,862	53.31	691.47
San Nicolas	8,742	14.37	608.35
Tanauan City	61,910	107.16	577.73
Sta. Teresita	9,336	16.30	572.76
Talisay	14,821	28.20	525.57
Alitagtag	12,822	24.76	517.85
San Jose	24,450	53.29	458.81
Ibaan	31,067	68.99	450.31
Lipa City	93,971	209.40	448.76

Now see how things had changed 45 years later in 2015:

City/Town	2015	LA (sq km)	PD 2015
Taal	56,327	29.76	1,892.71
Sto. Tomas City	179,844	95.41	1,884.96
Bauan	91,297	53.31	1,712.57
Malvar	56,270	33.00	1,705.15
Tanauan City	173,366	107.16	1,617.82
Talisay	45,301	28.20	1,606.42
Lipa City	332,386	209.40	1,587.33
San Nicolas	22,623	14.37	1,574.32
San Jose	76,971	53.29	1,444.38
Mataas-na-Kahoy	29,187	22.10	1,320.68

Surprised? What we see on a daily basis in Batangas City, Lipa, Tanauan and Santo Tomas is, however, urban congestion, which is a different matter altogether and, perhaps, best dealt with in another article. I suppose what these numbers tell us all is that if one cares enough to take a drive around Batangas, one will quickly realize that there are still large swathes of agricultural lands untouched by development; but also that the urban centers have grown to levels probably hard to imagine back in the late sixties when I was still a little boy.

Below is the complete table showing population statistics for each of Batangas’ geopolitical unit in 1970 and 2015, including calculated population growth and growth percentages along with density per square kilometer.

City/Town	1970	2015	+/-	% Growth	LA (sq km)	PD 1970	PD 2015	+/-	% Growth
Agoncillo	12,169	38,059	25,890	212.75	49.96	243.57	761.79	518.21	212.75
Alitagtag	12,822	25,300	12,478	97.32	24.76	517.85	1021.81	503.96	97.32
Balayan	33,198	90,699	57,501	173.21	108.73	305.33	834.17	528.84	173.21
Balete	7,134	22,661	15,527	217.65	25.00	285.36	906.44	621.08	217.65
Batangas City	108,868	329,874	221,006	203.00	282.96	384.75	1165.80	781.05	203.00
Bauan	36,862	91,297	54,435	147.67	53.31	691.47	1712.57	1,021.10	147.67
Calaca	27,780	81,859	54,079	194.67	114.58	242.45	714.43	471.98	194.67
Calatagan	20,889	56,449	35,560	170.23	112.00	186.51	504.01	317.50	170.23
Cuenca	14,538	32,783	18,245	125.50	58.18	249.88	563.48	313.60	125.50
Ibaan	31,067	52,970	21,903	70.50	68.99	450.31	767.79	317.48	70.50
Laurel	13,137	39,444	26,307	200.25	71.29	184.28	553.29	369.01	200.25
Lemery	32,337	93,157	60,820	188.08	109.80	294.51	848.42	553.92	188.08
Lian	20,624	52,660	32,036	155.33	76.80	268.54	685.68	417.14	155.33
Lipa City	93,971	332,386	238,415	253.71	209.40	448.76	1587.33	1,138.56	253.71
Lobo	19,375	41,504	22,129	114.21	175.03	110.70	237.13	126.43	114.21
Mabini	19,522	46,211	26,689	136.71	44.47	438.99	1039.15	600.16	136.71
Malvar	14,169	56,270	42,101	297.13	33.00	429.36	1705.15	1,275.79	297.13
Mataas-na-Kahoy	9,885	29,187	19,302	195.27	22.10	447.29	1320.68	873.39	195.27
Nasugbu	45,849	134,113	88,264	192.51	278.51	164.62	481.54	316.92	192.51
Padre Garcia	15,498	48,302	32,804	211.67	41.51	373.36	1163.62	790.27	211.67
Rosario	42,704	116,764	74,060	173.43	226.88	188.22	514.65	326.43	173.43
San Jose	24,450	76,971	52,521	214.81	53.29	458.81	1444.38	985.57	214.81
San Juan	47,101	108,585	61,484	130.54	273.40	172.28	397.17	224.89	130.54
San Luis	15,133	33,149	18,016	119.05	42.56	355.57	778.88	423.31	119.05
San Nicolas	8,742	22,623	13,881	158.79	14.37	608.35	1574.32	965.97	158.79
San Pascual	19,377	65,424	46,047	237.64	50.70	382.19	1290.41	908.22	237.64
Sta. Teresita	9,336	21,127	11,791	126.30	16.30	572.76	1296.13	723.37	126.30
Sto. Tomas City	31,935	179,844	147,909	463.16	95.41	334.71	1884.96	1,550.25	463.16
Taal	24,907	56,327	31,420	126.15	29.76	836.93	1892.71	1,055.78	126.15
Talisay	14,821	45,301	30,480	205.65	28.20	525.57	1606.42	1,080.85	205.65
Tanauan City	61,910	173,366	111,456	180.03	107.16	577.73	1617.82	1,040.09	180.03
Taysan	14,999	38,007	23,008	153.40	93.62	160.21	405.97	245.76	153.40
Tingloy	10,636	17,919	7,283	68.47	33.07	321.62	541.85	220.23	68.47
Tuy	19,562	43,743	24,181	123.61	94.65	206.68	462.16	255.48	123.61

Legend: +/- : Increase/Decrease; LA : Land Area; PD : Population Density

Notes and references:
¹ All 1970 figures from “The 1970 Census of Population and Housing,” downloaded from the Internet Archive.
² All 2015 figures from the 2015 Philippine Census, obtained from the National Statistics Authority web site.
³ Land area figures for Batangas’ geopolitical units from Wikipedia.