ABOUT LUCENA

Bounded on the north and northeast by the Municipality of Pagbilao, on the south and southeast by the Tayabas Bay, on the southwest by the Municipality of Sariaya, and on the northwest by the municipality of Tayabas, Lucena City at the Southeastern part of Quezon Province is approximately 137 kilometers southeast of Manila via the Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway.

As one of the busiest fishing ports and a major domestic passenger seaport in Luzon, Lucena has become a gateway to Southern Tagalog, Metro Manila and other parts of Mainland Luzon from the Bicol region and the island provinces of Marinduque, Masbate, Palawan, and Romblon. The City is linked to its neighboring towns, cities, and provinces through various transport networks--roads, railways, sea and air.

  Mother Tongue

Tagalog is the predominant dialect spoken by 95.71 percent of the population as Lucena is situated in one of the largest Tagalog speaking provinces in the Southern Tagalog Region. Bicol follows this with 1.64 percent and Masbateño with .33 percent, both are neighboring provinces of Quezon. There are other 25 dialects being used and they represent the people that migrated to this city. They came from as far as Pangasinan (.2%), Ilocos (.18%), Maranao (.13%) and China (.12 %)

Short History

Lucena City history began with the years 1571 and 1572, when Capitan Juan de Salcedo first explored the province of Tayabas. The Franciscan priests Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa between 1580 and 1583 founded its town, also named Tayabas. Lucena was just one of its barrios.

The Spaniards of the 16th century called the present site “Buenavista” because of its awe inspiring scenic beauty. Several years later, the barrio was renamed “Oroquieta”. A century later, Muslim pirates began terrorizing the entire Philippine coastline, and Oroquieta was not spared from the notorious raids. The barrio folks built forts along the seashores to defend it against the attacking pirates. Hence, the place became known as “Cotta” which is the Spanish name for “fort”.

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