Taytay, officially the Municipality of Taytay ( tgl, Bayan ng Taytay ), is a 1st class

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 83,357 people. Since 2002, its

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

of St. Joseph the Worker is the episcopal see of the pre-diocesan missionary

Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay The Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay is a Latin Catholic pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction in the island of Palawan in the Philippines. It is not a part of any ecclesiastical province as it is directly subject to the Holy See (under the jurisd ...

History

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Kingdom of Taytay was ruled by a monarch noted as being followed everywhere at any given time by ten scribes. The crew of

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...

held the King of Taytay and his consort hostage for ransom after escaping the Battle of Mactan where Magellan was slain. They intended to secure more supplies as they plan to cross into the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

to seek help from the Portuguese there. The king and his subjects complied with the Spaniards’ demands and even added more food supplies than what were asked for. This was duly recorded by

Antonio Pigafetta Antonio Pigafetta (; – c. 1531) was an Venetian scholar and explorer. He joined the expedition to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the flag of the emperor Charles V and after Magellan's death in the Philippine Islands, ...

, Magellan's chronicler, who was onboard one of the ships when these events took place. Pigafetta also noted a curious thing in the Kingdom: the natives were fond of

cockfight A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ent ...

ing, long before this pastime was seen or even heard of in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

. During the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, Taytay was formally founded in 1623. Taytay became the capital of the province of ''Calamianes'', the entire territory of Paragua (now Palawan), in 1818; and the province of ''Castilla'', a land area occupying the northern part of Palawan, in 1858.Palawan Tourism Council: History of Palawan
Accessed August 27, 2008. Archived baptismal records in Cuyo, Palawan show that the last monarch of the Kingdom of Taytay was baptised into

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

with the name Flores de los Santos Cabaylo (“Cabaylo, Flower of the Saints”). No other sovereign royal

datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, especial ...

after him ruled the kingdom. King Cabaylo's descendants include the present clans of Cabaylo-Manlavi-Gabinete-Macolor as main genealogical roots. His

Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it t ...

Datu Dr. Fernando Macolor Cruz, who hailed from the Cabailo-Manlavi-Gabinete-Macolor line of the royal house, is the present and sole

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...

to the throne of the Kingdom of Taytay. During the American era, Taytay ceased being Palawan's capital, and its administrative boundary was reduced by approximately 50,000 hectares upon the creation of the Municipality of El Nido in 1916. The historic Taytay Fort, the '' Fuerza Santa Isabel de la Paragua'', built in 1667 under the Augustinian Recollect Fathers and named in honor of Spain's Queen Isabela II in the 19th century, was used as a military station during that period. This famous relic was completed in 1738. It was mainly used to defend against Muslim warrior-raiders in their colorful war boats while the Spanish soldiers fire at them with their huge cannons. The fort's small chapel and cannons are still intact. The fort is now under the supervision of the Municipal Government of Taytay. The Moro action must be understood not as an act of piracy but as a showdown of power and challenge to Spanish hegemony over the islands. It can be viewed as the Tausug's efforts to recover what was once theirs. Similar raids were also carried out against Christian converts in Spanish Cuyo, Dumaran, Linapacan and Culion. In 1957, the Island of Debangan was constituted into a barrio.

Geography

Barangays

Taytay is politically subdivided into 31

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolita ...

History of barangays

Tumbod. 1972. Liminangcong

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Taytay, Palawan, was 83,357 people, with a density of .

Economy

Gallery

Image:Taytay Sign.JPG, Taytay Sign Image:Taytay Fort, Fort of Santa Isabel, Palawan, Philippines.jpg, Fort Sta. Isabel Image:Fort Sta. Isabel Chapel.JPG, Chapel inside Fort Sta. Isabel Image:Fuerza de Sta. Isabel Taytay.jpg, Fortress Sta. Isabel Image:Fuerza de Sta. Isabel church Taytay.jpg, Inside the church in the fortress of Santa Isabel Taytay, Santa Monica Parish Church, Palawan, Philippines.jpg, Santa Monica Parish Church Taytay, Night by the sea, Palawan, Philippines.jpg, Night by the sea

References

External links

Taytay Profile at PhilAtlas.com
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Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

br>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Palawan Former provincial capitals of the Philippines 1623 establishments in the Philippines