Region IV-A also known as CALABARZON was created by virtues of EXECUTIVE ORDER 103which was approved on May 17, 2002, creating Region IV A and Region IV-B and transferring the province of Aurora under the territorial and administrative jurisdiction of Region III. The region is located in south-western part of Luzon, just south and east of Metro Manila, on the east by the Philippine Sea and Bicol Region, on the south by Verde Island Passage, and on the west by Luzon Sea. It is practically accessible via all types of land transportation.
CALABARZON consists of five (5) provinces, twenty four (24) congressional districts, nineteen (19) cities, twenty four (124) municipalities, and four thousand eleven (4,011) barangays. The nineteen (19) cities of the region are: Antipolo City (Rizal), Bacoor City (Cavite); Cavite City (Cavite); Imus City (Cavite); Trece Martirez City (Cavite); Tagaytay City (Cavite); Dasmariñas City (Cavite); General Trias City (Cavite); City of Biñan (Laguna); Cabuyao City (Laguna); Calamba City (Laguna); San Pablo City (Laguna); San Pedro (Laguna); Sta. Rosa City (Laguna); Batangas City (Batangas); Lipa City (Batangas); Tanauan City (Batangas); Lucena City (Quezon); and Tayabas City (Quezon). Quezon province has the most number of municipalities and barangays while Rizal province has the least.
POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF REGION IV-A
Province
Provincial Capital
Number
Congressional Districts
Cities
Municipalities
Barangays
Cavite
Trece Martirez City
7
7
16
829
Laguna
Sta. Cruz
4
6
23
674
Batangas
Batangas City
5
3
31
1,078
Rizal
Antipolo City
4
1
13
188
Quezon
Lucena City
4
2
39
1,242
Total
22
19
122
4,011
TOPOGRAPHY AND SLOPE
CALABARZON has varied land forms. It consist partly of coastal areas and mostly upland interior areas of slightly moderate rolling or undulating plains and hills, and mountains. Almost sixty percent of the region’s land area has a slope ranging from 0-18 percent. Slope distribution by province is presented below.
DISTRIBUTION OF SLOPE RANGE BY PROVINCE (IN HECTARE)
Province
Level to nearly level
(0-3%)
Gently sloping to undulating
(3-8%)
Moderately sloping to rolling
(8-18%)
Strongly sloping to moderately steep
(18-30%)
Steep hills and mountains
(30-50%)
Very steep hills and mountains
(>50%)
Total
Region
248,356
189,330
531,583
47,658
215,538
390,396
1,622,861
Batangas
25,253
54,624
118,490
12,810
17,750
87,654
316,581
Cavite
26,603
30,438
40,330
7,644
6,154
17,586
128,755
Laguna
47,194
24,460
50,487
10,558
18,658
24,616
175,973
Quezon
141,976
73,360
289,044
16,314
139,026
210,940
870,660
Rizal
7,330
6,448
33,232
332
33,950
49,600
130,892
% to Total Land Area
15%
12%
33%
3%
13%
24%
100%
Source: NEDA-CALABARZON, Regional Physical Framework Plan
Batangas province has a total land area of 316,581 hectares or 3,165.81 square kilometres. It covers about 20 % of the total land area of the CALABARZON and considered as the second largest province in the region. It has a unique cove-like shape coastal areas lying at the south-eastern portion of the province. It consists mostly of moderately sloping to rolling and very steep hills with scattered mountainous areas.
Cavite province has a total land area of 128,755 hectares or 1,287.55 square kilometres, situated at the southern end of the province of Rizal. It covers about 8% of the total land area of the CALABARZON. It is characterized by rolling hinterlands punctuated by hills, with shoreland fronting Manila Bay at sea level, and rugged portion at the boundary of Batangas where Dos Picos mountains are located.
Laguna province has a total land area of 175,973 hectares or 1,759.73 square kilometres. It is the third largest province in the region which covers about 11% of the total land area of the CALABARZON. It is considered as an inland province, which comprises the largest portion of the Laguna de Bay Region where the Laguna Lake lies, the country’s largest inland water and the second largest freshwater in the Southeast Asia. It is characterized with flat and rugged terrain and its slope ranges from level to steep slope.
Quezon province has a total land area of 870,660 hectares or 8,706.60 square kilometres. It is the largest province in CALABARZON which is about 54% of the total land area of the region. On the other hand, it has a rugged terrain with few plains, valleys and swamps. The undulating lowlands along the coast are well drained. The province is very narrow, with average width of about 30 kilometers.
Rizal province has a total land of 130,892 hectares or 3,308.92 square kilometres and about 8% of the total land area of CALABARZON. Its topography is a combination of valleys and mountains, with flat low-lying areas on the western portion, rugged ridges and rolling hills which form part of the Sierra Madre ranges in the eastern portion.
DEMOGRAPHY AND ECONOMIC PROFILE
POPULATION AND POPULATION GROWTH RATE IN CALABARZON FROM YEAR 2000-2007
Province
Land Area
Population
Population Growth Rate
Region
1,622,861
14,414,774
2.90
Cavite
128,755
3,678,301
3.86
Laguna
175,973
3,035,081
2.89
Batangas
316,581
2,694,335
2.30
Rizal
130,892
2,884,227
3.50
Quezon
870,660
2,122,830
1.75
Source: NSO CY 2015 Census of Population
Based on 2015 Census of Population, CALABARZON now has 14.4 million residents, the largest in the country. It is has a population density of 850 people per square kilometer. Among the five provinces, Cavite has the biggest population, followed by Laguna province. In terms of population growth rate, the region has a population growth rate of 2.90% for a period of fifteen (15) years from 2000-2015. The province of Cavite has an average population growth rate of 3.86, Laguna with 2.89%, Batangas with 2.30%, Quezon with 1.75%, and Rizal with an average growth rate of 3.50%. As projected by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), it is expected that by year 2025, the population within Region IV-A will increase up to 16 million.
Per 2009 Gross Regional Domestic Product, CALABARZON’s economy suffered a reversal of 1.6% in Year 2009 from a 1.9% growth in Year 2008 as the Industry and Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry (AFF) sectors laid-out negative growth rates while services decelerated. The largest share of the region’s economy in 2009 was from the Service sector with 42.9%, even higher than its share of 41.5% the previous year. The share of the Industry sector, on the other hand, was 38.3%, lower than its previous share of 39.7 percent. The AFF’s share of 18.8% was a slight increase of its 18.7% share the previous year.
CLIMATE
Intense variability in climate is currently being experienced all over the country. As a general information, Region IV-A has all the four (4) types of climate: Type I-with two pronounced seasons, dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year; Type II-no dry season with a very pronounced rainfall from November to April and wet during the rest of the year; Type III-seasons are not very pronounced, relatively dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year; and Type IV-rainfall is more or less evenly distributed throughout the year. The province of Cavite has two (2) distinct seasons: wet from May to November and dry from December to April. Laguna is relatively dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year, specifically in the small portion near the southern boundary. The eastern and southern portions of Laguna province have no distinct season but with evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year.
The province of Batangas also has two (2) distinct seasons: dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year. On the other hand, the province of Rizal is relatively dry from December to May and wet during the rest of the year.
Quezon province has three (3) climatic types: no dry season with very pronounced rainfall from November to January and wet during the rest of the year; not very pronounced season and relatively dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year; and more or less evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through Executive Order 192, Series of 1987 is mandated to be the government agency primarily responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the country’s environment and natural resources, specifically forest and grazing lands, mineral resources, including those in reservation and watershed areas, and lands of the public domain, as well as the licensing and regulation of all natural resources as may be provided for by law in order to ensure equitable sharing of the benefits derived therefrom for the welfare of the present and future generations of Filipinos.
VISION
A nation enjoying and sustaining its natural resources and a clean and healthy environment.
MISSION
To mobilize our citizenry in protecting, conserving, and managing the environment and natural resources for the present and future generations.
CORE FUNCTION
DENR is tasked to formulate and implement policies, guidelines, rules and regulations relating to environmental management and pollution prevention and control.
DENR has to formulate, implement and supervise the government’s policies, plans and programs pertaining to the management, conservation, development, use and replenishment of the country’s natural resources and biological diversity.
Further, we promulgate and implement rules and regulations governing the exploration, development, extraction, disposition, and use of our forests, lands, minerals, wildlife and other natural resources.
PRIORITIES AND POLICY DIRECTIONS
To sustain the President’s 0 + 10 Point Socio-Economic Agenda as envisioned in Memorandum Circular No. 12 (Directing the Formulation of the Philippine Development Plan and the Public Investment Program for the period 2017-2022 dated October 24, 2016.
Strengthen multi-year focus of the budget, including the acceleration of infrastructure spending from 5% of GDP.
Provide full support to the poorest, lagging and most climate vulnerable areas.
Strengthen M&E through the Result-based Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (RbMER) Policy Framework.
MAJOR THRUSTs AND PRIORITIES
The Department’s thrust and priorities are anchored on a 5-point agenda:
Poverty reduction and hunger mitigation
Socio-economic development
Natural resources conservation
Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures
Environmental education and enforcement
With these, the following are the Ten (10) Priority Programs of the agency:
Clean Air
Clean Water
Solid Waste Management
Geo-hazard, Groundwater Assessment and Responsible Mining
Forest and Watershed Management
Intensified Forest Protection and Anti-illegal Logging
Enhanced Biodiversity Conservation
Scaling up of Coastal and Marine Ecosystem
Improved Land Administration and Management
Manila Bay Clean up
The different development frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals under United Nations, Philippine Long Term Vision-Ambisyon Natin 2040, Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 and the Program for Environment and Natural Resources for Restoration, Rehabilitation and Development (PRRD) are bases of afore-mentioned programs implementation towards “MATATAG, MAGINHAWA AT PANATAG NA BUHAY”.
