Life Realities

Legend has it that the word “Tagaytay” came from “TAGA” meaning “to cut” and “ITAY” which means “Father”. A father and son were said to be on a wild boar hunt when the animal they were chasing turned and attacked them. As the boar charged towards the old man, the son cried “TAGA- ITAY”. The boy’s repeated shouts reverberated in the valleys of the ridge. Heard by the residents, hunters and wood gatherers, the cries became the subject of conversation for several days among the people in the countryside. In time, the place where the shouts came from became known as TAGAYTAY.

During the Philippine Revolution of 1896, the ridges and forests of Tagaytay became the sanctuary for revolutionaries including of those from nearby provinces. The passage to and from towns via Tagaytay added the word “Mananagaytay” to the native’s vocabulary. It means “to traverse ridges”.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the 11th Airborne Division of Lieutenant General William Krueger’s 8th Army airdropped military supplies and personnel on the Tagaytay Ridge prior to the Liberation of Manila from the Japanese. A marker was installed in 1951 at the junction of the Manila-Canlubang-Nasugbu roads by the city officials in coordination with the Philippine Historical Institute.

Tagaytay became a chartered City on June 21, 1938 when President Manuel L. Quezon signed Commonwealth Act No. 338, a bill authored by Representative Justiniano S. Montano of Cavite.

AREA AND TOPOGRAPHY

The city has a total land area of 65.00 square kilometers or 6,500 hectares. Tagaytay City is characterized by mixed topography. The southern and eastern portions are covered by hills and mountains which are generally forests and open grasslands. There are ridge areas with slopes ranging from 10.1 to over 25 percent. On the other hand, the portions adjoining the municipalities of Mendez, Indang, Amadeo and Silang are level to nearby level areas interspersed with very gently sloping surface. The built-up areas including the urban center are situated in these relatively level portions of the city..

CLIMATE

Tagaytay City’s climate is characterized by relatively low temperature, low humidity and abundant rainfall. The city is endowed with a cool and invigorating climate with an average temperature of 22.7 degrees Celsius. The city is misty and is relatively cooler during the months of December, January and February. Like most areas in the Province of Cavite, the city has two pronounced seasons: dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year.