Taytay, Palawan

Taytay, officially the Municipality of Taytay (Tagalog: Bayan ng Taytay IPA: [taɪ'taɪ]), is a municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 85,258 people.^[5] Taytay is 214 kilometres (133 mi) from Puerto Princesa. The town is home to the Malampaya Sound, a protected area which hosts the critically-endangered Irrawaddy dolphin.^[6]

Dubbed the "Star of the North," the town is strategically located between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea, offering popular destinations for snorkeling and diving.^[7]

In the 1200s, the Chinese recorded the nations of Sandao which were once vassals of Ma-i. Eventually, before the arrival of the Spanish, the Kingdom of Taytay came to be and was ruled by a monarch noted as being followed everywhere at any given time by ten scribes. The crew of Ferdinand Magellan 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 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, 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 cockfighting, long before this pastime was seen or even heard of in the Western World.

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.^[8]

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.^[9] 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 May 1901, American forces captured Cuyo and neared Taytay. Rufo Sandoval remained defiant amidst this looming threat and refused to surrender the town to the American forces. On May 24, Sandoval’s naval forces encountered the American gunship Samar at Maytiguid, where he lost the battle after being bombarded and fled inland, with most of his forces raising the white flag of surrender. To the Americans’ surprise, the people welcomed their troops. They proceeded to destroy the boats and confiscated the documents of the revolutionary government. Major George LeRoy Brown led the pursuit to Bacuit Island, where he was told that Sandoval had left with 30 men. That was the last sighting of Sandoval who reportedly died not long after due to sickness.^[10][11]

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.^[12]

In 1957, the Island of Debangan was constituted into a barrio.^[13]

Taytay is politically subdivided into 31 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Tumbod. 1972. Liminangcong

In the 2024 census, the population of Taytay was 85,258 people,^[23] with a density of 68 inhabitants per square kilometre or 180 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty incidence of Taytay

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]}

There are three schools district offices which govern all educational institutions within the municipality. They oversee the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.^[32] These are the

• Taytay I Schools District
• Taytay II Schools District
• Taytay III Schools District

• San Brendan College
• Palawan State University

• Taytay marquee
• Fort of Santa Isabel
• Fort of Santa Isabel, in relation to the sea
• Exterior of the chapel within the Fort of Santa Isabel
• Interior and altar of the chapel inside the Fort of Santa Isabel
• Nave and sanctuary of Santa Mónica Parish Church
• Night by the sea

• Taytay Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine