Tanza, officially the Municipality of Tanza (), is a

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

in the

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

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 312,116 people. It has a land area of , making it the third largest municipality by land area in the province. Tanza was awarded the "Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping" in 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019, and 2021 and the "Seal of Good Local Governance" in 2016 by the

Department of the Interior and Local Government The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for promoting peace and order, ensuring public safety and strengthening local government capability aimed towards ...

. The municipality was named 2014 most competitive in economic dynamism by the National Competitiveness Council, eighth most populous municipality (2015 NSO Census), and 15th largest Municipality Revenue Earner based on the 2016 Bureau of Local Government Finance Financial Report. Tanza is the place where

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first List of presidents of the Philippines, president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first pre ...

was sworn in as the president of the revolutionary government of the Philippines, in front of the ancient Santa Cruz or Holy Cross (the titular of Tanza's main Catholic parish). Other officials elected at

Tejeros Convention The Tejeros Convention (Spanish: ''Convención de Tejeros''; Tagalog: ''Kapulungan sa Tejeros''), also referred to as the Tejeros Assembly or Tejeros Congress, was a meeting held on March 22, 1897, in San Francisco de Malabon (now General Tria ...

elections, including Mariano Trias as vice president, also took their oath with Aguinaldo. Also, Tanza was the birthplace of Felipe G. Calderon, the person who drafted the

Malolos Constitution The Political Constitution of 1899 (), informally known as the Malolos Constitution, was the constitution of the First Philippine Republic. It was written by Felipe Calderón y Roca and Felipe Buencamino as an alternative to a pair of prop ...

. Tanza is the home of Cavite Gateway Terminal, the first roll-on, roll-off barge terminal in the Philippines.

History

Tanza was formerly a strip of land incorporated for official purpose to the municipality of San Francisco de Malabon, now called General Trias. The first settlers were the Fabian brothers who migrated here. This place was particularly devoted to grazing and was called Estancia Santa Cruz de Malabon (1780). In the mid-19th century, the Secularization movement that was largely centered in Santa Cruz de Malabón led by Pedro Pelaez. On October 15, 1903, the

Philippine Commission The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines. The First Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Pre ...

approved Act No. 947, annexing Santa Cruz de Malabon to the adjacent town of San Francisco de Malabon. In 1909, a resolution was passed by the San Francisco de Malabon municipal council to reconvert Santa Cruz de Malabon into a separate and independent municipality; it took effect in 1910. In 1914, Florentino Joya, the then-representative of

to the Philippine Assembly, worked for the passage of a bill which renamed the town of Santa Cruz de Malabon to Tanza by virtue of Philippine Legislative Act No. 2390 dated February 28, 1914. Tanza celebrated Araw ng Tanza 100th anniversary with a theme "Tanza, Sandaang Taon Na!" February 28, 2014, with a parade of Higante figures across the town proper with fireworks display and a Lantern festival at evening.

Cityhood

Tanza, alongside Silang, is one of the two municipalities in Cavite that has already reached the requirements to become a new city in the province, yet no bills had been filed in the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

to convert the two towns into a component city of the province.

Geography

Tanza is among of the 23 cities and municipalities that comprise

. It is located in the northwestern part of Cavite lying within latitudes 140° 24’ north and longitude 120° 51’ east. It is bounded by

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

to the North;

General Trias General Trias (), officially the City of General Trias (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popul ...

to the east;

Trece Martires Trece Martires (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially the City of Trece Martires (), is a component city and '' de facto'' capital city of the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

and Naic to the south; and

Manila Bay Manila Bay (; ) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and ...

on the west. Tanza is from

Imus Imus (), officially the City of Imus (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and ''de jure'' Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 cens ...

and from

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Barangays

Tanza is politically subdivided into 41

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s, as indicated below. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. *Amaya 1 *Amaya 2 *Amaya 3 *Amaya 4 *Amaya 5 *Amaya 6 *Amaya 7 *Bagtas *Biga *Biwas *Bucal *Bunga *Calibuyo *Capipisa *Daang Amaya 1 *Daang Amaya 2 *Daang Amaya 3 *Halayhay *Julugan 1 *Julugan 2 *Julugan 3 *Julugan 4 *Julugan 5 *Julugan 6 *Julugan 7 *Julugan 8 *Lambingan *Mulawin *Paradahan 1 *Paradahan 2 *

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

1 *Poblacion 2 *Poblacion 3 *Poblacion 4 *Punta 1 *Punta 2 *Sahud Ulan *Sanja Mayor *Santol *Tanauan *Tres Cruses

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Tanza, Cavite, was 312,116 people, with a density of .

Religion

Christianity

The majority of the people of Tanza are

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Imus, but there has been fast growth of Protestant and other non-Catholic denominations in the town, including

Iglesia ni Cristo The (INC; ; ) is an independent Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church founded in 1913 and registered by Felix Manalo, Félix Manalo in 1914 as a corporation sole, sole religious corporation ...

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

Members Church of God International The Members Church of God International (), abbreviated as MCGI, is an international Christian religious organization with headquarters in the Philippines. It is popularly known in the Philippines as ''Ang Dating Daan'' (; abbreviated as AD ...

, and

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Islam

With the influx of migrants from other provinces especially from Mindanao, other non-Christian faiths particularly

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

are practiced in the town.

Other faiths

Non-Abrahamic faiths include native-Tagalog Anitism,

Animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

, and within the local Indian and Chinese communities

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

are followed.

Languages

The main languages spoken are Tagalog, and English. A large number of people from farther provinces have migrated to Tanza, resulting in minor but significant usage of the Bicolano, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon and Waray languages.

Economy

Poverty incidence

Retail and business process outsourcing

Large retail operators have shown significant interest to the growth and increase of land value in cities throughout the Philippines. They are seen as highly developed urban centers where a lot of economic activities take place and is important to urbanization and development. Tanza is eyed as a center of exponential growth for commerce, industry and service, strengthening its stature as one of the fastest growing municipalities in Cavite province. SM Supermalls, a subsidiary of SM Prime, the largest mall operator in the country, since 2014 is negotiating with other landowners nearby Antero Soriano Highway in Barangay Daang Amaya 2 on their plan to build a new SM Mall in the town. SM City Tanza was opened in October 2022 as their 80th mall in the country.

Municipal income

*2009: Php.212,579,603.00 *2010: Php.218,498,618.00 *2011: Php.256,163,447.00 *2012: Php.259,927,915.00 *2013: Php.307,370,004.00 *2014: Php.369,906,390.54 *2015: Php.386,511,600.00 *2016: Php.445,060,000.00 *2020: Php.681,067,582.14 *2021: Php.732,139,371.42

Government

Elected officials

The following are the elected officials of the town elected last May 12, 2025 which serves until June 30, 2028: Municipal Government of Tanza (2022–2025): * Representative ( 7th District): '' Crispin Diego Remulla'' () * Mayor: Yuri A. Pacumio () * Vice Mayor: Arch Angelo B. Matro () *

Sangguniang Bayan The Sangguniang Bayan () is the local legislative branch of the municipal governments in the Philippines. It is responsible for passing ordinances and resolutions for the administration of a municipality. Its powers are defined by the Local Go ...

members: ** Sandy de Peralta-Go ** Angelito H. Langit ** Maricel Del Rosario-Morales ** Sheryl Lyn Langit-Gervacio ** Niño Federico B. Matro ** Victor A. Murillo ** Alexis B. Dones ** Emilio A. Torres Jr.

List of former municipal heads

''Gobernadorcillos'': * Jose Cristobal (1870) * Ignacio Fabian (1892) ''Capitan Municipal'': * Jose del Rosario (1896) * Francisco Valencia (1896) * Eladio Bocalan (1896) * Jacinto Pulido (1898) * Ciriaco Montano (1898) ''Presidente Municipal'': * Jacinto Pulido (1900) * Eladio Bocalan (1900) * Ciriaco Montano (1901) * Jose del Rosario (1901) * Hugo C. Arca (1905-1909) * Pio A. Fojas (1910-1912) * Pedro T. Montano (1912-1916) * Marcus F. Figueroa (1916-1919 * Anselmo Vargas (1919) * Cecilio N. Joya (1919-1925) * Jose S. Sosa (1925-1928) * Marcus F. Figueroa (1928-1934) ''Municipal Mayor'': * Ladislao Joya (1934-1937) * Jose S. Soriano (1937-1940) * Hermogenes T. Arayata Sr. (1941-1942) * Jose S. Soriano (1942-1943) * Ramon del Rosario (1943-1944) * Hermogenes T. Arayata Sr. (1945-1946) * Rafael D. Alarca (1946-1947) * Eustaquio Arayata (1947) * Hermogenes T. Arayata Sr. (1948-1959) * Hermogenes T. Pacumio (1960-1968) * Timoteo Bocalan Sr. (1969-1978) * Hermogenes F. Arayata Jr. (1978-1986) * Roberto Colmenar (1986-1988) * Hermogenes F. Arayata Jr. (1988-1998) * Raymundo A. Del Rosario (1998-2007) * Marcus Ashley C. Arayata (2007-2016) * Yuri A. Pacumio (2016-2025) * Archangelo B. Matro (2025—present)

Education

Day care centers

There are 32 government-owned daycare centers in Tanza, which is being managed by the MSWD.

Elementary schools

High schools

*Punta National High School (PNHS) * Saint Augustine School (Junior and Senior High Campus) * Tanza National Comprehensive Highschool (TNCHS) *Tanza Senior High School (TSHS) * Amaya School of Home and Industries (ASHI) * Tanza National Trade School - Main (TNTS-Main) *Tanza National Trade School - Annex (TNTS-Annex) *Our Lady of the Holy Rosary School (OLHRS) *Tanza Child Development Centre (TCDC) *Hillcrest Periwinkle Montessori School (HPMS) *Holy Nazarene Christian School (HNCS) *De Roman Montessori School (DRMS) *CALA Institute of the Philippines, Inc. *Dei Gratia School, Inc. (DGSI) *Deo Roma College of Tanza (DRCT) *Maddalena Starace School (MSS) *Good Tree International School (GTIS) *Sawyer Integrated School (SIS) *The International School for Children (TISC) *Far East Asia Pacific Institute of Tourism Science and Technology (FEAPITSAT)

Colleges

Cavite State University Cavite State University (CvSU; ), also more known locally as Kabsu, is a public university in the province of Cavite in the Philippines. Its main campus, known as the Don Severino delas Alas Campus, is located in the Municipality of Indang, Cavi ...

- Tanza Campus *Far East Asia Pacific Institute of Tourism Science and Technology (FEAPITSAT-main) *POWER School of Technology *Saint Joseph College - Tanza *PNTC Colleges Multi-Training Facility *Magsaysay Training Center * Lyceum of the Philippine University (Cavite Campus)

Notable personalities

* Lyca Gairanod – ''The Voice Kids Philippines'' grand champion *

Felipe Calderón Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (; born 18 August 1962) is a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 63rd president of Mexico from 2006 to 2012 and Secretary of Energy during the presidency of Vicente Fox between 2003 and 2004. ...

– National hero; Father of the Malolos Constitution. * Epimaco Velasco – DILG Secretary; Cavite governor * Justiniano S. Montano – Senator; creator of Senate Blue Ribbon Committee *

Antero Soriano Antero Sosa Soriano (January 3, 1886 – June 15, 1929) was a Filipino lawyer and politician from Tanza, Cavite, who had served as congressman, senator, and governor of Cavite. Early life Antero Soriano was born in Santa Cruz de Malabon (pr ...

– Cavite governor; senator *

Mars Ravelo Marcial "Mars" Custodio Ravelo (October 9, 1916 – September 12, 1988) was a Filipino people, Filipino comic book cartoonist and graphic novelist. Dubbed as the "''King of Pinoy Komiks''", he is notable for creating ''Darna, Dyesebel, Captain ...

– graphic novelist * Jasmine Trias – American Idol (3rd runner-up) *

Louise delos Reyes Mary Grace delos Reyes Perido (born September 1, 1992), better known Louise delos Reyes, is a Filipino actress. She starred on various television series such as ''Alakdana'' (2011), ''One True Love (2012 TV series), One True Love'' (2012), '' ...

– actress and model * Josefino Cenizal – composer, most notably ''Ang Pasko ay Sumapit'' *

Olivia Cenizal Olivia Cenizal (October 21, 1926 – April 14, 2008) was a Philippines, Filipina film actress. Early life and career She was born as Gloria Pagtakhan Maigue in Imus, Cavite into a musical family. She was reportedly encouraged by Cirio H. Santia ...

– actress * Ranidel de Ocampo – basketball player * Yancy de Ocampo – basketball player * Aleona Denise Santiago – volleyball player * Jaja Santiago - volleyball player * Mikey Bustos - Filipino-Canadian vlogger

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census Information
* {{Authority control Municipalities of Cavite Populated places on Manila Bay