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Lucena

Highly-urbanized city in Calabarzon, Philippines

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New Lucena City Hall
Noel.ayal · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Lucena is the capital of Quezon and its largest urban center. Although geographically situated within the province, it is administratively independent and governed separately from the provincial government.

The city is a major center for commerce, healthcare, education, and government services in Quezon and the surrounding areas.

History

Early history

In the 1570s, Captain Juan de Salcedo first explored what was then Kalilayan, later founded as a province in 1591. The Franciscan priests Juan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa between 1580 and 1583 founded its town, also named "Tayabas". Tayabas City was organized by the Spaniards through the Franciscan missionaries and Lucena was just one of its barrios. Tayabas became the provincial capital in 1749, renaming the province after it.

The Spaniards of the 16th century called the area "Buenavista" because of its scenic beauty; several years later, the barrio was renamed "Oroquieta". A century later, Muslim pirates began terrorizing the entire Philippine coastline, including Oroquieta. The barrio folks built forts along the seashores to defend it against the attacking pirates along the coast, particularly in the present-day Cotta and in Barangay Mayao, though these structures are no longer extant.

Hence, the place became known as Cotta, the Spanish form of the Tagalog kuta ('fort'). The growth of local maritime trade facilitated in the Cotta port and the final defeat of Moro pirates plying the Luzon and Visayan waters, afforded the growth of Lucena as a town which eventually led to its being the provincial capital of Tayabas in 1901.

Finally on November 3, 1879, a royal decree was issued and the Orden Superior Civil officially adopted the name "Lucena" in honor of a Spanish friar by the name of Father Mariano Granja, who came from Lucena, Córdoba in Andalucia, Spain. Fr. Granja was responsible for the development of the barrio that became a Parish in 1881. Lucena became an independent municipality on June 1, 1882.

During the 1896 Philippine Revolution, the people of Lucena showed their brand of patriotism. Jorge Zaballero led the local revolutionists who were under the barrage of Spanish muskets. Later, Miguel Arguilles with Jose Barcelona as president formed a revolutionary government in Lucena.

After Aguinaldo proclaimed the nation's independence on June 12, 1898, Gen. Miguel Malvar, as Commanding General for Southern Luzon, took over Tayabas province on August 15, 1898. Don Crisanto Marquez became Lucena's first elected Municipal president during the first Philippine Republic.

Philippine–American War

Lucena was involved in the Philippine–American War and in the subsequent establishment of American civil governance in the country.

As the war between the United States and Filipino forces intensified, Lucena became an important strategic location, though it did not become a major battlefield.

In 1901, after the suppression of Filipino resistance, the Americans began reorganizing the local governance structure. This led to the eventual transfer of the provincial capital of Tayabas to Lucena on March 12, 1901. This shift was an important step in strengthening American control over the region and setting up civil governance.

The Americans valued Lucena's central location. It's accessibility and proximity to other towns in the province made it an ideal choice as the new administrative center.

During this time, Lucena saw further development with the introduction of newer infrastructure such as roads, schools, and government facilities, which contributed to the city's growth and modernization.

World War II

On December 27, 1941, the Imperial Japanese forces captured the city of Lucena, an event locally known as "The Fall of Lucena," just 19 days after their initial invasion of the Philippines. The Japanese aimed to strengthen their military presence in the region, sending units to seize strategic locations within the town. Although the invasion was initially successful, the Japanese forces soon faced fierce resistance from local fighters and members of the Hunters ROTC, a group of Filipino guerilla fighters.

The underground resistance movement was tenacious. Japanese Forces would be caught off-guard with surprise assaults which often resulted in fierce close-quarters combat. These continuous assaults, coupled with significant logistical challenges, gradually took a heavy toll on the Japanese forces, undermining their control and weakening their presence in the region.

By January 25, 1945, the Hunters ROTC guerrillas had managed to penetrate the town. Leveraging their intimate knowledge of the local terrain, they moved swiftly to prevent the Japanese forces from organizing an effective defense. After a fierce and hard-fought offensive, the Filipino forces successfully expelled the Japanese from the city. In the aftermath, the people of Lucena strengthened their defenses in anticipation of a potential counterattack.

Later attempts by the Japanese to re-establish their occupation of Lucena failed.

Tayabas Province stood by and waited for the American liberation forces and the Philippine Commonwealth troops, who would soon hand them their freedom on April 4, 1945.

Shortly after the war, Lucena began to rebuild, with efforts focused on restoring its infrastructure and reviving local industries.

Cityhood

Lucena was granted cityhood through the efforts of Congressman Manuel S. Enverga of Quezon's 1st district. Republic Act No. 3271 lapsed into law on June 17, 1961, despite not being signed by President Carlos P. Garcia. The city's formal inauguration and the induction of its first city officials, led by Mayor Castro Profugo, took place on August 20, 1961, as outlined in Section 90 of the Act.

On July 1, 1991, Lucena was officially declared a highly urbanized city, granting it political and administrative independence from the province. Pursuant to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Certification dated May 13, 2026, which formally affirms that the City of Lucena retains its status as a component city of the Province of Quezon due to a lack of a presidential proclamation and a plebiscite, both the city's total population count and land area parameters are legally integrated and accounted for in the official computation of the province's revenue shares and resource allocations.

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