Talavera, officially the Municipality of Talavera (; ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the PSA Census of Housing and Population for 2020, it has a population of 132,388.
Talavera is part of Cabanatuan conurbation as adjacent urban center in the heart of Nueva Ecija. It is dubbed as the "Milk Capital" and "Food basket in Inland Luzon".
History
Present-day Talavera was formerly a barrio of Cabanatuan. It was called “Katugian” which means a place abundant in “Tugue,” an edible root crop.
The distance between Cabanatuan's town center and Katugian was critical during the early phase of its development although it was only . The parish-curate at that time recommended to the Spanish administrators a separate and independent administration of Katugian.
By a royal decree issued on November 12, 1852, the plan making Katugian a town was approved. There was no formal inauguration of the new town in accordance with the royal decree. However, the Augustinian parish-curate of Cabanatuan, Fr. Gregorio Crisostomo, appointed the first officials of the town by sending his co-adjutor, a certain Pedro Estanislao Pascual, to handle the religious phase of the administration of the new town during Sundays and Holidays only.
The first barrios that composed the new town were La Torre, Pulong Buli (now Santo Domingo), Concepcion and Valle. Based on the petition presented to the Alcalde Mayor (governor) of Nueva Ecija, forwarded to the governor general in Manila, the “Talavera of the Crown of the Princess” was approved on February 17, 1853, by the Governor General.
In 1954, Talavera lost some territory when the barrios of General Luna, Morcon, Mabini, Ricarte, Casili, and Picon, together with sitios Plaridel and Bosque were separated to form the town of Llanera along with some territory from Rizal and San Jose.
Cityhood
House Bill No. 194 was filed on July 1, 2019, by Nueva Ecija's 1st district Representative Estrellita Suansing for the conversion of the municipality of Talavera into a component city. The bill is currently pending with the committee on local government since July 23, 2019. Senator Imee Marcos introduced Senate Bill No. 2040 for the conversion of the municipality in the Senate, pending in the committee since February 8, 2021.
On June 30, 2022, House Bill No. 215 was filed by Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing which seeks to convert Talavera into a component city.
Geography
The municipality's terrain is relatively flat, with slope ranging from 0 to 3%. Due to the flat topography, the land is suited for agricultural, commercial or industrial development. It is bordered by Cabanatuan, Llanera, Muñoz, Aliaga, General Mamerto Natividad, Santo Domingo and San Jose.
Talavera is from Cabanatuan, from Palayan, and from Manila.
Barangays
Talavera is politically subdivided into 53 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Barangays in italicized are truly exclaved within Muñoz.
Andal Aliño
Bagong Sikat
Bagong Silang
Bacal I
Bacal II
Bacal III
Baluga
Bantug
Bantug Hacienda
Basang Hamog
Bugtong na Buli
Bulac
Burnay
Calipahan
Campos
Casulucan Este
Collado
Dimasalang Norte
Dimasalang Sur
Dinarayat
Esguerra District
Gulod
Homestead I
Homestead II
Cabubulaunan
Caaniplahan
Caputican
Kinalanguyan
La Torre
Lomboy
Mabuhay
Maestrang Kikay (Poblacion) Mamandil Marcos District (Poblacion) Matias District (Poblacion) Matingkis Minabuyoc Pag-asa District (Poblacion) Paludpod Pantoc Bulac Pinagpanaan Poblacion Sur (Poblacion) Pula Pulong San Miguel Sampaloc San Miguel na Munti San Pascual San Ricardo Sibul Sicsican Matanda Tabacao Tagaytay Valle
Dispute
The National Government has an ongoing move to transfer Barangays Matingkis (Talavera), Bakal 1, Bakal 2 and Bakal 3 to become part of Science City of Muñoz for the reason that the said barangays are geographically and strategically within the said city. This was favored by most of the residents of the said barangays but was opposed by the Municipal Government of Talavera.
Climate
Demographics
Religion
Majority of Talavera's populace is Roman Catholic, served by St. Isidore the Worker Parish Church (Paroquia de San Isidro Labrador) and chapels in other barangays. Other religious groups have churches and places of worship in the municipality.