Talisay, Cebu

Talisay, officially the City of Talisay (Dakbayan sa Talisay; Dakbanwa sang Talisay; Lungsod ng Talisay), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 263,048 people, making it the most populous component city in Visayas.

The city's name is taken from the talisay tree which is abundant in the area.

History
Talisay was founded in 1648 as an estate owned by the Augustinians. In 1849, it was converted into a municipality with its first gobernadorcillo, Silverio Fernandez.

During both the American colonial period and World War II, Talisay served as a haven of colonial military forces. The municipality served as the center of guerrilla intelligence operations for the Philippine resistance movement in Cebu during World War II. The returning United States liberation forces landed on the beaches of Talisay on March 26, 1945. This was part of Operation Victor II which was implemented by General Douglas MacArthur in order to regain the islands of Cebu, Bohol, and Negros from the Japanese soldiers. With the joint efforts of the US forces, the Philippine Commonwealth forces, and the Cebuano guerrillas, Cebu was liberated on March 27, 1945, and the Japanese forces in the province eventually surrendered on August 29. To remember this victory and as an honor to the Cebuano veterans, Philippine Republic Act No. 7280 was enacted in 1992 which declared March 26 of every year a special non-working holiday in the municipality of Talisay, Cebu. Later in 2013, the law was expanded under Republic Act No. 10359, so that the holiday will be celebrated in the entire province of Cebu.

Cityhood
In 2000, the municipality of Talisay was converted into a city through Republic Act No. 8979. The municipality is now linked to Cebu City via the South Coastal Highway from Lawaan which was opened in 2004. This brought some recent inward investment in the form of subdivisions, but some were hastily planned, and thus were plagued by problems. Conflict occurred between the residents of the mountain barangay of Maghaway and those of Crown Asia's Azienda Milan and Venezia subdivisions.

Geography
Primarily a residential and trading center, Talisay lies within the Metro Cebu area. It is bordered to the north by Cebu City, to the west is the city of Toledo, to the east is the Cebu Strait, and to the south is the town of Minglanilla.

Talisay is 10 km from Cebu City, the provincial capital.

Barangays
Talisay is politically subdivided into 22 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Demographics
In 2017, Talisay City was the most densely populated city in the Cebu province. This ranking does not include highly urbanized cities: Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu, & Mandaue. There were 5,710 people living per square kilometer.

Cebuano is the predominant language of the inhabitants of the city (96%).

Religion
Talisay City has a Roman Catholic majority population. It also has sizeable Protestant and non-Christian minorities.

Economy
As of 2005, Talisay remains an important center for the production of blasting caps used in dynamite.

Much of the commerce in Talisay takes place in the Tabunok area, where several public markets, strip malls, and commercial establishments are situated. The biggest mall is Gaisano Grand Fiesta Mall Tabunok, which has a supermarket, department store, and formerly, a cinema. However, much of the population still depend on the public markets, where they can find fresh meat, fish and vegetables, as well as other household needs. There are many sari-sari stores. Talisay City and the Tabunok area also serve as the commercial area for municipalities south of the city, being the southern gateway to Cebu City.

Culture
Talisay City is considered the "Lechon Capital of Cebu" and is considered one of the two places to get the best of the best Lechon, which is nicknamed "Inasal", in Cebu, with the other place being Carcar.

Because of their Lechon, the town decided to create a religious-cultural festival to promote Talisay City, which was "Halad Inasal Festival" and celebrated on October 15. The festival is in honor of St. Teresa of Avila, Talisay City's patron saint, and is highlighted by street dancing merged with a procession with roasted pig, which then culminates with a ritual showdown and a grand finale with a firework display.

Transport
Talisay City has benefited from the construction of the South Road Properties and the road that traverses it, the Cebu South Coastal Road, which is a six-lane coastal highway from downtown Cebu City to the city's Barangay Lawa-an I, near its border with the town of Minglanilla, with several exits in between, many of which serve several areas of Talisay. Because of this highway, traffic, which has always been a problem for the inhabitants in the past few years for this area, has been greatly reduced, making the city a popular zone for housing once more, as it was in the early 70s and 80s.

The city is also set to be served by the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit, wherein it will have two (2) feeder lines, going to Mambaling and to the South Road Properties, both located in Cebu City.

In 2016, the Talisay city council expressed support for the proposed Light Rail Transit (LRT) project in Cebu.

Education

 * 20 Elementary schools (Private & Public)
 * 12 Public secondary schools
 * 8 Private secondary schools
 * Divino Amore Academy (1993) Mohon, Talisay City
 * 3 Colleges
 * 5 Kindergartens
 * 5 Seminaries