Puerto de Taal: The Forgotten Port that Fed a Province
Before the 1754 eruption, the pueblo of Taal was not only the capital of Batangas but also a functioning port town. Old maps like Murillo Velarde’s 1734 chart show Bombon Lake still open to Balayan Bay, making the lakeshore of San Nicolas a natural harbor1.
The Spanish called it Puerto de Taal. It was a redistribution hub, not a base for galleons that sailed between the Philippines and Nueva España or what we now know as Mexico.
Goods from Manila and Cavite — Chinese porcelain, Mexican cacao, and Spanish textiles — filtered inland through Taal. In return, Batangas sent out rice, sugarcane, timber, lime, and fish, all moved by small coastal craft in what historians call cabotage, or short‑haul domestic trade2.
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| Above is an AI-generated depiction of a port in the Philippines during the Spanish era. |
The port also served as a staging point for hardwoods like molave and narra, prized for shipbuilding in the neighboring province of Cavite. Batangas’ forests supplied these materials, and Taal’s port was the logical funnel for transport3.
The lake itself, still saline or saltwater before the 1754 eruption of Taal Volcano, yielded marine fish and even sea snakes, which were marketed through the port4.
Life at the port had its rituals. In 1749, friar Francisco Buencochillo mistook volcanic detonations for artillery salutes, a custom used to welcome arriving vessels5. This detail shows how maritime rhythms shaped the town’s daily life.
The port’s role was also tied to tribute — the equivalent of what, in the present day, is called tax. As Batangas’ capital, Taal collected rice, textiles, and livestock in kind, which were then moved through the port toward Manila.This made Puerto de Taal not just a commercial hub but also a fiscal funnel for colonial administration6.
Its location on the lakeshore was both strategic and dangerous. The open channel through the Pansipit River allowed access to Balayan Bay, but it also placed the town directly in the path of volcanic activity. The same waters that carried trade could not protect it from the ash and fire of 17547.
Compared to Cavite or Balayan, Puerto de Taal was smaller in scale but vital for Batangas. Cavite handled the galleons, Balayan served its own hinterland, but Taal linked the lake towns to the sea. Its loss forced a rebalancing of trade across the province8.
The eruption of 1754 changed everything. For six months, ash and pyroclastic flows buried the lakeshore town, sealing the channel to the sea. The port was destroyed, and survivors rebuilt uphill, founding the present‑day Taal. The old site became San Nicolas, with ruins still lying beneath layers of tephra9.
The loss of the port shifted Batangas’ economy. Trade routes moved to Balayan, Lemery, and later Batangas Bay. Taal’s role as a redistribution hub ended, and with it a chapter of Batangueño maritime history.
Today, Puerto de Taal survives only in maps, chronicles, and memory. It reminds us that Batangas once had a port economy tied to both lake and sea, erased in a single eruption but never forgotten.
2 “Historia General de Philipinas,” by Juan de la Concepción, published by Imprenta de la Compañía de Jesús, 1788, Manila.
3 “Barangay: Sixteenth‑Century Philippine Culture and Society,” by William Henry Scott, published by Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, Quezon City.
4 “The Eruption of Taal Volcano in 1754,” by Miguel Saderra Masó, published by Bureau of Printing, 1911, Manila.
5 Ibid.
6 de la Concepcion, op. cit.
7 Murillo Velarde, op. cit.
8 Scott, op. cit.
9 “Cultures of Disaster: Society and Natural Hazard in the Philippines,” by Greg Bankoff, published by RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, London.