Chapter 2.

Geo-Physical Environment Political Boundaries

The province of Cavite has well-defined political subdivisions.

Geographical Location of Cavite Considering the rising population of the province, the addition of new

Cavite is part of the Philippines’ largest island, the Luzon Peninsula. Found in the southern portion, legislative districts is a good move in order to ensure the appropriate

Cavite belongs to Region IV-A or the CALABARZON region. It is bounded by the provinces of representation of the province in the congress. In the year 2009, by

Batangas in the south, Laguna in the east, Rizal in the northwest, Metro Manila and Manila Bay in the virtue of RA 9727, the province was divided into seven legislative

north, and West Philippine Sea in the west. Its proximity to Metro Manila gives the Province significant districts. The move to increase the number of congressional

edge in terms of economic development. representatives in Cavite aids the province to have better
representation in the national government and in effect receive more
appropriate government services and assistance.

Currently, the Province is composed of 16 municipalities and 7 cities

with a total of 829 barangays (Table 2.1). The seven cities include the
seat of the Provincial Government- Trece Martires City, the defense
frontier- Cavite City, the provincial summer capital- Tagaytay City, the
City of Dasmariñas under the Republic Act 9723 which was ratified
last November 25, 2009 and which also happens to be a lone
legislative jurisdiction of District IV, City of Bacoor and City of Imus by
virtue of RA 10160 dated February 08, 2012 and RA 10161 dated April
10, 2012, respectively, and the newly converted City of Gen. Trias
through Republic Act 10675 which was signed into law on August 19,
2015 and ratified on December 12, 2015.

By virtue of Presidential Decree 1163,

Imus is the provincial capital but the
seat of the provincial government is
located at Trece Martires City.

5
 Table 2.1 Number of Barangays by City/ Municipality
and Congressional District, Province of Cavite: 2016

Number of
City/Municipality
Barangays
1st District
Cavite City 84
Kawit 23
Noveleta 16
Rosario 20
2nd District
City of Bacoor 73
3rd District
City of Imus 97
4th District
City of Dasmariñas 75
5th District
Carmona 14
Silang 64
Gen. M. Alvarez 27
6th District
Trece Martires City 13
Amadeo 26
City of Gen. Trias 33
Tanza 41
7th District
Tagaytay City 34
Alfonso 32
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo 14
Indang 36
Magallanes 16
Maragondon 27
Mendez 24
Naic 30
Ternate 10
Total 829
Source: Provincial Planning and Development Office

6
Topography

C oastal Plain

• lowest lowland area

• extremely low ground level of EL. 0m to EL. 2m compared to the high tide level of
about EL. 0.8m from the Mean Sea Level (MSL).
• These are the city of Bacoor and municipalities of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario.

Upl and Mountainous Area

• found in Amadeo, Silang, Alfonso and Tagaytay City

• Situated at a very high elevation above EL. 400m with
slopes of more than 2%.
• The Tagaytay ridge has a peak elevation of 650m.

C oastal and Alluvial Plains

• flat ground slope of less than 0.5% and low ground elevation of EL. 2m to EL. 30m.
• found in the city of Imus and southern part of General Trias
• transition area between the coastal plain and the central hilly area.
• covers some areas of City of Bacoor, Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario and Tanza

Central Hilly Area

• found on the mountain foot slope
• forms the rolling tuffaceous plateau
• includes steep hills, ridges and elevated inland valley
• characterized with ground elevation ranging from 30m to nearly 400m
• ground slope ranges from 0.5 to 2%
• Cities of Trece Martires City and City Dasmariñas, and the municipalities of
Indang and Silang have this kind of topography.
7
Geology Hydrosol and Obando sand are found along Bacoor Bay. The shoreline of Rosario, Tanza, Naic and
Ternate are lined with Guadalupe sand.
Soils
The central area principally consists of Magallanes loam with streaks of Magallanes clay loam of
Identification of soil characteristics, most importantly the soil type is
sandy texture. This is recommended for diversified farming such as the cultivation of upland rice,
a vital activity in area profiling. This is very useful in recommending
corn, sugarcane, vegetables, coconut, coffee, mangoes and other fruit trees. The steep phase should
the best land-use for that area. Moreover, if intended for
be forested or planted to rootcrops.
agriculture, knowing the soil type will also aid in identifying the
most suitable crops to be planted in the area. This will contribute to The eastern side of Cavite is consists of Carmona clay loam with streaks of Carmona clay loam steep
the achievement of optimized land productivity. phase and Carmona sandy clay loam. This type of soil is granular with tuffaceaous material and
concretions. It is hard and compact when dry, sticky and plastic when wet. This type of soil is planted
The soil surveys conducted by the Bureau of Soils and Water
to rice with irrigation or sugarcane without irrigation. Fruit trees such as mango, avocado and citrus
Management (BSWM) revealed that Cavite is composed of ten (10)
are also grown in this type of soil.
soil types.

Guingua fine sandy loam is found along the lower part of Malabon and Alang-ilang River at
The lowland area of Cavite is generally composed of Guadalupe
Noveleta.
clay and clay loam. This soil type is characterized as coarse and
granular when dry but sticky and plastic when wet. Its substratum The type of soils that dominate the upland areas are Tagaytay loam and Tagaytay sandy loam with
is solid volcanic tuff. These types of soils are suited to lowland rice mountain soil undifferentiated found on the south-eastern side bordering Laguna province. Also on
and corn while those in the upland are suited for orchard and the southern tip are Magallanes clay and Mountain soil undifferentiated with interlacing of
pasture. Magallanes clay loam steep phase.

Guadalupe clay adobes are abundant in the southern part of the The Tagaytay loam contains fine sandy materials, moderately friable, and easy to work on when
cities of Bacoor and Imus bordering the city of Dasmariñas. The moist. In an undisturbed condition, it bakes and becomes hard when dry. About one-half of this
soil is hard and compact and difficult to cultivate that makes it soil type is devoted to upland rice and upland crops. On the other hand, Tagaytay sandy loam is
generally unsuitable for diverse cropping. It is very sticky when wet friable and granular with considerable amount of volcanic sand and underlain by adobe clay.
and granular when dry. Forage grass is advised for this type of soil. Mountain soil undifferentiated is forested with bamboos found in the sea coast. Cavite also has the
Patungan sand characterized by pale gray to almost white sand with substratum of marine
conglomerates which are found at Sta. Mercedes in Maragondon and in some coastlines of Ternate.

8
Land Suitability
Land suitability is the fitness of a given type of land for a defined
use. The process of land suitability classification is the appraisal and
grouping of specific areas of land in terms of their suitability for
defined uses.

Majority of the provincial land are defined for highly restricted

agricultural use. The lowland areas covering the municipalities of
Imus, Bacoor, General Trias, portions of Tanza, Naic and Rosario are
primarily suitable for irrigated rice/fresh water fishponds. The
central part of the Province covering mainly the municipalities of
Dasmariñas, greater portions of Tanza, Naic, Gen. Aguinaldo and
Trece Martires City are primarily suitable for cultivated annual
crops.Cavite’s upland area covering the municipalities of Silang,
Amadeo, Indang, Alfonso, Magallanes and small portion of Gen.
Aguinaldo and Maragondon and the City of Tagaytay is principally
suitable for perennial tree and vine crop production.

The mountainous portions of the Province found at the western

side and the area along the Tagaytay Ridge are considered as
National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) land which
cannot be altered from its natural habitat.

The land suitability information was taken from the Land

Management Unit (LMU) map from the Bureau of Soils and Water
Management (BSWM). This information will be used to determine
whether existing land use is in accordance with the suitability of the
land for that use.

Ta ga ytay Ri dge at Tagaytay Ci ty

9
Land Resources The built-up areas are comprised of settlements, industrial, commercial and
tourism areas. This area is mainly for the conduct of economic activities as well as
Land Classification for human habitations.
The land resource of the province is at 142,706 hectares. This is categorized into two
The production land, on the other hand is the area were agricultural activities and
(2): Alienable and Disposable (A&D) Land and Forest Land. The Alienable and
food productions takes place.
Disposable land accounts for 129,391 hectares or 90.67% share to total land resource
where economic activities (Agriculture – 55.24% share to A&D) and human The forest lands are those that have either national proclamation to become
settlements (44.76% share to A&D) occur. On the other hand, forestland which is forest reservations. Likewise are those lands that are not suitable for any particular
9.33% or 13,315 hectares shared to total is presumed that land resource is preserved use. This may be a factor of topography and elevation.
to maintain the ecological balance in the province categorized as Classified Forest
(Protected Areas, Military Reservation and Named Islands) and Unclassified Forest For Cavite, we have the Sangley Point, Corregidor Island and the Mts. Palay-palay

(Mountains) (Table 2.2). and Mataas na Gulod Protected Landscape under the classified land. Unclassified
land includes the Tagaytay ridges.
Table 2.2 Land Classification, Province of Cavite: 2011-2020

Land Classification Area (Has.)

% % Share to Land Area
Share Classification Land is an important resource that is a basis of many governance related
to Total
A. Alienable and Disposable 129,391.00 90.67 decisions such as budget, cityhood, and programming, among others. Land is
Production Land 71,474.91 50.09 55.24 referred as dry land, is the solid surface of the Earth that is not permanently
Built-up Area 57,916.09 40.58 44.76 covered by water. Land is an area of ground which is being used for a particular
B. Forest Land 13,315.00 9.33
purpose. It excludes area below inland water bodies. The proper usage of land is a
1. Classified 5,357.36 3.75 40.24
major determinant or guiding force on the progress of a province.
a. Protected Areas/Natural Park 3,928.00 2.75
b. Military Reservation 808.99 0.57 Cavite covers 8.72% of the CALABARZON’s land area. This is relatively small
c. Islands 620.37 0.43 considering that the Region is only comprised of five provinces. The land area of
2. Unclassified 7,957.64 5.58 59.76 Cavite is equivalent to only 0.48% of the total land area of the Philippines which is
Total 142,706.00 100.00 299,404.00 hectares. The municipalities of Maragondon and Silang have the
Source: Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan 2011-2020 biggest land areas comprising 16,549 hectares and 15,641 hectares, respectively
while the municipality of Noveleta has the smallest land area as with 541 hectares
or 0.38% of the provincial total land area.(Table 2.3).

10
Mineral Resources Table 2.3 Land Area by City/Municipality, Province of Cavite: 2016
The upland part of Cavite contains volcanic materials, tuff, cinders, basalt, breccias, Land Area % Distribution
City/Municipality
(Hectares) (%)
agglomerate and interbeddings of shales, and sandstones in the soil. The dormant 1 st District
and active volcanoes (Taal) are within this volcanic area and have been the sources of Cavite City 1,183 0.83
Kawit 1,340 0.94
volcanic materials which form the Tagaytay Cuesta. The drainage systems are deeply Noveleta 541 0.38
entrenched in the tuffs, eroding thin inter-bedded sandstones and conglomerate Rosario 567 0.40
2 nd District
which are the sources of little reserves of sand and gravel in the larger stream. Adobe City of Bacoor 5,240 3.67
stone quarries also flourish in the tuff areas. 3 rd District
City of Imus 9,701 6.80
4 th District
City of Dasmariñas 8,234 5.77
5 th District
Carmona 3,092 2.17
Silang 15,641 10.96
Gen. M. Alvarez 938 0.66
6 th District
Trece Martires City 3,917 2.74
City of Gen. Trias 11,768 8.25
Tanza 9,630 6.75
Amadeo 4,790 3.36
7 th District
Tagaytay City 6,615 4.64
Alfonso 6,460 4.53
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo 5,103 3.58
Indang 8,920 6.25
Magallanes 7,860 5.51
Maragondon 16,549 11.60
Mendez 1,667 1.17
Naic 8,600 6.03
Ternate 4,350 3.05
Total 142,706 100.00
Source: Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan 2011-2020

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Table 2.4 Mineral Resources, Province Of Cavite: 2016

City/Municipality Mineral Deposits Location

Coastal Resources
Alfonso Gravel, Sand
Carmona Gravel, Sand, Clay Mabuhay, Ulong Tubig Mangroves
Gravel, Sand
Gen. Aguinaldo Adobe, Boulders Batas-Dao, Lumipa Mangroves are trees or shrubs that grow in the tropical coastal swamps that are
Kaymisas &Lumipa flooded at high tide. Mangroves typically have numerous tangled roots above
Kawit Black Sand San Sebastian
ground and form dense thickets.
Ternate Gravel and Sand Bucana,
Boulders San Jose, San Juan,
Banda-Banda Poblacion, Sapang Mangroves provide ecological and socio-economic importance in terms of
Magallanes Gravel Deposit Ramirez, Urdaneta protection of shoreline and coral reefs, nursery for fishes, shrimps, crustaceans
Maragondon Manganese, Iron Tulay, Mabato
Gravel, Sand Caingin and mud crabs, food and sanctuary for marine life, potential eco-tourism sites,
Naic Sand protection for reclaimed land and wind breaker during typhoons. The people in
Noveleta Salt San Rafael
the province also earns income from mangrove products such as source of
Silang Sand Tibagan, Malaking Ilog, Matindig
Source: Cavite Environmental and Natural Resources Office planting materials for sale, fish, wood for fuel, shellfish, mud crabs and other
crustaceans. Mangroves can be found in the coastal towns of Maragondon,
Ternate, Naic, Tanza, Rosario, Noveleta, Kawit, Cavite City and Bacoor City.
Meanwhile, in the lower part of
As of May 2015, Cavite has a total of 195.893 hectares of mangrove areas. These
Cavite, mostly coastal, marl and
mangrove areas are based on the Bio-ecological assessment of DENR-MBCO
conglomerate can be found.
Region IV-A conducted on November 2010 which is about 88.47 hectares located
Igneous rocks are prominent in the
at City of Bacoor, Noveleta, Cavite City, Kawit and Rosario. The mangrove
high, mountainous regions of
rehabilitation project is established from 20014 to 2015. Around 102.086 hectares
western Cavite. Black sands are
of mangrove areas are planted in the last ten (10) years.
found in Kawit. Noveleta has its
own salt products. Magallanes have
gravel deposits while reserves of
sand and gravel materials are
found in Alfonso, Carmona, Gen.
Aguinaldo, Naic, Ternate, Maragondon and Silang. Adobes are abundant in
Maragondon and serves as a good source of rocks and boulders (Table 2.4).

12
The species of Mangroves found in the province are: Freshwater Resources
1. Bakawan Babae (R. mucronata)
2. Bakawan Lalake (Rhizophora apiculata) Surface Run-off
3. Bakawan bato (R. stylosa) Freshwater is one of the most valued natural resources. Effective
4. Api-api (Avicennia officinales) management to ensure its sustainable source is very important and is
5. Bungalon (A. marina)
a primary concern of the government.
6. Piapi (A. lanata)
7. Pagatpat (Sonneratia Alba) There are six major river watersheds in Cavite such as:
8. Pagatpat baye (S. ovata)
9. Pedada (S. caeolaris) 1. Bacoor River Watershed

2. Imus River Watershed

3. San Juan River Watershed
Table 2.5 Existing and Mangrove Rehabilitation Areas, Province of Cavite: May 2015
Assessed Mangrove Existing 4. Cañas River Watershed
Location Mangrove Areas Rehabilitation Mangrove Areas
(2010) in ha. Plantation (ha.) (ha.) 5. Labac River Watershed and the
City of Bacoor 1.08 16.448 17.528
6. Maragondon River Watershed
Kawit 29.17 33.528 54.800
Cavite City 27.42 4.200 31.620
Naic 1.000 1.000
Maragondon 1.000 1.000
Ternate 1.291 1.316
Tanza 1.000 1.000
Noveleta 27.28 42.619 83.109
Rosario 3.52 1.000 4.520
Total 88.47 102.086 (Old 195.893
growth is at
48.413)
Source: PENRO-Cavite

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Table 2.6 Major Rivers of Cavite
Length Drainage
Name of Rivers Point of Origin
(km) Location
1. Bacoor River 12.3 Pintong Gubat, Molino passing Tanzang Luma, Salinas and Panapaan Bacoor Bay

2. Imus River 38.4 North of Tagaytay passing Balite, Sabutan, Biga, Silang, Palapala, City of Dasmariñas, Pasong Bayog, San Agustin and Bacoor Bay
connects to Pasong Bayog passing Salitran, Baluctot, Anabu II & Anabu I going to Tanzang Luma, Palico, Imus down to
Salinas and Mabolo, Bacoor toward drainage. Tributaries which started from Bucal going to San Agustin join/connect Imus
River in Pasong Bayog. Tributaries found in Baluctot also drain at Imus River.

3a. San Juan River 39.0 Maitim, Amadeo passing Maitim, Lalaan I, Silang, Dagatan, Banaybanay, Calubcob, Panungyanan, Javalera, Biclatan, Bacoor Bay
Manggahan, Jaime Baker; Buenavista, Pasong Kawayan, Bacao, Gen. Trias; Sta. Rosa, Noveleta and Putol, Kawit. Tributaries Kawit
are at Bucandala and Panamitan.

3b. Alang-Ilang Pasong Camachile River which started from Santiago passing San Gabriel connects with San Juan River; San Jose, City of
River Dasmariñas converging with San Juan River at Bacao, Gen. Trias
4. Cañas River 38.9 From Kaybagal, Tagaytay City passing Loma, Amadeo going to Polanan River, San Agustin, Gregorio, Osorio, Lucbanan, Manila Bay
Conchu, Inocencio, Trece Martires City; Alingaro, Gen. Trias passing Lubluban River, Santol, Bucal to Julugan, Tanza. Julugan, Tanza
Also from Tagaytay City going to Salaban, Amadeo; Balagbag, Mahabang Kahoy, Limbon, Alulod, Indang and connects to
Paradahan, Tanza
Other tributaries are found in Buna Lejos, Limbon connecting in Alulod.
5. Labac River 30.5 Two contributory rivers located in the upland area. Starting from Buna Lejos, Indang passing Buna Cerca to Calumpang River Manila Bay
going to Palangue, Naic to Kay-alamang River passing San Roque down to Labac River.
Patutong Malaki, Tagaytay City passing Habulin River, Barangays II & III, Mendez going to Kayquit, Indang straight to Banaba
Cerca going to Malainen Bago, Naic
6.Maragondon River 35.6 Multi-sources Banaba Lejos passing Pantihan I & II. Tributaries are: Manila Bay
Habulin River passing East Tambo to Banaba Lejos; From Palocpoc passing Lumampong and Banaba Lejos; Magay River to Ternate
Maragondon River; Narvaez River passing Tabora to Maragondon River; Matagbak Buruhan River passing Sinaliw na Munti and
Sinaliw na Malaki; Aliang River in Magallanes starting from Kaytitinga joined Narvaez River passing Tabora;Another river
(unnamed) from west of Kaytitinga and Aliang River passing Magallanes and joined Tabora to Maragondon River

14
Groundwater Resources extraction of water. In a study made by the Japan International Cooperation Agency
The groundwater is one of the best sources of fresh water for human and animal (JICA), the groundwater in Cavite is depleting at a rate of 1 meter water level decrease
consumption. By definition, groundwater is the water found underground in the per year. In the upland areas of the province, groundwater is tapped mainly for
cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through domestic use through local water supply systems.
geologic formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers.
Based on the geological studies in Cavite, most of the ground water is stored in the
The natural ground elevation or terrain affects the amount of ground water in an pyroclastic rock reservoir and little in the volcano and clastic rock. Potable water is not
area, as well as the water extraction demand depending on industrial and reported in the near shore due to the presence of alluvium deposits which may be
residential demand. brackish and saline and are not safe for drinking and other domestic use. Another
source of groundwater is called infiltrated rainfall which serves as the direct source of
The huge number of deep wells in the province has become a major source of
most near surface aquifers. Inflow from surface water reservoir and irrigation water
concern about the decreasing amount of groundwater resource in Cavite. The
also contributes to the ground water.
towns of Naic, Tanza and Ternate and the cities of Dasmariñas, Bacoor, Imus and
Gen. Trias highly depend on artesian wells. These have become their major source Freely-flowing wells occur in the 30-meter elevation of Southern Tanza and in the
of water. These have caused the salt water intrusion in the aquifers due to over lower portions of near shore Naic and Ternate while in the City of Imus, it is at the
elevation of about 15 meters.

Climate
Cavite has two pronounced seasons, dry from November to April and wet on the rest
of the year. The following table shows the climatological report of Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) from
its Sangley Point Observation Center in Cavite City.

The hottest temperature is observed in the month of May while it is coldest in

January. Heaviest rains are experienced in the month of July and there is almost no
rain on the onset of the year in January (Table 2.7).

15
Table 2.7 Monthly Average Temperature and Rainfall, Cavite
City: 2015
Average
Rainfall
Month Temperature
(mms)
(oC)
January 26.6 oC 0.4
February 27.4 oC 3.3
March 28.6 oC 7.2
April 30.6 oC 1.2
May 31.6 oC 84.5
June 31.1 oC 321.4
July 29.5 oC 523.4
August 29.7 oC 296.8
September 29.7 oC 460.3
October 29.4 oC 212.9
November 29.6 oC 27.8
December 28.2 oC 163.2
29.3 1,734.3
(Average) (Total)

16