Monday, February 9, 2009

seo

search Engine Optimization Decoded

Search engine optimization is the process of increasing the quantity and quality of web visitors to your website. As your website begins to climb in rank for the most appropriate keywords, your site will gain more quality visitors and likely greater conversions.

A key component of search engine optimization is understanding the search engines. Did you know that approximately:

  • 55% of searchers use Google
  • 30% of searchers use Yahoo!
  • 6% of searchers use MSN

As you can see, Google has a commanding lead over their competition. While Google is the #1 search engine to rank on, depending on your product or service offering, other search engines and directories will be beneficial for your company to rank at.

Other search engine stats to keep in mind:

  • The top 15 listings in a search engine results page (SERPs) are the sites that get greater visibility and traffic
  • Approximately 80% of traffic originates from search engines
  • Approximately 60% of all search phrases are 3 or more words
  • Approximately 80% of all searches are research based, not outright shopping in the beigining
  • Almost 90% of clicks from Google organic (Approximately 70% at Yahoo!)
  • Your competition is not just your industry competition, but sites that rank above you for your keywords
  • Spamming is generally caught in 4-6 weeks
  • The average website page changes 5 times per year
  • Google has over 200 factors they consider to decide website rank
  • More websites will link to your site if you offer free, valuable information
  • No website has search engine optimization secrets
  • The #1 keyword searched for at Yahoo! is . . . GOOGLE!
At Smart Solutions, we love to help people achieve their online goals. If you have questions about how a dynamic website and searching engine optimization can help you reach your website goals please give us a call or email us.


Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks," the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.
The acronym "SEO" can also refer to "search engine optimizers," a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.
Another class of techniques, known as black hat SEO or Spamdexing, use methods such as link farms and keyword stuffing that degrade both the relevance of search results and the user-experience of search engines. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques in order to remove them from their indices.

History

Webmasters and content providers began optimizing sites for search engines in the mid-1990s, as the first search engines were cataloging the early Web. Initially, all a webmaster needed to do was submit a page, or URL, to the various engines which would send a spider to "crawl" that page, extract links to other pages from it, and return information found on the page to be indexed.[1] The process involves a search engine spider downloading a page and storing it on the search engine's own server, where a second program, known as an indexer, extracts various information about the page, such as the words it contains and where these are located, as well as any weight for specific words, as well as any and all links the page contains, which are then placed into a scheduler for crawling at a later date.

Site owners started to recognize the value of having their sites highly ranked and visible in search engine results, creating an opportunity for both white hat and black hat SEO practitioners. According to industry analyst Danny Sullivan, the earliest known use of the phrase search engine optimization was a spam message posted on Usenet on July 26, 1997.[2]

Early versions of search algorithms relied on webmaster-provided information such as the keyword meta tag, or index files in engines like ALIWEB. Meta tags provided a guide to each page's content. But using meta data to index pages was found to be less than reliable because the webmaster's account of keywords in the meta tag were not truly relevant to the site's actual keywords. Inaccurate, incomplete, and inconsistent data in meta tags caused pages to rank for irrelevant searches.[3] Web content providers also manipulated a number of attributes within the HTML source of a page in an attempt to rank well in search engines.[4]

By relying so much on factors exclusively within a webmaster's control, early search engines suffered from abuse and ranking manipulation. To provide better results to their users, search engines had to adapt to ensure their results pages showed the most relevant search results, rather than unrelated pages stuffed with numerous keywords by unscrupulous webmasters. Since the success and popularity of a search engine is determined by its ability to produce the most relevant results to any given search allowing those results to be false would turn users to find other search sources. Search engines responded by developing more complex ranking algorithms, taking into account additional factors that were more difficult for webmasters to manipulate.

While graduate students at Stanford University, Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed "backrub", a search engine that relied on a mathematical algorithm to rate the prominence of web pages. The number calculated by the algorithm, PageRank, is a function of the quantity and strength of inbound links.[5] PageRank estimates the likelihood that a given page will be reached by a web user who randomly surfs the web, and follows links from one page to another. In effect, this means that some links are stronger than others, as a higher PageRank page is more likely to be reached by the random surfer.

Google headquarters

Page and Brin founded Google in 1998. Google attracted a loyal following among the growing number of Internet users, who liked its simple design.[6] Off-page factors (such as PageRank and hyperlink analysis) were considered as well as on-page factors (such as keyword frequency, meta tags, headings, links and site structure) to enable Google to avoid the kind of manipulation seen in search engines that only considered on-page factors for their rankings. Although PageRank was more difficult to game, webmasters had already developed link building tools and schemes to influence the Inktomi search engine, and these methods proved similarly applicable to gaming PageRank. Many sites focused on exchanging, buying, and selling links, often on a massive scale. Some of these schemes, or link farms, involved the creation of thousands of sites for the sole purpose of link spamming.[7] In recent years major search engines have begun to rely more heavily on off-web factors such as the age, sex, location, and search history of people conducting searches in order to further refine results.

By 2007, search engines had incorporated a wide range of undisclosed factors in their ranking algorithms to reduce the impact of link manipulation. Google says it ranks sites using more than 200 different signals.[8] The three leading search engines, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Live Search, do not disclose the algorithms they use to rank pages. Notable SEOs, such as Rand Fishkin, Barry Schwartz, Aaron Wall and Jill Whalen, have studied different approaches to search engine optimization, and have published their opinions in online forums and blogs.[9][10] SEO practitioners may also study patents held by various search engines to gain insight into the algorithms.[11]

Webmasters and search engines

By 1997 search engines recognized that webmasters were making efforts to rank well in their search engines, and that some webmasters were even manipulating their rankings in search results by stuffing pages with excessive or irrelevant keywords. Early search engines, such as Infoseek, adjusted their algorithms in an effort to prevent webmasters from manipulating rankings.[12]

Due to the high marketing value of targeted search results, there is potential for an adversarial relationship between search engines and SEOs. In 2005, an annual conference, AIRWeb, Adversarial Information Retrieval on the Web,[13] was created to discuss and minimize the damaging effects of aggressive web content providers.

SEO companies that employ overly aggressive techniques can get their client websites banned from the search results. In 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported on a company, Traffic Power, which allegedly used high-risk techniques and failed to disclose those risks to its clients.[14] Wired magazine reported that the same company sued blogger and SEO Aaron Wall for writing about the ban.[15] Google's Matt Cutts later confirmed that Google did in fact ban Traffic Power and some of its clients.[16]

Some search engines have also reached out to the SEO industry, and are frequent sponsors and guests at SEO conferences, chats, and seminars. In fact, with the advent of paid inclusion, some search engines now have a vested interest in the health of the optimization community. Major search engines provide information and guidelines to help with site optimization.[17][18][19] Google has a Sitemaps program[20] to help webmasters learn if Google is having any problems indexing their website and also provides data on Google traffic to the website. Google guidelines are a list of suggested practices Google has provided as guidance to webmasters. Yahoo! Site Explorer provides a way for webmasters to submit URLs, determine how many pages are in the Yahoo! index and view link information.[21]

Getting indexed

The leading search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, use crawlers to find pages for their algorithmic search results. Pages that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted because they are found automatically. Some search engines, notably Yahoo!, operate a paid submission service that guarantee crawling for either a set fee or cost per click.[22] Such programs usually guarantee inclusion in the database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search results.[23] Yahoo's paid inclusion program has drawn criticism from advertisers and competitors.[24] Two major directories, the Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory Project both require manual submission and human editorial review.[25] Google offers Google Webmaster Tools, for which an XML Sitemap feed can be created and submitted for free to ensure that all pages are found, especially pages that aren't discoverable by automatically following links.[26]

Search engine crawlers may look at a number of different factors when crawling a site. Not every page is indexed by the search engines. Distance of pages from the root directory of a site may also be a factor in whether or not pages get crawled.[27]

Preventing crawling

Main article: Robots Exclusion Standard

To avoid undesirable content in the search indexes, webmasters can instruct spiders not to crawl certain files or directories through the standard robots.txt file in the root directory of the domain. Additionally, a page can be explicitly excluded from a search engine's database by using a meta tag specific to robots. When a search engine visits a site, the robots.txt located in the root directory is the first file crawled. The robots.txt file is then parsed, and will instruct the robot as to which pages are not to be crawled. As a search engine crawler may keep a cached copy of this file, it may on occasion crawl pages a webmaster does not wish crawled. Pages typically prevented from being crawled include login specific pages such as shopping carts and user-specific content such as search results from internal searches. In March 2007, Google warned webmasters that they should prevent indexing of internal search results because those pages are considered search spam.[28]

White hat versus black hat

SEO techniques can be classified into two broad categories: techniques that search engines recommend as part of good design, and those techniques of which search engines do not approve. The search engines attempt to minimize the effect of the latter, among them spamdexing. Industry commentators have classified these methods, and the practitioners who employ them, as either white hat SEO, or black hat SEO.[29] White hats tend to produce results that last a long time, whereas black hats anticipate that their sites may eventually be banned either temporarily or permanently once the search engines discover what they are doing.[30]

An SEO technique is considered white hat if it conforms to the search engines' guidelines and involves no deception. As the search engine guidelines[31][17][18][19] are not written as a series of rules or commandments, this is an important distinction to note. White hat SEO is not just about following guidelines, but is about ensuring that the content a search engine indexes and subsequently ranks is the same content a user will see. White hat advice is generally summed up as creating content for users, not for search engines, and then making that content easily accessible to the spiders, rather than attempting to trick the algorithm from its intended purpose. White hat SEO is in many ways similar to web development that promotes accessibility,[32] although the two are not identical.

Black hat SEO attempts to improve rankings in ways that are disapproved of by the search engines, or involve deception. One black hat technique uses text that is hidden, either as text colored similar to the background, in an invisible div, or positioned off screen. Another method gives a different page depending on whether the page is being requested by a human visitor or a search engine, a technique known as cloaking.

Search engines may penalize sites they discover using black hat methods, either by reducing their rankings or eliminating their listings from their databases altogether. Such penalties can be applied either automatically by the search engines' algorithms, or by a manual site review. One infamous example was the February 2006 Google removal of both BMW Germany and Ricoh Germany for use of deceptive practices.[33] Both companies, however, quickly apologized, fixed the offending pages, and were restored to Google's list.[34]

As a marketing strategy

Eye tracking studies have shown that searchers scan a search results page from top to bottom and left to right (for left to right languages), looking for a relevant result. Placement at or near the top of the rankings therefore increases the number of searchers who will visit a site.[35] However, more search engine referrals does not guarantee more sales. SEO is not necessarily an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be much more effective, depending on the site operator's goals.[36] A successful Internet marketing campaign may drive organic traffic to web pages, but it also may involve the use of paid advertising on search engines and other pages, building high quality web pages to engage and persuade, addressing technical issues that may keep search engines from crawling and indexing those sites, setting up analytics programs to enable site owners to measure their successes, and improving a site's conversion rate.[37]

SEO may generate a return on investment. However, search engines are not paid for organic search traffic, their algorithms change, and there are no guarantees of continued referrals. Due to this lack of guarantees and certainty, a business that relies heavily on search engine traffic can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors.[38] It is considered wise business practice for website operators to liberate themselves from dependence on search engine traffic.[39] A top-ranked SEO blog Seomoz.org[40] has reported, "Search marketers, in a twist of irony, receive a very small share of their traffic from search engines." Instead, their main sources of traffic are links from other websites.[41]

International markets

A Baidu search results page

The search engines' market shares vary from market to market, as does competition. In 2003, Danny Sullivan stated that Google represented about 75% of all searches.[42] In markets outside the United States, Google's share is often larger, and Google remains the dominant search engine worldwide as of 2007.[43] As of 2006, Google held about 40% of the market in the United States, but Google had an 85-90% market share in Germany.[44] While there were hundreds of SEO firms in the US at that time, there were only about five in Germany.[44]

In Russia the situation is reversed. Local search engine Yandex controls 50% of the paid advertising revenue, while Google has less than 9%.[45] In China, Baidu continues to lead in market share, although Google has been gaining share as of 2007.[46]

Successful search optimization for international markets may require professional translation of web pages, registration of a domain name with a top level domain in the target market, and web hosting that provides a local IP address. Otherwise, the fundamental elements of search optimization are essentially the same, regardless of language.[44]

Legal precedents

On October 17, 2002, SearchKing filed suit in the United States District Court, Western District of Oklahoma, against the search engine Google. SearchKing's claim was that Google's tactics to prevent spamdexing constituted a tortious interference with contractual relations. On May 27, 2003, the court granted Google's motion to dismiss the complaint because SearchKing "failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted."[47][48]

In March 2006, KinderStart filed a lawsuit against Google over search engine rankings. Kinderstart's web site was removed from Google's index prior to the lawsuit and the amount of traffic to the site dropped by 70%. On March 16, 2007 the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose Division) dismissed KinderStart's complaint without leave to amend, and partially granted Google's motion for Rule 11 sanctions against KinderStart's attorney, requiring him to pay part of Google's legal expenses. [49][50


Search Engine Optimization

Today there will be millions of searches performed on the Internet, many of them looking for exactly what you are selling. The process of getting your website to the top of the search engines is known as search engine optimization (SEO). SEO has proven to be one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing available. SEO.com is recognized as a world leader in the art and science of search engine optimization by Fortune 500 companies, emerging Internet entities, small businesses, and professional firms. Contact us for more information.

Search optimization is a hyper-competitive endeavor that requires intense focus and a thorough, up-to-date understanding of how the search engine algorithms and robots operate. The staff at SEO.com have been in the search engine marketing industry for over a decade and our tactics continuously evolve to meet the needs of our clients. In the uncertain world of search engine optimization, our straightforward approach has consistently delivered results, which is why we are so optimistic about search marketing. We apply our proven SEO process so your website will achieve that same high level of success.

In addition to search engine optimization, we provide other Internet marketing services including: search-friendly web design, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns, link building programs, social media optimization, blog optimization and marketing, targeted local search marketing, and mobile marketing optimization.


Google Optimization: Why SEO Rankings Matter!

Why does the headline on a newspaper have the most compelling caption? Why does it reside at the helm of the page screaming boldly to make a point? Because positioning is important and what better place to equate greatness than at the top of our visual periphery?

Similarly, Google Optimization and SEO rankings above the fold (ranking in the top 5 results) in Google also has this affect on our instinctive reaction based conditioning. Despite the number of competing pages for a search online, we naturally equate higher with better, which is a key signal of trust and engagement when considering which ranked result we click.

ShareThis

Welcome to the SEO Design Solutions Blog. Feel free to read our SEO Tips, or subscribe to our RSS feed to receive daily updates. Or if you're searching for SEO services, then request search engine optimization pricing.

The Purpose of SEO Marketing

Let’s be clear, the purpose of SEO marketing is to spread the word, that’s it. However which word or which message is entirely up to you. The key to a successful SEO campaign is timing, relevance and appeal.

Are you considering using search engine optimization for the first time?

Instead of putting the cart before the horse, if your goal is to (1) increase the visibility or your brand (2) appear for multiple highly trafficked keywords and (3) reach new consumers to test how your offers convert window shoppers into customers, then yes, SEO is a great tool for implementation.

5 Frequently Used / Abused SEO Link Building Techniques

Search engine optimization (SEO) embraces multiple facets to produce viable shifts in rankings for specific keywords for the website in question. One of those facets is link building (a metric that uses link popularity and the authority of the referral to dictate a pecking order).
Link Building and SEO
We all know SEO and positioning are important, but what are some of the more common link building techniques people use to promote their websites and build website authority. We will briefly discuss 5 frequently used and abused techniques for building links below, with their respective pros and cons.

Using SEO to Sculpt Relevance for Keyword Prominence

One of the main objectives of SEO is to establish a pecking order through relevance, chronology, prominence and authority within each page of your website.

Mapping the focus of each page to accommodate the on page and off page reputation can dramatically increase user engagement and lower bounce rates vs. leaving your pages wide open like a free for all when it comes to scoping relevance. For example, say you have optimized a page for a specific keyword and you have 5 other pages within your site that are also targeting the same keyword.

How to Evaluate an SEO Company for Services

So your boss or upper level management finally got wind of SEO and the order has come from the corporate level to go and find the most reputable SEO company possible to shake the foundation of the web on behalf of their company.

The Search for SEO Services

The Search for SEO Services


Naturally, the most competitive phrases are the target for the first quarter objectives and the price they are willing to pay is only a few thousand dollars for an internet marketing budget. Sound unreasonable? Well this is the plight of companies offering SEO services each day.

What happens next?, the task typically gets passed off and someone with virtually no idea what the protocol is, then they haphazardly begin their journey to find the ideal firm to execute their campaign. After an arduous process which can take weeks or possibly months to spend hours on the phone to hear why each SEO companies services are superior to other SEO firms, weeks later with dozens of proposals and several rounds of eliminations later, it’s time to make a decision.

Relevance and Retrieval


What can you do to defend yourself against shifts in search engine rankings algorithm? The answer, hedge your websites odds by optimizing multiple semantic clusters of keywords to eliminate dependency on a narrow range of phrases.

Relevance and Retrieval

Relevance and Retrieval


In the time it takes you to capture a phrase with 300,000 or more competing pages, you could have funneled traffic from dozens of keywords from the long-tail of search. Capture enough phrases like this, and you create a virtual cornucopia of content worthy of retrieval from search engines through developing domain authority.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about relevance. Typically,the process involves an understanding of how keyword relate to other relevant pages hat exist within the site. Content is scalable, as a result, so are rankings.

SEO and Positioning - Keyword SEO

We recently wrote a post on latent/dormant vs. expressed/active keywords as a part of your websites evolution process, and why having both for SEO are important.

SEO and Positioning

SEO and Positioning

After writing the post, I began experimenting with a few free tools and developed a simple method to take a snapshot of the competitive landscape and identify keywords that may have more potential than previously considered.

Keyword Positioning or Market Share, Which is More Important?

There was an old saying that comes to mind, “If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, will it make a sound?”, similarly if your website is optimized for a specific keywords and no one uses it to find your website, is it worth it?

Value is Relative

To answer that question, yes… just as value is relative to application, does the tree have more purpose as a bridge across the stream than standing upright before it fell? It all depends on who is on the path and what their needs are at the time.

Similarly, some keywords act as bridges to tie vast segments of synonyms and more competitive keywords together. Their latent value (building authority) vs. their immediate value (as keywords that appear in search engines) are often misunderstood when it comes to increasing relevance within a site.

For many obsessively checking your websites keyword positioning and rankings around the clock is common. Although the behavior may border on the tendency of being myopic about SEO, the true focus should be capturing market share. With both market share and authority, you can launch as many keywords as you like and sculpt which ones rise and stay at the top.

How to Develop Domain Authority With Deep Links

Search engines view each page in your website as a unique micro-site. As a result, each page can rank on its own accord if the appropriate signals are created.

Building strong relationships from page to page in your site is what produces a dominant domain in search engines. However before domain authority occurs, each page must be optimized for a specific series of key words and phrases if you want to pass that trait on to other relevant pages.

Once domain authority is produced, it is possible to see multiple pages ranking from one domain or a domain and sub-domain for multiple keywords (often with a double listing). The premise of SEO is to create the necessary balance of deep links in tandem with relevant content to cue search engines to rank specific pages higher as a result of the by-product of continuity.


Website Authority: Short Term Gain or Long Term Growth?

Is your online marketing strategy based on long-term growth or is your website merely ranking on vapors?

Developing true website authority supersedes short-term quick fixes and processes and since SEO is all about layering and infusing multiple steps to produce a specific outcome. Having a firm objective and not sacrificing quality for short-term gain (such as building links too fast or relying on strategies that may not work in 6 months) has an impact on your websites credibility.


  • Search Engine Optimization


  • Search Engine Optimization Inc. is a professional search engine marketing firm, specializing in achieving high rankings for our clients on the Internet's major Search properties. For more than a decade, SEO Inc.'s certified ‘Search Engineers’, with a combined expertise of over 50+ years, have led the industry in developing highly effective, proprietary search engine optimization and marketing methodologies that have placed more than 700 leading corporations in the top rankings of the world's major search properties.


    Top Shelf - Bottom-line

    SEO Inc.'s proven, search engine optimization and ppc management services will increase your rankings, sales and brand visibility online, while minimizing your search engine marketing costs that will significantly impact your bottom-line. Search Engine marketing is one of the most powerful tools available. Our top shelf strategies will consistently produce higher rankings than any other search engine optimization company out there. Period.

    Attain and Remain

    Search engine optimization is an active, complicated practice; relevance requirements are dynamic and constantly evolving. In today's fiercely competitive market, you need a company who pays the utmost attention to the fundamental framework of search engine dynamics in order to attain and remain in the top positions. SEO Inc. rises above “faddish” search engine placement schemes and trends, to develop and focus on cutting-edge technologies that are proven to work repeatedly and consistently.

    Industry-leading ROI

    At SEO Inc, we understand the complexities of a complete and customized search engine marketing initiative and the impact search engine placement can have on your company's marketing ROI. We offer you outstanding results using industry-leading practices designed to meet your specifications and exceed your marketing goals. Our full-service premium Search Engine Marketing Services typically generate increased new targeted traffic from 100% to 15,000% for companies that rely on their website for exposure, sales, marketing and e-business - so your return on investment is immediate. We deliver comprehensive reporting on how our processes impact your marketing ROI , as well as guiding your latest online marketing initiatives.

    Best of Breed Solutions for Ad Agencies

    Most ad agencies will offer some form of scaled down or outsourced search engine optimization services to their clients, but they don’t have the depth of expertise or extensive resources required to truly make an impact in website rankings. With Agency Select, SEO Inc. partners with agencies to provide best of breed SEO services to agency clients and an economy friendly way to retain client ad spend. Agency Select details

    SEO Inc. Tools
    Over 45,000 downloads and counting. SEO Inc Toolbar is the most downloaded SEO toolbar ever! The SEO Inc. Toolbar v3.0 contains NO spy-ware, bundled freeware and is not used in any way, shape or form to collect data. There are no hidden catches, period!
    SEO Inc. - SEO Toolbar v3
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of methodologies aimed at improving the ranking of a web site in search engine listings. The term also refers to an industry of consultants that carry out optimization projects on behalf of client sites.

To obtain maximum search engine visibility, a website must tailor itself to be found by its target audience through internet searches. If a site is to be found, it must contain keyword phrases that match the phrases the target audience is typing into search queries. These keywords are determined by search engine spiders that analyze web page content and keyword relevancy based on an algorithm. Search engine optimization is the process of configuring a website to be more visible to its target audience.*

What are Organic/Natural Search Engine Listings?

Search engine placement (or rankings) is realized through a number of influences. Listings can be positioned in an organic manner or by way of payment. Organic listings are considered because a search engine deems them editorially important and consequently relevant for inclusion, regardless of payment. Meaning, the keyword phrases on the site match the keywords searchers are typing into query fields. Paid Inclusion simply means payment has been made for a site to be included in a search engine directory. This may also be considered “organic” even though the ads are paid for, because the pages usually appear intermixed with unpaid organic results.

The key to improving your web site’s search engine ranking is having highly relevant content on your site that searchers are looking for and will benefit searchers in some way. As an example your web pages could talk about or sell the latest hot digital music product like Apple’s iPod. You could offer insightful information about any given subject (Wikipedia.com), “how to” tutorials (Lynda.com), timely news (CNN.com) or expert advice on any given subject (About.com) – all different areas that people are searching for.

The art and science of Search Engine Optimization is taking this relevant content and placing it on your web pages in such a way that it is “spider friendly,” meaning, there are “keywords” strategically located on the pages (so search engine crawlers/spiders can index your site properly), “and” most importantly people friendly, meaning, that the pages are readable, make sense and are of value to them in some way.

What is Paid Inclusion?

 Paid Inclusion is an advertising program where web pages are guaranteed to be included in a search engine's index in exchange for payment (usually annually and or per click), though no guarantee of ranking well is typically given. Your web pages will be among the organic listings in a search, but oddly enough they are not guaranteed a high ranking because of payment. Obtaining a guaranteed listing in a directory is different from ranking in a search. You still have to strive for a well optimized web site regardless of payment to be listed in a directory to get any kind of high search engine rankings.

So why would you pay for a listing in a directory if they don’t guarantee you a high search engine ranking? There are several reasons. One is a Paid Inclusion listing in a directory means that your site is crawled by the search engine’s spider much sooner (in Yahoo’s case within seven days) and much more often than a regular organic/natural listing; this is highly desirable for companies that post new or timely information (news sites for example), product up dates, or seasonable services for instance that needs to be updated often. Another reason is many people like searching in directories more than conducting searches on the web as a whole. Also, having in-bound links from your listings in directories pointing to your web site helps with your page rank so having select high quality directories that have a link in them pointing to your web site is a very good thing
Posted by at 2 comments:

tayabas



Revocation of Cityhood
On March 18, 2007, Republic Act No. 9398, An Act Converting the Municipality of Tayabas in the Province of Quezon into a Component City to be known as City of Tayabas, was enacted into law. On July 14, 2007, the municipality held a plebiscite to ratify the conversion of the said act, with the residents voting in favor of the move, although there was a low turnout of voters for the plebiscite.
However, after one year, the cityhood of Tayabas was revoked together with sixteen other cities as the Supreme Court of the Philippines declared their cityhood laws unconstitutional.
Among other cities to be turned back into a municipality are the following: Baybay, Leyte, Bogo, Cebu, Catbalogan, Samar, Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Borongan, Eastern Samar, Lamitan, Basilan, Tabuk, Kalinga, Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, Batac, Ilocos Norte, Mati, Davao Oriental, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte, Carcar, Cebu, El Salvador, Misamis Oriental and Naga, Cebu.
According to the high court, the cityhood laws violated Sections 10, Article X of the Constitution as well as the equal protection clause. [1]

Tayabas City Guide
The City of Tayabas, or Lungsod ng Tayabas, is a partially urban constituent city of the Quezon province found in the south Luzon region of the Philippines. It is situated on the southeastern foothills of Mount Banahaw, surrounded by several municipalities in the Quezon province. To its north lies Lucban, Mauban and Sampaloc, to its southeast are Atimonan and Pagbilao, to its south lays the provincial capital of Lucena City, and Sariaya to its west. The city lies approximately 150 kilometers southeast of Manila and about 10 kilometers from Lucena City. It has a total land area of 301.8 km² which is politically subdivided into 66 barangays. 19 of these are located at the city center, while 47 are classified as rural barangays. The city’s compact urban core comprises only of 82.15 hectares, which is less than 1% of its total land area.

The city’s economy is largely based on agriculture, with coconut as one of its major products.
The manufacturing and processing plants found in the city process coconut-based products, such as soaps, coconut cooking oil, and coconut wine, or lambanog. Other popular food products in Tayabas include cassava cake, espasol and nilupak. Handicrafts, such as weaving of baskets, buri hats, bags, and mats are other industries found in the city.



Aside from these, Tayabas also has a growing tourism industry as the city diligently preserves many of its historical sites that date back to the Spanish colonial era. One of its famous landmarks is the San Miguel Archangel Minor Basilica which was built in the 17th century. It is the second largest church in the Philippines and boasts of an aisle that measures 103 meters. It houses many antique religious icons and images, chandeliers, altar, and a beautifully painted vaulted ceiling which is reminiscent of Renaissance churches in Italy. The hotels and resorts set against the breath taking backdrop of nature have also attracted tourists in the city.

The founding of Tayabas as a town under the Spanish colonizers began in 1578 when the Franciscan missionaries Father Juan de Plasencia and Father Diego de Oropesa built a parish. In 1779, Tayabas town was made the capital of Tayabas province, which was later named Quezon, and had served this purpose for 131 years.

Tayabas took a spot in history when its most famous son, Apolinario De La Cruz (Hermano Pule), led the Confradia de San Jose which was a prayer movement against Spanish oppression. On October 23, 1841, the movement fought a battle in barrio Isabang where they won and killed many Spanish officials, including the town’s alcalde mayor. But during a battle at the Alitao River in November 1, 1841, over a hundred members of the Confradia were massacred by Spanish soldiers and Hermano Pule was captured. He was executed by beheading in the town plaza. His death and the massacre of the Confradia members resulted in an attack on the walled city of Intramuros in Manila by Sergeant Samaniego on January 28, 1843. Two days after, the city was recaptured by the Spanish and the rebels were executed.

In 1910, after the defeat of Spain to the United States over the Philippines and under the American occupation, the provincial capital was moved to Lucena City. On March 18, 2007, Tayabas was converted into Quezon province’s second constituent city upon the enactment of Republic Act No. 9398.

Residential Places in Tayabas

Tayabas is politically subdivided into 66 barangays, all of which are composed of residential neighborhoods. Some of these residential neighborhoods are found in gated communities which are locally referred to as subdivisions and villages. These are the often preferred residence of middle to upper class families. They often feature a walled perimeter with guarded entrances and a list of attractive facilities and amenities. Their most common amenities are lighted streets, a centralized water distribution system, concrete paved streets, and garbage management.

Some of Tayabas City’s subdivisions and villages are Vista Verde Executive Village, Talaverde Heights, St. Dominic Village I, San Juan Estates, Divine Mercy Subdivision, and MSN Subdivision.

Hospitals and Universities of Tayabas

Healthcare and medical services in the city are provided by the Tayabas community Hospital found in Barangay Wakas. This private tertiary care hospital carries a 135 bed capacity as well as most modern medical and diagnostic facilities. It is staffed with qualified and experienced physicians and visiting specialist consultants to ensure accurate diagnosis and treatment. The hospital provides services in general medicine and other subspecialties in internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics-gynecology.

To make up for the lack of hospitals and medical centers in the city, private dental and medical clinics have become an integral part of the healthcare system in the city. In addition to these, barangay health centers serve as vehicles in the local government’s delivery of healthcare services to rural barangays.

There are no educational institutions in Tayabas that provide tertiary education to its residents. Most college students from Tayabas simply opt to travel to the capital city where most tertiary educational institutions are located, or to the adjoining provinces of Laguna and Batangas.

Commercial Places in Tayabas

Although Tayabas is a fast-growing progressive city, it still lacks in large modern shopping malls that have been the usual trademarks of most modern cities. Its close proximity to Lucena City seems to make up for this lack. In place of these large shopping malls are several small retail centers that can provide most common commodities.

One must not also disregard the public open-air markets that are staple commercial centers in any location in the Philippines. These are often the prime venues for shopping for fresh seafood, meat and meat products, and poultry. Fresh produce, rice, most basic cooking ingredients, house wares, some items of clothing, and footwear are also found here.

Tayabas is home to the renowned restaurants Kamayan sa Palaisdaan and Palaisdaan Restaurant. Their customers are given a unique dining experience as these establishments have their chairs and tables set on bamboo rafts in the middle of fish ponds. Orders are caught fresh from these ponds and are cooked right in front of their customers.

Alternatively, the hotels and resorts found in the city may also serve as venues for dining and recreation. One of these most prominent establishments is the Nawawalang Paraiso Hotel & Restaurant found in Barangay Camysa. Surrounding its summer cottages and pools are lush trees, ferns, and flowering plants to create the perfect relaxing atmosphere. Its restaurant is set al fresco to take advantage of the natural ambiance. Another premiere recreational destination in Tayabas is the Graceland Resort and Country Club. It boasts of a beautifully landscaped golf course, a horseback riding range, and a restaurant set in the middle of a man-made lagoon.

Other notable resorts and hotels found in the city include the Mariposa Picnic Grove, Mainit Hot springs, and the Villa Cecilia Resort,.

Service Establishments of Tayabas

Electricity in the city is generated by the National Power corporation and distributed by the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO). The company has 100% coverage in urban and rural barangays.

Telecommunication companies servicing the city are the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Digitel Telecommunications. Both companies provide traditional fixed line services and internet access via dial-up and digital subscriber line (DSL). Alternative internet service provider in the city is SmartBro of Smart Communications, a subsidiary of PLDT. SmartBro provides wireless internet connection via broadband.

Smart Communications, together with Globe Telecom and Sun Cellular of Digitel Telecommunications, are the major cellular service providers in the city. All companies provide postpaid and prepaid subscription packages.

The Quezon provincial police station is located at Camp Guillermo Nakar in Lucena City. Tayabas City police stations are found in every barangay to ensure the safety and orderliness in the city.


Tayabas, Quezon

Mula sa Tagalog na Wikipedia, ang malayang ensiklopedya

Tumalon sa: nabigasyon, hanapin
Lungsod ng Tayabas
Official seal of Lungsod ng Tayabas
Lokasyon
Mapa ng Quezon na nagpapakita sa lokasyon ng Tayabas.
Mapa ng Quezon na nagpapakita sa lokasyon ng Tayabas.
Pamahalaan
Rehiyon CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Lalawigan Quezon
Distrito Ika-1 Distrito ng Quezon
Mga barangay 66
Kaurian ng kita: Ika-2 klase; bahagyang urban
Pagkatatag 1578
Punong-bayan Severina Nadres (LP)
Opisyal na websayt elgu2.ncc.gov.ph/tayabas/
Mga pisikal na katangian
Lawak 301.8 km²
Populasyon

Kabuuan (2000) Densidad
70,985
235.2/km²
Coordinate 14° 1' 1.2" N, 121° 34' 58.8" E


Ang Bayan ng Tayabas ay isang ika-2 klaseng bayan sa lalawigan ng Quezon, Pilipinas. Ayon sa senso noong 2000, ito ay may populasyon na 70,985 katao sa 15,155 na kabahayan.

Mga nilalaman

[itago]

Pagkakabawi ng PagkaLungsod [baguhin]

Revocation of Cityhood [baguhin]

Noong Marso 18, 2007, Batas ng Republika bilang 9398, Batas na nagtatakda sa Bayan ng Tayabas sa lalawigan ng Quezon bilang isang bahaging lungsod na tatawaging lungsod ng Tayabas, ay naipasa. Noong Hulyo 14, 2007, nagkaroon ng plebisito sa bayan ng Tayabas para suportahan ang nasabing batas at naaprubahan ito sa pagboto ng karamihan bilang aprub sa nasabing batas.

Subalit matapos ang isang taon, ang Tayabas ay natanggalan ng pagiging lungsod kasama sa labinganim pang mga bayan na naging lungsod matapos ilabas ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman ng Pilipinas na labag sa Saligang Batas ang mga batas na nagtakda sa pagkakagawa nito.

Ang iba pang nabalik sa pagiging bayan ay ang mga sumusunod: Baybay, Leyte, Bogo, Cebu, Catbalogan, Samar, Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Borongan, Eastern Samar, Lamitan, Basilan, Tabuk, Kalinga, Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, Batac, Ilocos Norte, Mati, Davao Oriental, Guihulngan, Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte, Carcar, Cebu, El Salvador, Misamis Oriental at Naga, Cebu.

Ayon sa Kataas-taasang Hukuman ng Pilipinas nilabag ng pagiging lungsod ng mga nasabing bayan ang Seksyon 10, Artikulo X ng Saligang-batas ng Pilipinas. [1]


Mga Barangay

Ang bayan ng Tayabas ay nahahati sa 66 mga barangay.

  • Alitao
  • Alupay
  • Angeles Zone I (Pob.)
  • Angeles Zone II
  • Angeles Zone III
  • Angeles Zone IV
  • Angustias Zone I (Pob.)
  • Angustias Zone II
  • Angustias Zone III
  • Angustias Zone IV
  • Anos
  • Ayaas
  • Baguio
  • Banilad
  • Calantas
  • Camaysa
  • Dapdap
  • Gibanga
  • Alsam Ibaba
  • Bukal Ibaba
  • Ilasan Ibaba
  • Nangka Ibaba
  • Palale Ibaba
  • Ibas
  • Alsam Ilaya
  • Bukal Ilaya
  • Ilasan Ilaya
  • Nangka Ilaya
  • Palale Ilaya
  • Ipilan
  • Isabang
  • Calumpang
  • Domoit Kanluran
  • Katigan Kanluran
  • Palale Kanluran
  • Lakawan
  • Lalo
  • Lawigue
  • Lita (Pob.)
  • Malaoa
  • Masin
  • Mate
  • Mateuna
  • Mayowe
  • Opias
  • Pandakaki
  • Pook
  • Potol
  • San Diego Zone I (Pob.)
  • San Diego Zone II
  • San Diego Zone III
  • San Diego Zone IV
  • San Isidro Zone I (Pob.)
  • San Isidro Zone II
  • San Isidro Zone III
  • San Isidro Zone IV
  • San Roque Zone I (Pob.)
  • San Roque Zone II
  • Domoit Silangan
  • Katigan Silangan
  • Palale Silangan
  • Talolong
  • Tamlong
  • Tongko
  • Valencia
  • Wakas

Embassies in Tayabas

Tayabas City does not have any foreign embassies or consulates located in its locality. The bulk of these diplomatic missions to the Philippines have their offices located in the cities of Makati and Manila in the National Capital Region. Air-conditioned buses travel from Makati to Lucena City daily.

The City of Tayabas, Quezon (Filipino: Lungsod ng Tayabas) is a component city in the province of Quezon, Philippines. It was once the capital of the province. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 70,985 people in 15,155 households. Tayabas is known for lambanog (coconut wine) and sweet food/delicacies, as well as resorts.

Mayohan sa Tayabas

pic_0501_01.gif (28089 bytes)
Tayabas-with the best panoramic view of Mt. Banahaw
- cabecera for 131 years of the province of Tayabas,
later named Quezon.

Resurrecting the cabecera spirit
By Maria Lourdes B. Abulencia


Tayabas is a special community, a living entity in search of its own destiny, an understanding of its inner being, meaning and history.

The municipality of Tayabas was established in 1578 by the Franciscan missionaries named Fray Juan de Placencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa.

From 1779 to 1910, Tayabas was the cabecera of the province that was also called Tayabas. Later the province was named Quezon. As the cabecera, Tayabas could be regarded as the mother of the provincial community. Tayabas was the navel, the womb, the center, the spirit life of the entire province. Tayabas nurtured the social processes of learning and change toward the whole province’s maturity.

Lucena, formerly a village of Tayabas, is now the capital of Quezon province. Lucena today is a fast growing city. But while the umbilical cord binding the child to the mother has been severed, the original navel still breathes. Tayabas remains the beginning and the mother. And her inner ties with all her children continue to flourish.

By knowing the mother and by understanding that she is the muse of the past and the future, one begins to see the entire Quezon province as one great whole awaiting its destiny.

Mayohan is a time for giving tribute to the mother, a season for remembering the mother’s sacrifice. There is blood in birthing as affirmed by history. Tayabas was the wonb desecrated by the Spaniards when they executed here 203 women and men who were members of the Cofradia de San Jose on November 4, 1841. Before the execution, the Cofradia members were asked, Why do you rebel? They answered, To pray. In his book Pasyon and Revolution, historian Reynaldo Clemeña Ileto said that the martyrs died serenely, with unusual greatness of spirit.

Among those 203 killed was Apolinario de la Cruz, the Lucban-born son of Tayabas province who founded the Cofradia de San Jose. The legendary de la Cruz, better known as Hermano Puli, was only 26 years old.

The cabecera spirit

Tayabas was the provincial capital for 131 years. The Spaniards must have chosen it as the cabecera because of its natural splendor. Of all the towns around Mount Banahaw, Tayabas has the best panoramic view of this vulcan de agua now regarded as the mystical mountain of the Philippines, which is host to at least half a million pilgrims during Holy Week.

"Jose Rizal himself must have visited the cabecera," said the late Dr. Juan Rosales, a philantropist, history enthusiast, and a Tabayense. Elias, the revolutionary character of Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, was from Tayabas.

Art, comedia, threater dance, music and flourished here. Don Juan Alvarez y Guerra wrote De Manila a Tayabas in 1878 where he said, "Tayabas, como toda la provincia a que da nombre, es el centro de la pureza de la raza india y la buena diccion del tagalo…" (Tayabas is the wellspring of purity of the Tagalog race; the center of pristine, elegant native language.)

But despite its rich history and cultural heritage, most Tayabas folk have forgotten their glorious past. Necias Chaves Pataunia, a writer and sociologist who has been the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator for seven seven years, laments, "The Tayabasin have had many years of sleeping. For quite a time, hardly anyone knew our history. We have had our own dark ages."

Pataunia attributes this forgetfulness to the Second World War when the Americans heavily bombarded Tayabas. "According to our elders, the ancestral homes here in Tayabas were as beautiful as the ones in Vigan. The war ruined not just the Tayabasin economy but also its heart and soul." Keenly aware that knowing history means learning to own power and responsibility over one’s destiny, Patunia believes in the revival of the cabecera spirit as the roots of Tayabasin leadership.

Celebrating the center

Mayohan sa Tayabas is a program of the municipal government that aims to facilitate the process of conscious recollection among community members. Through a 10-day celebration, from May 6-15, the Tayabanse is guided to honor the glory and bless the wounds and sacrifices of the past.

Mayohan is a season for the Tayabanses to converge at the mother navel of Quezon province. Rural folk gather at the town proper; those who study and work in Manila and other places return home. They come to the center regardless of social status, religion or education, to attend family reunions, renew ties with friends and observe the thanksgiving for the bountiful blessings of mother earth.

It is an opportunity to relish the gaiety of summer when the earth is breathing out splendor in Tayabas; when the plants and trees fully spread out into the sunlight, pregnant with flowers and fruits; when Banahaw mountain springs and rivers are teeming with dalag and shrimps.

Children paint the Tayabas skyline with the rainbows of their kites while their laughter accompanies the summer wind.

Mayohan opens on May 6 with a parade of baliskog and tao-tao. Baliskog is the Tayabas arch of welcome while tao-tao is the scarecrow that is commonly found in rice fields. This time, however, tao-tao is dressed up as a figure of history: a Spanish a friar, a Katipunero, a Japanese soldier, a New People’s Army fighter, a Tayabasin kumadrona or healer, and many others.

All 66 barangays together with government agencies and civil society showcase their baliskog and tao-tao brightly decorated with indigenous materials such as buli, rattan, dried flowers, kiping, and tistis.

Kalinangan – creative economics

Farmers, entrepreneurs, crafts people and artists come together in Kalingan sa Mayohan to experience the true meaning of center. A defined festival zone becomes the physical center of Mayohan. Here the mother navel summons producers to exchange inspiration and discoveries in the development and marketing of their work pieces and services.

Shoppers and sellers alike delight in the abundant farm produce hanging in kalinangan booths such as bundles of palay, giant upo and kalabasa. This bountiful display is mixed with old images of San Isidro and other Tayabas artifacts. Whether these items are for sale or strictly for exhibit, they make for lively conversation pieces.

Potential investors are toured around Kalinangan sa Mayohan, with the hope that they appreciate a vibrant cultural life as indispensable to genuine development. They are invited to be partners in facilitating the metamorphosis of one-sided industry and commerce into the ideal Tayabasin economic life.

At night the Mayohan festival zone is transformed into a gregarious world that froths with lambanog. Barangay residents and members of participating organizations converge in their own kalinangan booths for the customary ritual of tagayan taking turns drinking locally brewed coconut vodka from only one glass.

Ponsyunan rituals

True to being a cabecera, Tayabas is replete with traditions that are not mere echoes of the past. Through Ponsyunan, Mayohan inspires Tayabenses to reconnect with such practices as awitan, hagbungan, pamamanhikan, kasalan and awit sa krus.

Ponsyunan comes from the words funcion and posicion. This tradition refers to the invitation of the land steward who calls for bayanihan in rice planting and harvesting.

The cycles of life are remembered in ponsyunan. Rituals are enacted along with authentic Tayabasin songs, dances and prayers. Old costumes, furniture, ornaments, cooking utensils and other ancestral treasures are unearthed and exhibited. Superb delicacies form age-old recipes become the centerpiece of Mayohan fiesta tables.

Hagisan ng suman

The farmer is a being of faith who knows that physical prowess is not enough to harvest the fruits of his labor. Hence, he seeks guidance from the spirit of bounty symbolized by San Isidro de Labrador.

On May 15, Mayohan gives tribute to San Isidro with a procession reminiscent of the yearly Quiapo devotion to Jesus Nazareno. From many towns of Quezon, multitudes of peasants and workers--predominantly male--flock to Tayabas. They clamor for suman and other pabitin as their sweat, strength and rivalry pervade the air. Impelled by their yearly panata or sacrificial devotion to San Isidro, they participate in hagisan ng suman, believing that the bounty gathered in their sacks heralds economic upliftment. It portends the amount of their next harvest or income for the year.

Suman is the ritual gift of hagisan. It is cooked with great enthusiasm by Tayabenses because hagisan is an opportunity to share their prosperity. Bundles of suman are gaily tied in the pabitin made out of a special kind of bamboo called bagakay. As soon as the image of San Isidro passes by, the pabitin must be emptied of its abundance which, aside from suman, includes bananas, mangoes, buko, pineapple and other summer fruits.

Incarnating a vision

Mayohan sa Tayabas began in 1988 with writer and film director Orlando "Dandy" R. Nadres and then-Mayor Faustino "Dondi" A. Silang constructed the Mayohan as a vision for the social and cultural renewal of Tayabas. The sublime Spirit of the Mother was given flesh. The Tayabas municipal government institutionalized Mayohan to ensure that the initiative would meet its destiny.

When Atty. Walfredo "Boy" Sumilang, the present town mayor, assumed his post in 1998, he integrated new features in Mayohan. First, he infused the spirit of novenario by extending the number of days from five to ten, turning Mayohan into a celebration with a nine-day novena leading to the Feast of San Isidro on the tenth day.

Second, the former tiangge was elevated to its next essential stage, allowing the progressive development of Mayohan to take its course. He enlisted the full involvement of all 66 barangays to install their own booths, showcase their agricultural produce and crafts, and highlight creative economies from the countryside. The tiangge was thus renamed kalinangan sa Mayohan.

Third, ponsyunan was enlarged and made a regular feature of the summer festival. It was first launched in 1997 during the inaugural program of the restored Casa de Comunidad, originally built in 1831 as guesthouse for visiting Spanish dignitaries.

Now on its 12th year, Mayohan has indeed created the center of Tayabas whose soul is now fully emerging.

Becoming a model town

It is hoped that the dynamism of Mayohan stimulates the organism not just of Tayabas town but of the entire Quezon province. Tayabas will not again be the capital of Quezon province since Lucena City is already there, but it can be restored both as the center of Quezon history and culture and as a model of town planning and development. Its leaders are not only aware of its resources; they are determined to manage them well.

The local government of Tayabas has a comprehensive Development and Land Use Plan that specified general land use, socio-economic opportunities and the needed infrastructure. Tayabas is the first town in Quezon province, and one of the few in the country, with such a plan, as mandated by the Local Government Code.

Mayor Sumilang ensures the well-being of the whole community by looking after the simultaneous development of the cultural, political and economic aspects of Tayabasin life--aiming to make them mutually interdependent.

It has a holistic government program that gives priority to the farming sector, thus serving the majority of the Tayabas population. "Ours is a town that is basically agricultural, whose land is fertile and wide, whose raw materials are plenty, and whose water is fresh, thanks to the blessing of our sacred mountain," Mayor Sumilang said.

Convinced that an ecologically sound agriculture will ensure for Tayabas a sustainable economy, Mayor Sumilang has directed the conduct of scientific research on indigenous knowledge systems and pilot projects to demonstrate their viability, and retrieve and popularize them. These initiatives are made more promising by the fact that the soil in Tayabas is very fertile due to ideal rainfall distribution at the foot of Mount Banahaw.

Boy Sumilang was an active human rights lawyer of the Protestant Lawyers’ League before he joined the government in 1995. He served as vice-mayor for one term before running for mayor.

When asked about his dream as father of the town, he answered, "It is not too ambitious. I want enough livelihood for the Tayabasin--not even wealth yet. Along with this is good health, joyful contentment and a peaceful relationship with the environment."

"This is workable!" says the mayor, whose confidence is is enhanced by that fact that there are no feudal lords in Tayabas. The ordinary Tayabas farmer owns an average of two to three hectares that he himself cutivates.

Now 422 years old with a population of 72,000, Tayabas has a total land area of 31,889 hectares spread over 66 barangays. Sixty percent (60%) of its land is devoted to rice farming, making it a major rice supplier in Quezon province. It is 150 kilometers southeast of Manila.

Meeting the challenges

Although Tayabas has a rich cultural heritage and committed leaders who possess a vision, it has a cause for grave concern. Similar to the fate of many towns of the country, it is not excluded from the encroachment of materialist globalization.

In the realm of culture, this is manifested in television screens filled for 24 hours by HBO movies and other canned foreign shows that are brazenly opposed to the warm and gentle Tayabasin sensibility.

A subliminal assault to Tayabasin consciousness is the proliferation of dance revolution and computer games that initiate children and youth into a culture of automation and violence. What is more alarming is that they are seen by the younger generation as "educational" and "highly entertaining".

The cultural seduction of Tayabas is but one impact of modernization that has spilled into the town from nearby Lucena. Responding to this challenge Pataunia muses, "The eventual urbanization of Tayabas cannot be avoided. But there must be a balance. We have individual and communal values that we must not lose amidst technological progress. They are our hope, hence, we enliven them in Mayohan sa Tayabas."

He wants to take this opportunity to work for a healthy and mature relationship between Tayabas and Lucena City--the mother and the son.

Pataunia elaborates, "The unavoidable spill of Lucena’s fast urbanization into Tayabas is increasing. But if we could mutually handle this with a sense of who we really are and where we must really go, then we could, as a family, move forward with nurturing support for each other, while respecting our uniqueness and contrasting preferences."

The MPDC office which Pataunia heads, is vested with the responsibility of pursuing the goals of Mayohan: the passing of ancestral memory and revelations to the present generation, and building a community that will embody the Spirit of the Mother.

Two doors are therefore open to the Tayabasin. One looks to the past, another to the future. He stands between them, illuminated by a guiding light that is no less than the cabecera spirit. By choosing to resurrect it, Tayabas has found its high purpose. Blessed by the power of its sacred culture, it has paved the way to a new future.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Ph_locator_quezon_tayabas.png
Tayabas is a municipality (Filipino: Bayan ng Tayabas) in the province of Quezon. The town was once the capital of the province. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 70,985 people in 15,155 households. Tayabas is known for lambanog (coconut wine) and sweet food/delicacies, as well as resorts.
Posted by at 3 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)