Region IV

Also known as: Region 4 · Southern Tagalog Region · Southern Tagalog Mainland and Islands · Region IV Administrative Division

Regions

Definition

Region IV (officially designated as Southern Tagalog) is a former, historic administrative region of the Philippines that encompassed the provinces south and east of Metro Manila, along with the island provinces of the southwestern volcanic and marine seas. Established in 1972, the region was the largest administrative division in the country by both land area and population. To improve administrative efficiency and public services, Region IV was officially split on May 17, 2002, into two separate regions: Region IV-A (CALABARZON) and Region IV-B (MIMAROPA). (Official Gazette)

Identities

Source Type	Identity
Wikipedia	Southern Tagalog
Wikidata	Q1059520
DBpedia	Southern_Tagalog
ProductOntology	N/A
Wiktionary	N/A
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)	Southern Tagalog (Philippines)
MeSH	N/A
NCBI Taxonomy	N/A
AGROVOC	N/A
Google Scholar	Region IV Southern Tagalog division CALABARZON MIMAROPA Philippines
ConceptNet	N/A
OpenCyc	N/A

Also Known As

Region 4
Southern Tagalog Region
Southern Tagalog Mainland and Islands
Region IV Administrative Division

Examples and Analogies

Regional Division (EO 103): The signing of Executive Order No. 103 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, which dissolved the single regional administration of Region IV and created CALABARZON and MIMAROPA to improve governance.
The Southern Tagalog Heritage: The cultural and linguistic unity of Hiligaynon, Tagalog, and Mangyan groups who populated the provinces of Region IV before its division. (Official Gazette)

Usage Scenarios

1. Historical Data Analysis

A demographer reviews census records from 1995, comparing the population growth rates of the former Region IV territory to modern regional layouts.

2. Legal Precedent Research

A real estate lawyer reviews land titles registered in the 1980s that list Lucena City as the regional center of the former Region IV. (Official Gazette)

Strategies

Consult modern regional classification codes (PSGC) when filling out property tax declarations to ensure compliance with modern CALABARZON or MIMAROPA boundaries.
Reference historic land registration records carefully when performing title checks for properties created before the 2002 regional split.
Check if old regional government permits require updates under modern LGU divisions.

Security and Safety Measures

Do not rely on old Southern Tagalog regional maps for planning environmental or building projects; always reference modern DENR regional offices in CALABARZON or MIMAROPA.
Verify that any regional clearances (such as ECCs) issued under the old Region IV administration remain active and registered in modern databases.
Cross-check historic land boundaries with approved cadastral surveys to ensure no overlaps occurred during the division of municipal records.

Historical Context

Region IV was established on September 24, 1972, under President Ferdinand Marcos’ Integrated Reorganization Plan No. 1. It grouped the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Quezon, Rizal, Romblon, and Aurora. In 2002, due to its massive geographic spread (from Rizal down to the southern tip of Palawan), the government divided it under Executive Order No. 103, creating Region IV-A (mainland) and Region IV-B (island provinces). (Official Gazette)

Challenges and Controversies

Administrative Inefficiency

Prior to the split, regional directors struggled to manage public services across both mainland industrial parks and distant, isolated island communities in Palawan and Romblon.

Record Migration Bottlenecks

The division of Region IV caused delays in migrating land registry, tax, and health department databases from the old regional center in Lucena to the newly established centers in Calamba and Calapan.

References

Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines