Alamat ng Taal Lake

Taal Lake in Batangas fills the bowl of an old volcano. It is the third-largest lake in the country, and the older name was Bombon Lake. Volcano Island rises near its center and holds a crater lake of its own. No checkable alamat for the lake is known. People also speak of drowned places.

The lake was once an inlet of Balayan Bay. A series of eruptions in the early 1700s shook the shore towns. The largest, in 1754, blocked the Pansipit River with ash and rock. With its outlet narrowed, the lake rose, and its salty water slowly turned fresh. Several lakeside towns went under. Lipa, Taal, Sala, Bauan and Tanauan moved their town centers several kilometers inland afterward.

This real history likely feeds the local belief that old settlements lie beneath the water. People say remains can still be seen there. That claim is unconfirmed. The lake and volcano are now a protected landscape, first named a national park in 1967.