Tanay Geographic

Long before the coming of the Spaniards, Tanay was already settled by early Indonesian and Malay voyagers. Artifacts dug up attest to the existence of these early settlements. Not long after the conquest and subjugation of Manila and the surrounding lake areas by Salcedo in 1571, Franciscan missionaries arrived to Christianize the inhabitants of what is now the Morong-Pililla area. From Morongan, the priest administered Tanay and other visitas (chapel villages) and ranches. In 1583, both Morong and Pililla were created as separate towns with Tanay forming part of Pililla. Tanay became an independent town in 1606.