WAY OF LIFE
Maria Kalaw Katigbak, a Filipino historian, was quoted to call the Batangueños the Super-Tagalogs. This is because these group of people belonging to the Tagalog stock is the paramount example of what one can expect from this ethnolinguistic group. And indeed, when you ask someone to overact a Tagalog, they would imitate the Batangueños.
One particular custom in the Batangan culture is the so called Matanda sa Dugo (lit. older by blood) practice wherein one gives respect not because of age but of consanguinity. During the early times, the custom of having very large families are very common. Thus, it may be expected that the someone's uncle could be of the same age, or even younger than himself. In this case, the older one would call the younger one in an honorary title (such as tiyo or simply kuya if they can no longer establish the relationship), not the other way around. This often draws confusion to those from other provinces who are not accustomed to such practices.
Batangueños are very regionalistic. When one learns that a person in the room is also from Batangas, expect them to be together until the end of the event. It is also expected that those in office would favour their fellow Batangueños as long as the rules could allow it. Thus the running joke, the Batangas Mafia came to existence.
They also tend to live in a large extended family. It is but common that a piece of land remains undivided until the family connection becomes to far-off related. Marriages between relatives of the fifth generation is still restrained in the Batangan culture even if Philippine laws allow it.
Most Batangueños are either farmers or fishers who sell their own products in the market. Although most of them has also finished a degree, a lot of the people not to use what they have studied and put up their own small businesses instead. This is perhaps due to the subconscious idea that he who has no land to cultivate or trade to make is a lazy person.
Since Batangas has long been declared a tourism area by late President Ferdinand Marcos, people from other places could find a very hospitable culture in the Batangueños. They will feed you more than the usual with the food they eat. Actually, these folks would appreciate it greatly if they see that you are trying to be one of them.
Batangueños are heavy drinkers. Men, and sometimes women, could spend long hours of drinking sessions as if there would be no more work the next day. This is specially true if you are to visit the far-flung barangays.
Aside from drinking too much liquor, Batangueños like sweet food. Perhaps this is because there has never been a shortage of sugar in the province due to the presence of the Central Azucarera Don Pedro, the current largest producer of sugar in the whole archipelago.
And if they like their liquors strong and their foods sweet, Batangueños also like their coffee strong. During the early 1900s, Batangas was the largest producer of coffee in the whole of Asia. In the barrios, the people would drink brewed coffee, which the locals call kapeng barako, translated as the stud's coffee. At present, steps are being made, especially in the city of Lipa to regain the title of having the largest coffee production in Asia.
LANGUAGE
Main article: Batangas Tagalog
Perhaps, there is no better way to describe a Batangueño than the language he or she speaks. Batangueños, being mainly descendants of the ancient Tagalogs, speak a dialect of the language with a very strong accent. Indeed, one can easily recognize a Batangueño the moment he opens his mouth.
Though generally intelligible to speakers of other dialects, such as the Manila and Tayabas dialects, the vocabulary of the Batangan Dialect is more closely related to the ancient Tagalog. Rarely do Batangueños use Taglish, as the custom in Manila. In fact, when you ask someone from the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino to describe the Tagalog spoken in Batangas, it will easily be labelled 'makaluma' (old style.)
Although much can be said about the way a Batangueño speaks his or her Tagalog, the high literacy of the locals means English is also widely spoken in the province. Spanish is also understood up to some extent. In fact, some towns like Nasugbu, Taal and Lemery still have a significant minority of Spanish speakers. Visayan is also spoken by a significant minority due to the infulx of migration from the Southern Philippines.
English (US) 