Lipa (), officially the City of Lipa (), is a 1st class component city in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 372,931 people. It is the first city charter in the province and one of five cities in Batangas alongside Batangas City, Calaca, Santo Tomas, and Tanauan. It is located south of Manila and is the most populous city of Batangas. The Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) and South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) provide access to Batangas City and Metro Manila. Etymology Batangueños from the early years had their settlement in Bombon Lake and began dispersing to other places when the volcano erupted. While a group of people was moving to another settlement area, the image of St. Sebastian was stolen from them and later on was found on a tree called "lipa." People believed that the patron saint wished to name that place "Lipa" . History The primal composition in the southeastern region of Bombon Lake were elements of the dispersed colonial families founded by Datus Dumangsil and Balkasusa in Taal, Batangas, between the 10th and 13th century AD. These pioneer settlers under the leadership of the fleeing Datu Puti, chief of state of the then mighty Srivijaya Empire, purchased the lowlands from King Marikudo of the Mountain Province at his kingdom. The purchased lands consisted of Panay in the Visayas and the lowlands in Luzon including Batangas. The ten Bornean Datus divided among themselves the purchased lands, the Batangas Bay were apportioned among the Dumangsil and Balkasusa Clans. It is however subject to conjecture whether the pre-historic Negritos 12,000 to 15,000 years age or the much later waves of Austronesian seafarers from 5,000 to 300 B.C. were able to settle along the coasts of Batangas into the inner lake region of Taal which was accessible to navigation through the Pansipit River, thus, the possibility of miscegenetic marriages and cross culture among the aboriginal inhabitants, the old settlers and the latter Dumangsil and Balkasusa Clans. Or whether violent wars had been waged between old inhabitants and new colonizers is uncertain too, incontrovertible proofs being wanting. Out of this Bornean Tribe of the Dumangsil and Balkasusa Clan was born the ancestry of Lipa and as later on their descendants spread out towards Laguna de Bay and Bicol Peninsula. The remains excavated from their ancient settlements in Butong, Taal, Calatagan Bay Area and