Mandaluyong City

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City of Mandaluyong Lungsod ng Mandaluyong
Shaw Boulevard
Seal
Map of Metro Manila showing the location of Mandaluyong.
Country	Philippines
Region	National Capital Region
District	Lone District of Mandaluyong City
Barangays	27
Cityhood	February 9, 1994
Government
- Mayor	Benhur Abalos (Lakas-Kampi-CMD)
- Vice Mayor	Renato B. Sta. Maria (Lakas-Kampi-CMD)
- Sangguniang Panlungsod	Councilors 1st District Jonathan Abalos Mario de Guzman Teresita C. Pillas Alex Santos Severo Servillon Anthnony Suva 2nd District Edward Gabriel Bartolome Noel Bernardo Roberto Francisco Michael Ocampo Cherry Lyn Pablo-Santos Darius Razon ABC President Jesus C. Cruz SK Federation President Marc Renniel V. Evangelista
Area
- Total	21.26 km2 (8.2 sq mi)
Population (2007)
- Total	305,576
- Density	14,373/km2 (37,225.9/sq mi)
Website	www.mandaluyong.gov.ph

City of Mandaluyong (Filipino: Lungsod ng Mandaluyong) is one of the cities and municipalities that comprise Metro Manila in the Philippines. It is bordered on the west by the country's capital, Manila, to the north by San Juan City, to the east by Quezon City and Pasig City, and by Makati City to the south. At present, its nicknames are "Tiger City of the Philippines", "Metro Manila's Heart", and the "Shopping Mall Capital of the Philippines".

Mandaluyong City is located right at the center of Metro Manila. Among the many attractions in the city is the western half of the Ortigas Center, one of the major centers of business and commerce in the metropolis (the eastern half is in Pasig City). Found within the Mandaluyong portion of the Ortigas Center is the main headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, Banco De Oro, and the headquarters of San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage company. One of the most prominent pharmaceutical laboratories and factories, the UniLab, is located here.

Etymology

Mandaluyong City Skyline as seen from Greenhills in San Juan

There are different stories on the origin of the name “Mandaluyong”. One tells of the early days when the place abound with a kind of tree called luyong from which beautiful canes and home furniture were made. Another claimed that the Spaniards named the place Mandaluyong based on the report of what a navigator named Acapulco saw that the rolling hills were frequently lashed at by daluyong (“big waves from the sea”). This seems to give credence to traditional stories before the coming of the Spaniards that giant waves from the sea lashed at the adjoining hills of the vast lowland, referred to as “Salpukan ng Alon”. Father Felix dela Huerta, a Franciscan Historian, observed that the rolling topography of this land resembled giant waves of the sea. Hence, natives replying to the question of strangers as to what the place was called, used to answer Madaluyong, later hispanized by Spanish writers into Mandaluyong by affixing the consonant “n” to the first syllable.

Romantic residents, however, peddled the story of a Maharlika named Luyong who fell in love with Manda, the lovely daughter of a barangay chieftain. The chieftain had no personal liking for Luyong and forbade his daughter’s marriage to him. Luyong overcame the objection of Manda’s father by winning a series of tribal contests which was the custom at the time. The couple settled thereafter in a place which was later called “Mandaluyong” literally named after “Manda” and “Luyong”.

History

Mandaluyong formed part of what was once the Kingdom of Sapa of the Great Majapahit Empire around 1300. More than a century later, around 1470, it expanded and was called the Kingdom of Namayan. The vast kingdom comprised what are now Quiapo, San Miguel, Sta. Mesa, Paco, Pandacan, Malate and Sta. Ana in Manila, and Mandaluyong, San Juan, Makati, Pasay, Pateros, Taguig, Parañaque, and portions of Pasig and Quezon City up to Diliman.

Mandaluyong was first known as a barrio of Sta. Ana de Sapa which was part of the District of Paco, Province of Tondo. Named San Felipe Neri by the Spaniards in honor of the Patron Saint of Rome, it was separated from Sta. Ana de Sapa in 1841.

During the American period, San Felipe Neri was consolidated with the municipality of San Juan del Monte. For several months in 1904, San Felipe Neri became the capital of Rizal province.

However in 1907, San Felipe Neri became an independent municipality with its separation from San Juan. It was renamed the Municipality of Mandaluyong by virtue of House Bill No. 3836. It achieved city status in 1994.

Culture and Tourism

Shaw Boulevard is one of the major roads in Mandaluyong.

Mandaluyong is deemed as the "Shopping Mall Capital of the Philippines" because of its notable number of shopping and entertainment hubs. Located in Ortigas Center is Shangri-La Place, a residential and entertainment district owned by Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. It comprises Edsa Shangri-La Manila, St. Francis Towers (one of the tallest residential towers in the Philippines when built) and Shangri-La Plaza (the only retail arm of the Shangri-La Group in the world). To the north is St. Francis Square, SM Megamall (one of the biggest shopping malls and the premier mall of the largest mall chain in Asia) and the upscale retail arm of SM Malls, the Podium.For the blue-collar and low-cost consumers, there's EDSA Central and Star Mall to the Southwest. The Shaw Boulevard MRT Station of the MRT is a shopping hub itself, besides the fact that the station is connected to three other malls (Star Mall, Shangri-La Plaza and the newly renovated EDSA Central). Along EDSA is the Robinson's Place Pioneer, owned by the second largest retail company in the country. Another entertainment hub is Liberty Center along Shaw Boulevard, which consists of Puregold supermarket, Yonex Badminton Court, a row of restaurants and establishments and home to the newly-constructed Liberty Park which holds nightly performances from different bands and musicians. Along Shaw Boulevard is the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, considered as one of the finest golf courses in the world.

Among locals, Mandaluyong City is often used in jokes and puns pertaining to a person's mental health (e.g., a person whose mental well-being is suspect is often labeled as coming from Mandaluyong, the joke going "sa loob o sa labas?, which translated, means "inside or outside?"). This is because the National Center for Mental Health, the country's premier mental health center, is found within the city.

Economy

Commercial Activities

Typical of cities in metropolitan areas, Mandaluyong has its own share of commercial strips and a central business district.

The former, comprising mostly of banks (Map ~ Financial Institutions), offices and service establishments, stretch along public transport routes thereby serving both local consumers and passers-by from the neighboring localities.

Major commercial strips of the city include the stretch of Boni Avenue, Shaw Boulevard, Libertad-Sierra Madre area, Kalentong, San Francisco, part of Martinez, Sgt. Bumatay towards Barangka Drive and Pinatubo towards EDSA.

Shopping Malls

• SM Megamall
• Shangri-La Plaza
• The Podium
• Forum Robinson's (formerly Robinson's Place Pioneer)
• EDSA Central
• Starmall
• Liberty Center
• Madison Square
• Marketplace Mall

Hotels

• Edsa Shangri-La Manila
• Legend Villas
• New Horizon Hotel

Industrial Activities

These activities are mostly concentrated within the EDSA-Shaw-Pioneer area and along Pasig River.

Although prominent in the manufacture of foods, medicines and laboratory equipment, these industries are gradually declining in number, opting to relocate in newly-developed industrial zones outside Metropolitan Manila.

In the Pasig River area, particularly in Barangays Namayan and Mabini J. Rizal, areas formerly industrial are now the sites for residential subdivisions and townhouses.

In the EDSA-Shaw-Pioneer area, the transformation is toward a more economically profitable and globally competitive commercial activity.

Factories & Industries

• Hewlett Packard Philippines
• Comfoods Factory
• United Laboratories (UNILAB)
• Puma Spring and Rubber Industries

Barangays

Mandaluyong City

Mandaluyong is politically subdivided into 27 barangays.

Health

Mandaluyong has several private and public hospitals & health center, namely the privately owned Dr. Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center along EDSA and Unciano General Hospital on Boni Avenue, and the government hospital Mandaluyong City Medical Center also on Boni Avenue. The city is also home to the Philippine’s prime psychiatric health institution, the National Center for Mental Health located along Nueve De Febrero Street. Many residents, specifically the middle-to-upper class medical clientele visits the nearby Medical City in Ortigas Center.

The Dr. Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center is a tertiary care hospital that has a 189-bed capacity within its 10-storey hospital building. It is the first ISO certified hospital in Metro Manila. The hospital specializes in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics – gynecology, pediatrics, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, oncology, and orthodontics. Its specialized centers, such as the oncology center, heart station and cardiac rehab center, respiratory care center, breast clinic, ICU, pediatric ICU, and maternal ICU, are equipped with modern medical facilities together with physicians highly trained in their fields. Complementing these is the 5-storey Physicians’ Center, which houses the doctors’ clinics.

Education

St. Benilde Gymnasium in La Salle Green Hills

Three major colleges and universities are located in Mandaluyong, namely: Don Bosco Technical College, Jose Rizal University and Rizal Technological University (the only state-owned university in the city).

Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC or Don Bosco Mandaluyong) is a privately-owned all-male Catholic school, managed by the Salesians of Don Bosco that offers pre-school, grade school, high school, up to college. The school, established in 1953, also offers vocational couses such as Seminary education and Manpower Skills & Training. Its College department specializes in engineering and technical courses, while the High School and Intermediate Elementary Department offers a dual-curriculum (Academic and Technical) and a Science specialization to help students nourish their skills in whatever field they would like to pursue in the future. It is situated on the historic grounds of the former the site of the Katipuneros and that evolved into the San Carlos Seminary, right before housing the campus of Don Bosco Mandaluyong.

Another institution for higher education in the city is Jose Rizal University (JRU), which is a private nonsectarian university found along Shaw Boulevard. Its broad spectrum of degree programs includes the fields of engineering, economics, commercial sciences, business administration, education, nursing, and law. Prominent figures that have come from JRU include the former Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay, bankers Alfredo Antiporda and Peter Kaw Sek, Bienvenido Tantoco of the Rustan's Corporation, and former education secretary Dr. Armand V. Fabella.

Rizal Technological University (RTU) is the city’s only state university. It was established on July 11, 1969, and is located on Boni Avenue. The university’s roster of undergraduate and graduate programs encompass the fields of pure and applied sciences, political science, psychology, statistics, public administration, business and entrepreneurial technologies, education, engineering and industrial technologies, nursing, and astronomy.

Other colleges in the city include the Our Lady of Guadalupe Colleges (specializing in Medicine and Nursing), STI and AMA (both specializing in Computer Technology education, both located on Shaw Boulevard), NAMEI Polytechnic Institute (specializing in Marine Sciences), and the International Baptist College.

The city is also home to Lourdes School of Mandaluyong (est. 1960), a Franciscan-Marian all-boys high school, located in the Ortigas Center district; La Salle Green Hills (est. 1959), a famous private all-boys high school, managed by the De La Salle Brothers, located along Ortigas Avenue; and Saint Pedro Poveda College (est. 1960), another famous all-girls institution, offering pre-school, grade school, high school, and college education. Although the official school address is Quezon City, part of the lot Poveda's campus stands on is under Mandaluyong City.

Scholarship

The City offers free College Scholarship (CMCS) to less fortunate but deserving individuals: the City of Mandaluyong Collegiate Scholarship Program. It was the brainchild of former Mayor Benjamin Abalos, Sr. together with his son and current Mayor Benhur Abalos, Jr. Former Council Delfin M. Asistio chairs the City Education Program Executive Committee who handles the scholarship program. Engr. Pinky Umali-Tubig act as the Scholarship Officer who screen and orient applicants.

As of now, the CMCS has its own association, recognized by the City Government of Mandaluyong, as well as Rizal Technological University where all scholar is studying.

CMCS produces high caliber scholars in their respective field of specialization. Rachel Ann Vidal, Cherryl Belecina, Rita Joy Fernandez, Julius Meneses are few scholars who graduated and passed their licensure examination. It also produces its first Magna Cum Laude graduate in the person of Jeremiah Pacer, who also recently passed the University of the Philippines Law School Admission Examination.

Right now, many graduates of CMCS are connected to RTU. Mark Roy Boado, Roxana Adricula, Julius Meneses, Joan Bonsol, Jeremiah Pacer, Rachel Ann Vidal, graduated Cum Laude are now teaching at Rizal Technological University.

Sister Cities

• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Silay City, Philippines

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mandaluyong City

• Official Homepage of the Mandaluyong City Government
• Geophysical and Biological Environment of Mandaluyong City

References

		San Juan City	Quezon City
	Manila		Pasig City
		Mandaluyong City
		Pasig River, Makati City

Coordinates: 14°37′N 121°2′E / 14.617°N 121.033°E / 14.617; 121.033