Mandaluyong City

Infobox Philippine city
infoboxtitle = City of Mandaluyong
sealfile = Ph_seal_ncr_mandaluyong.png locatormapfile = Ph_locator_ncr_mandaluyong.png caption = Map of Metro Manila showing the location of Mandaluyong
region = Metro Manila (National Capital Region)
province = —
districts = Lone District of Mandaluyong City
founded = 1841
website = [http://www.mandaluyong.gov.ph www.mandaluyong.gov.ph]
barangays = 27
class = 1st class; urban
mayor = Benjamin Abalos Jr. (Lakas-CMD)
cityhood = February 9, 1994
areakm2 = 21.26
pop2007 = 305,576
popden2007 = 14,373
coordinates = 14°37'N 121°2'E
The 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.

Origin

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 entered cityhood in 1994.

Culture and Tourism

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 the Shangri-La Place, a residential and entertainment district owned by the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. It comprises the Edsa Shangri-La Manila, the St. Francis Towers (one of the tallest residential towers in the Philippines when built) and the Shangri-La Plaza (the only retail arm of the Shangri-La Group in the world). To the north is the 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. 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

Hewlett Packard operates an office in Mandaluyong. [http://welcome.hp.com/country/ph/en/contact/office_locs.html]

Government

Executive

*Mayor: Benjamin D.C. Abalos, Jr. (Lakas-CMD)
*Vice Mayor: Renato B. Sta. Maria (Lakas-CMD)

Sangguniang Panglungsod

*City Councilors:
** Jonathan Abalos (Lakas-CMD)
** Cherry Lyn Pablo-Santos (Lakas-CMD)
** Teresita “Baby” C. Pillas (Lakas-CMD)
** Michael Ocampo (Lakas-CMD)
** Roberto Francisco (Lakas-CMD)
** Noel Bernardo (Lakas-CMD)
** Edward Gabriel Bartolome(Lakas-CMD)
** Mario de Guzman (Lakas-CMD)
** Alex Santos (Lakas-CMD)
** Severo Servillon (Lakas-CMD)
** Darius Razon (Lakas-CMD)
*Ex-officio Councilors:
** Juan Amon (Association of Barangay Captains President)
** Marc Renniel V. Evangelista (Sangguniang Kabataan President)

District Representative

*Neptali M. Gonzales II (Lakas-CMD)

Barangays

Mandaluyong is politically subdivided into 27 barangays.

Health and Education

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.The city holds some of the best educational institutions in the country, such as the Lourdes School of Mandaluyong (est. 1960), a Franciscan-Marian all-boys school and the La Salle Greenhills (est. 1959), a famous all-boys high school, both located in the Ortigas Center district and private-Catholic schools. Mandaluyong city also exhibits another exclusive all-male institution, the Don Bosco Technical College (est. 1953), another prestigious private-Catholic school and the Motherhouse of all Salesian works in the Philippines. It is situated on important and historic grounds, which was then the site of the Katipuneros and evolved into the San Carlos Seminary, right before housing the Don Bosco Technical College.

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

Don Bosco Technical College is a privately-owned Catholic school, managed by the Salesians of Don Bosco that offers pre-school, elementary, high school up to college. The school 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. Another institution for higher education in the city is the 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 science and 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 Corporation, and former education secretary Dr. Armand V. Fabella.

The 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 includes the Our Lady of Guadalupe Colleges which specializes in Medicine and Nursing, STI and AMA which both specializes in Computer Technology education both located on Shaw Boulevard.

City Of Mandaluyong Collegiate Scholarship Program

While the city provides educational opportunities to its constituents from primary to secondary level through public elementary and high school facilities, its services are extended to deserving students wanting to pursue higher education. Since the program began in 1996 and having tied up with Rizal Technological University, it has produced 57 graduates from the pioneering batch, five of whom graduated Cum Laude.

Sister Cities

*flagicon|United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
*flagicon|PHI Silay City, Philippines

External links

* [http://www.mandaluyong.gov.ph/ Official Homepage of the Mandaluyong City Government]
* Geophysical and Biological Environment of Mandaluyong City [http://www.mandaluyong.gov.ph/intro1.html]

References