Metropolitan Manila (Filipino: Kalakhang Maynila) or the National Capital Region (NCR) (Filipino: Pambansang Punong Rehiyon) is the capital of the Philippines and among the world's thirty most populous metropolitan areas. Metro Manila is one of the two defined metropolitan areas in the Philippines, the other being Metro Cebu.
Metro Manila is the metropolitan area that contains the city of Manila, as well as sixteen surrounding cities and municipalities, including Quezon City, the capital from 1948 to 1976. Metro Manila is the political, economic, social, and cultural center of the Philippines, and is one of the more modern metropolises in Southeast Asia. Among locals, particularly those from Manila proper and those in the provinces, Metro Manila is often simply referred to as Manila; however locals from other parts of the metropolis may see this as offensive, owing to city pride and also the fact that some cities are actually geographically closer to the neighboring provinces than to Manila itself. Metro Manila is often abbreviated as M.M.. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is located in Makati City.
Metro Manila is the smallest of the country's administrative regions, but the most populous and the most densely populated, having a population of 9,932,560 (2000 census) in an area of only 636 square kilometers. It is also the only region without any provinces. The region is bordered by the provinces of Bulacan to the north, Rizal to the east, and Cavite and Laguna to the south. Metro Manila is also sandwiched by Manila Bay to the west and Laguna de Bay to the southeast with the Pasig River running between them, bisecting the region.
The term Metro Manila should not be confused with the metro rail system of the region, and the word metro itself always describes the metropolitan area (as in the metro). The railways are called by their abbreviations,
| lity | Mayor |
|---|---|
| Caloocan City | Enrico R. Echiverri |
| Las Piñas City | Vergel Aguilar |
| Makati City | Jejomar C. Binay |
| Malabon City | Canuto Oreta |
| Mandaluyong City | Benjamin Abalos Jr. |
| City of Manila | Alfredo Lim |
| Marikina City | Ma. Lourdes C. Fernando |
| Muntinlupa City | Aldrin San Pedro |
| Navotas City | Tobias Reynald M. Tiangco |
| Pasig City | Robert Eusebio |
| Parañaque City | Florencio Bernabe Jr. |
| Pateros | Jaime Cruz Medina |
| Pasay City | Wenceslao Trinidad |
| Quezon City | Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr. |
| San Juan City | Joseph Victor Ejercito |
| Taguig City | Sigfrido R. Tinga |
| Valenzuela City | Sherwin T. Gatchailan |
[edit] Economy
[edit] Business districts
Makati City is widely acknowledged as the financial capital of the country, where one can find the Makati Central Business District (CBD). Interesting landmarks in Makati's Central Business District include Ayala Center, composed of Glorietta and Greenbelt, Ayala Museum, and Yuchengco Museum. Also in Makati is Rockwell Center. Most multi-national company offices and embassies in the Philippines are situated in Makati. Also posing as a competitor for a vibrant business center are Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Eastwood City in Quezon City, Ortigas Center in Pasig City, Manila Bay City Reclamation Area in the cities of Pasay, Parañaque and Las Piñas, and Alabang Estates and Madrigal Business Park in Muntinlupa.
[edit] Shopping centers
Metro Manila currently has the largest number of malls in the Philippines. The largest being SM North EDSA, in Quezon City. Before the expansion of SM North EDSA, the SM Mall of Asia was the largest; prior to that the largest was SM Megamall in Ortigas Center.
Other shopping centers in Ortigas Center include Robinson's Galleria, Shangri-La Plaza, and The Podium.
Recently opened in Pasig is a new development called Frontera Verde, which currently hosts Tiendesitas, a tiangge-style shopping center. Soon to rise are a new SM development as well as several other malls. In the Central Business District of Makati, the Ayala Center hosts other malls, including Glorietta and the upscale Greenbelt shopping districts. Also in Makati is the Rockwell Center. These places are frequented by members of Metro Manila's upper classes.
Taguig City has a mall named Market Market!, which is strategically located in a transportation hub within Fort Bonifacio Global City.
In the City of Manila, the largest malls include SM City Manila and Robinson's Place-Ermita.
Cubao is Quezon City's Central Commercial Area that hosts 5 malls that includes the ultra-modern Gateway Mall. Other malls include various SM chains in the metropolis. Aside from Cubao, there is also Eastwood City, located along Libis.
Metro Manila has a lot of markets, locally called palengke. One of these are the Central Market, located in Quiapo district of Manila, and Divisoria Market, also in Manila. Cloverleaf Market in Balintawak, Quezon City supplies most of Metro Manila's fruit and vegetable products. Navotas Port Market supplies most of Metro Manila's fish products. Other smaller markets include the markets of Cubao Farmers, Nepa-Q Mart, Muñoz, Balingasa, Galas, Santa Mesa, Novaliches Talipapa, Baclaran, Pasay Libertad, and Pasay Cartimar, the latter also being one of the largest pet markets in the Philippines.
Midway between a mall and a market are the Philippine-only tiangges, or airconditioned markets selling goods such as clothes, shoes, accessories, computer parts, mobile phones, CDs, VCDs, MP3s, iPods, and DVDs. Among these can be found in Greenhills Shopping Center in the municipality of San Juan and St. Francis Square in Mandaluyong City.
[edit] Wealth extremes
Metro Manila is a place of economic extremes. Most of the wealthy and upper-middle class in the country reside within gated communities in places such as Forbes Park, Dasmariñas Village, San Lorenzo Village, Bel-Air Village, and Urdaneta Village in Makati, Loyola Heights, La Vista Subdivision, Corinthian Gardens, Greenmeadows, Capitol Hills District, Ayala Heights, Filinvest 1 and 2, Baranggay South Triangle, Baranggay West Triangle, New Manila, Blue Ridge, St. Ignatius Village, and White Plains of Quezon City, Valle Verde Village of Pasig City, Greenhills in San Juan, and Ayala Alabang inMuntinlupa City. Other wealthy families opt to live urban lifestyles and own large apartments and condominium units such as those in the Rockwell Center in Makati and the Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. The fact that the area is populated by many of the wealthiest people in the country has also driven up the real estate value of the properties in these areas such that they are unmatched anywhere else.
However, practically side-by-side with the residences of Metro Manila's elite are slums and squatter areas, most of which are on the outskirts of the aforementioned gated communities, as well as areas left behind by the rapid development of the rest of Metro Manila, such as Tondo and Sampaloc in Manila, Guadalupe in Makati, some parts of Marikina, Caloocan, and Valenzuela, and most parts of Navotas. Highway roadsides are often crowded with corrugated-steel-roofed huts and straw markets by which livelihood is obtained, in a stark contrast to the gated subdivisions present in Metro Manila. Less than 10% of the population actually live in the aforementioned neighborhoods, while the rest live in non-gated (normal) neighborhoods in regular houses, apartments, tenements and shacks.
Metro Manila is also characterized by a very little middle class group scattered throughout the metropolis. The middle class in Metro Manila enjoys much more spending power, access to education, and far better living qualities than the numerous poverty-stricken people that migrate to Metro Manila from the provinces. such as the LRT and the MRT, also known as Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit, respectively.
On paper, Manila is the designated capital and seat of the Philippine government, but in practice, the seats of government are all around Metro Manila. The executive and administrative seat of government is located in Manila, so is the judiciary. The upper house of the legislature (Senate of the Philippines) is located in Pasay City, and the lower house (House of Representatives of the Philippines) in Quezon City.
