Metro Manila


Metropolitan Manila, commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region, is the capital region and largest metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay, the region lies between the Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions. Encompassing an area of and with a population of as of 2020, it consists of sixteen highly urbanized cities: Manila—the capital city—Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela, along with one independent municipality, Pateros. As the second most populous and the most densely populated region in the Philippines, it ranks as the 7th most populous metropolitan area in Asia and the 8th most populous urban area in the world.
The region is the center of culture, economy, education, and the government. Designated as a global power city, the region exerts a significant impact on commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment both locally and internationally. It is home to all embassies in the Philippines, making it an important center for international diplomacy in the country. Its economic power establishes the region as the country's premier center for finance and commerce. The region accounts for 36% of the gross domestic product of the Philippines. Greater Manila is the fourth largest ASEAN country subdivision by GDP, after Singapore, and the Jakarta, and Bangkok metropolitan regions.
In 1975, in response to the need to sustain and provide integrated services to the growing population, the built-up area centered on Manila was formally recognized as a metropolitan area through Presidential Decree No. 824. A year later, Presidential Decree No. 879 established Metro Manila as an administrative region, retaining its earlier status as a metropolis, and designated it as Region IV, with the remainder of the Southern Tagalog region being designated as Region IV-A. Finally, in 1978, Metro Manila became the National Capital Region of the Philippines, discontinuing its numerical designation and reverting Southern Tagalog to its original designation.

History

Kingdom of Maynila

, to the extent that it has this placename, was likely founded in the Middle Ages, in the early 16th century due to the Sanskrit origin of the component "nila" in its name which refers to "indigo", and the prevalence of the placename during the rule of Rajah Matanda, the old king of Maynila, who was born somewhere between the late 15th century to the early 16th century. The earliest evidence of Hinduism and Sanskrit influence in maritime Southeast Asia is in Sanskrit inscriptions from the late 300s in eastern Kalimantan. This analysis of the placename is supported by many other nearby placenames in the Tagalog region with the prefix "may-".
Manila has historically been a global city due to its role in international trade. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Manila was a walled and fortified city and was the capital of the Kingdom of Luzon. Its institution, government, and economy were associated with the Tagalogs and the Kapampangans, and the Malay language was extensively used for foreign affairs as customary in much of Southeast Asia at the time. It was also well known in other Southeast Asian kingdoms such as Cebu, Brunei, Melaka, other Malay kingdoms, and Ternate, and its existence as a center of trade was widely known in East Asia as far as China and Japan.
In the current territory of Metropolitan Manila, there were several lordships that were either sovereign or tributary such as Tondo, Navotas, Tambobong, Taguig, Parañaque and Cainta.
Shortly after Rajah Matanda's birth, sometime around the early 16th century while he was rajahmuda or heir apparent, his father, the King of Luzon, died, leaving his mother as the queen regent of Luzon. By 1511, Luzonians had been carrying out large-scale trade at least within maritime Southeast Asia with Luzonians being hired as officials in Melaka and merchants gaining royal favors in Brunei. It was in Melaka that Luzonians met the Portuguese before their eventual conquest of Melaka in 1511. Rajah Matanda, in 1521, was known in maritime Southeast Asia as the son of the King of Luzon. He married a princess of Brunei and served as an admiral for his grandfather, the Sultan of Brunei, in an attack near Java in exchange for soldiers and a fleet of ships. On the way home, he met and had an encounter with a Castilian fleet.
Some Luzonians in the 1500s had also been taking part in mercenary work in other kingdoms. The Luzonians' commercial influence also reached as far as Butuan. By the 1570s, the ruling class of Manila together with the international Luzonian merchants were Muslim and Islam was spreading through the freemen and the slaves.
On May 24, 1570, the battle of Manila was fought between the Kingdom of Luzon, under the command of the heir apparent Prince Sulayman, and the Kingdom of Spain, under the command of field marshal Martin de Goiti who was aided by some foreign forces. This resulted in the arson and destruction of Manila.

Spanish rule

After destroying Manila, the Spanish set up a settlement to secure territory on the same site on the Luzon island for the Spanish ruler. Initially enclosed in wood, much later in stone, a new walled city of Manila became the capital of the Spanish East Indies. After setting up a settlement and consolidating some territorial holdings outwards, the Spanish instituted a province known as Manila.
Later on, the Manila galleon continually sailed the Pacific from end-to-end, bringing to Mexico Asian merchandise and cultural exchange.
Outside the Walled city of Manila has become the city's suburbs known as Extramuros made up of several pueblos, altogether making up the province known as Tondo which was established in January 1571 and would later on, be renamed as the province of Manila in 1859 with the city of Manila as its capital.

First Philippine Republic

In the First Philippine Republic, the province included the walled city of Manila and 23 other municipalities. Mariquina also served as the provincial capital of Manila from 1898 to 1899. However, despite almost the entirety of the territory being occupied by Philippine forces, the walled city of Manila was occupied by Spanish forces.

American rule

Creation of the province of Rizal

During American rule, the province was dissolved and most of it was incorporated into the newly created province of Rizal on June 11, 1901, by Act No. 137. In the current territory of Metropolitan Manila, the towns of Caloocan, Las Piñas, Mariquina, Pasig, Parañaque, Malabon, Navotas, San Juan del Monte, San Pedro de Macati, San Felipe Neri, Muntinlupa and the Taguig-Pateros area were designated to Rizal, with Pasig being the provincial capital. On the other hand, Polo remained in Bulacan.
Manila in 1901 was composed of Binondo, Ermita, Intramuros, Malate, Manila, Pandacan, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Fernando de Dilao, San Miguel, San Nicolas, Santa Ana de Sapa, Santa Cruz, and Tondo.
In the American rule, the American architect Daniel Burnham was commissioned to propose a Plan of Manila for the Philippine government.

Philippine Commonwealth

In 1939, during the Philippine Commonwealth, President Manuel L. Quezon established Quezon City with the objective of replacing Manila as the capital city of the Philippines. A design for Quezon City was completed. The establishment of Quezon City meant the abandonment of Burnham's design for Manila, with funds being diverted for the establishment of the new capital

Japanese invasion and Second Philippine Republic

Creation of the city of Greater Manila

In 1942, during the World War II, President Manuel L. Quezon created the City of Greater Manila as an emergency measure, merging the cities of Manila and Quezon City, along with the municipalities of Caloocan, Makati, Mandaluyong, Parañaque, Pasay, and San Juan. Furthermore, Manila was divided into the districts of Bagumbuhay, Bagumpanahon, Bagumbayan, and Bagungdiwa, while Quezon City was divided into the districts of Diliman and Balintawak. Jorge B. Vargas was appointed as its first mayor. Mayors in the municipalities and heads in the city districts included in the City of Greater Manila served as district chiefs. This was to ensure that Vargas, who was Quezon's principal lieutenant for administrative matters, would have a position of authority recognized under international military law. The City of Greater Manila served as a model for the present-day Metro Manila and the administrative functions of the Governor of Metro Manila that was established during the Marcos administration.
After World War II, in 1945, President Sergio Osmeña signed Executive Order No. 58, which dissolved the city of Greater Manila instituted by former President Quezon.

Third Philippine Republic

Creation of the National Capital Region

resulted in the loss of more than 100,000 lives in the battle of Manila in 1945. Most of the developments in Burnham's design were also destroyed. Later on, Quezon City was eventually declared as the national capital in 1948 and later expanded to the areas formerly under the jurisdiction of Caloocan, Marikina, and San Mateo, Rizal.

Reinstitution as Metropolitan Manila under martial law

On February 27, 1975, a referendum was held wherein residents of Greater Manila approved granting President Ferdinand Marcos the authority to restructure the local governments into an integrated system like a manager-commission for under such terms and conditions as he may decide. On November 7, 1975, Metro Manila was formally established through Presidential Decree No. 824. The Metropolitan Manila Commission was also created to manage the region. On June 2, 1978, through Presidential Decree No. 1396, the metropolitan area was declared the National Capital Region of the Philippines. When Metro Manila was established, there were four cities, Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan, Pasay and the thirteen municipalities of Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela. At present, all but one of these municipalities have become independent chartered cities; only Pateros still remains as a municipality.
President Marcos appointed his wife, First Lady Imelda Marcos, as the first governor of Metro Manila in 1975, with her holding the position until 1986. As governor, she launched the City of Man campaign, with the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, Metropolitan Folk Arts Theater, Philippine International Convention Center, Coconut Palace and healthcare facilities such as the Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Heart Center, and the Kidney Center of the Philippines all being constructed precisely for this purpose.
The capital of the Philippines was re-designated to Manila in 1976 through Presidential Decree No. 940. The decree states that Manila has always been, to the Filipino people and in the eyes of the world, the premier city of the Philippines, being the center of trade, commerce, education, and culture. While the then-newly formed region was designated as the seat of government.