Muntinlupa History, Philippines

Mutinlupa is referred to as Emerald City of the Philippines because it boasts of a status of being the “Most Competitive and Improved City”, located south of Metro Manila. The City is comparable to a rare stone from the mining source in its original shape, and then polished and shaped to perfection.

Currently, there are three versions on how the city was named Muntinlupa. The first version is the name’s association with the area’s top soil that is pretty thin that basically means “Munting lupa” in tagalog.

The second version tells of residents answering a question asked by Spaniards during the 16th century about the name of the place, replying with “Monte sa Lupa” apparently talking about the game of cards they were playing.

Lastly, the city’s name in association with its topographical nature wherein the term mountain, or Monte was lengthened to mountain land or Muntinlupa. Some historians and documents imply that either the first or the third versions were the ones that eventually became Muntinlupa either due to mispronunciation or due to misspelling. However, up to this date, no record or accounts can strongly establish which of the versions is more accurate or correct.

The Guadalupe Sanctuary was the one supervising religious education of the people in Muntinlupa. The city was under the Augustinians’ religious supervision as early as the year 1601 until a person named Quijano Bustamante bought the land of Muntinlupa from the residents. Before the year 1869, Muntinlupa had a lot of small barrios surrounding it until a project approved by the Civil Government was able to unite them all to form a town. 

Infrastructure improvement projects became the town’s major goal after the World War of 1945. Constructions of factories and other business establishments, as well as increased number of residential housing began along with the building of the municipal hall under the town’s mayor named Francisco de Mesa. Aside from that, land farms were also developed which consisted of a large part of the town around 4,673 hectares. The local government also took initiative in widening the roads of the city and other development projects. On November 7, 1975 Muntinlupa got proclaimed as one of the seventeen cities and municipalities that comprised Metro Manila area when the Metropolitan Manila Commission was created.

What was considered to be an agricultural town has developed into the new residential oasis of Metro Manila. During the recent years, Muntinlupa has undergone constant development especially in the Alabang district. This is where one will find the biggest residential communities as well as business establishments namely Filinvest Corporate City and Madrigal Business Center District, which contributed to a lot of changes in the city, making it a modern metropolis from once a slow-paced town.