Travel PH | The Monte in Muntinlupa

The City of Muntinlupa is the southernmost city belong to the National Capital Region. As of 2015, it is home to more than half a million residents and has been nicknamed the Emerald City of the Philippines.

In yesteryears, the name Muntinlupa was synonymous to the National Bilibid Prisons NBP, where hardened criminals were kept. Making the rounds of jokes about the place. Historically, the NBP also houses the Japanese Garden Cemetery where the remains of the war general Tomoyuki Yamashita 'The Tiger of Malaya" was purportedly buried.

To counteract the proliferating joke about the NBP, the Local Government of Muntinlupa has been aggressively launching strategies to lure in various businesses to its fold. Early successes is evidenced by the creation of the Madrigal Business Park and Filinvest Corporate City. With the boom of its neighboring cities, particularly Taguig City, Muntinlupa has expanded its business sector with the introduction of Northgate employing hundreds of its residents and the rise of Westgate Alabang offering a number of shops. Muntinlupa is poised to retain their robust economy much to the delight of its residents. Along with rapid growth, various real estate developers are flocking to Muntinlupa meeting the demands for housing such as Lumina and others.

The retails sector also grew as the following sprung like mushrooms to accommodate the increasing purchasing power in the area.

Festival Super Mall

Located within the heart of Filinvest Corporate City, it covers roughly 20 hectares and houses 700 shops. They recently opened a new wing introducing a third supermarket within the same structure. The new supermarket player is Landmark and they will also be offering a department store soon.

Starmall Alabang

Formerly known as Metropolis Star Alabang, this mall is located at the prime commercial property at the end of service road. Aside from being a mall with lots of retail shops, they also host as a transportation hub or terminal.

Ayala South Park

The newest addition to the Avida group's 6.6 hectare development in the area, this one houses 4 state of the art cinemas along with a huge 700 square meter activity center where social events can be held for the public.

Evia Lifestyle Center

Located along Daang Hari, an access road from Alabang to Cavite, features a new mall with a slew of great shops. Highlighting their atrium and their Sky Art, this place is truly a must see.

Asian Hospital and Medical Center (photo credit Facebook page)

In areas of Healthcare, Muntinlupa boasts of having the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in their midst, along with the great hospitals in the likes of Ospital ng Muntinlupa and Medical Center Muntinlupa. Just minutes away from its Poblacion.

San Beda College Alabang (photo credit Facebook page)

Schools also flourished as families are now expanding in the Emerald City. We have De La Salle Zobel, San Beda College, St. Bernadette College of Alabang, Pamantasang Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Southernside Muntinlupa School and Lyceum of Alabang among the top schools in the area.

How to reach Muntinlupa Poblacion

The City can be reached through the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) from both north and south. With an option of using the Skyway if coming from the North. It is also accessible via NAIA (NAIAEX) and the Muntinlupa Cavite (MCX) Expressways. Coursing through these roads, it will be a breeze going to the Poblacion.

Public Conveyance is 24 hours passing through Poblacion. From Alabang, you may take a jeepney to Pacita San Pedro and tell the driver to drop you off at the Poblacion. To avoid the traffic, you may get a jeepney that has a "via Susana Exit" sign board. Poblacion is walking distance away from the Susana Exit stop. Buses also uses the Susan Exit, so those coming from Makati will have no problem reaching the place.

In Summary

Overall, Muntilupa is still flourishing, with Ninoy Aquino International Airport just an hour away, its understandable why businesses and people keep coming to this city. An expanding business sector and a rising community herein, it is no wonder that Lumina chose to erect their first condominium project the Lumina Heights Muntinlupa here.

A couple trying out the mock up or showroom of Lumina Heights Muntinlupa.

Composed of two six-storey residential buildings, it offers Muntinlupa residents the comfort and convenience of city dwelling. It features a guarded entrance, jogging paths and lots of parking spaces, this community shall likewise have its own commercial center adding to those already mentioned herein. To know more about their project you may follow them here at their official instagram account.

Muntinlupa in historical times was called "monte" because of its mountainous terrain. With the continuing rise of the city, it truly owns the monicker mountain or "monte" meaning "big".