Manila#Festivities and holidays

{{see also|Nicknames of Manila}}

Maynilà, the Filipino name for the city, comes from the phrase may-nilà, meaning "where indigo is found".{{Cite journal |last=Baumgartner |first=Joseph |date=March 1975 |title=Manila – Maynilad or Maynila? |journal=Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=52–54 |jstor=29791188}} Nilà is derived from the Sanskrit word nīla ({{lang|sa|नील}}), which refers to indigo dye and, by extension, to several plant species from which this natural dye can be extracted.{{Cite journal |last=Chamberlain |first=Alexander F. |date=1901 |title=Philippine Studies: V. The Origin of the Name Manila |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1Y4AQAAMAAJ |journal=The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal |volume=23 |issue=5 |page=33}} The name Maynilà was probably bestowed because of the indigo-yielding plants that grew in the area surrounding the settlement rather than because it was known as a settlement that traded in indigo dye. Indigo dye extraction only became an important economic activity in the area in the 18th century, several hundred years after Maynila settlement was founded and named. Maynilà eventually underwent a process of Hispanicization and adopted the Spanish name Manila.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Hugh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzLqBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT281 |title=World Without End: Spain, Philip II, and the First Global Empire |date=August 11, 2015 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8129-9812-2 |language=en |access-date=March 28, 2022}}

File:Scyphiphora_hydrophylacea_Blanco2.277.png), from Augustinian missionary Fray Francisco Manuel Blanco's botanical reference, Flora de Filipinas]]

According to an antiquated, inaccurate, and now debunked etymological theory, the city's name originated from the word may-nilad (meaning "where nilad is found"). There are two versions of this false etymology. One popular incorrect notion is that the old word nilad refers to the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) that grows on the banks of the Pasig River. This plant species, however, was only recently introduced into the Philippines from South America and therefore could not be the source of the toponym for old Manila.

Another incorrect etymology arose from the observation that, in Tagalog, nilád or nilár refers to a shrub-like tree (Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea; formerly Ixora manila Blanco) that grows in or near mangrove swamps.{{Cite web |title=Ixora manila Blanco |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=235302 |access-date=August 20, 2018 |website=World Marine Species Database}}{{Cite book |last=Merrill |first=Elmer Drew |url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofplan00merr#page/88/search/nilar |title=A Dictionary of the Plant Names of the Philippine Islands |date=1903 |publisher=Bureau of Public Printing |location=Manila |authorlink=Elmer Drew Merrill}} Linguistic analysis, however, shows the word Maynilà is unlikely to have developed from this term. It is unlikely native Tagalog speakers would completely drop the final consonant /d/ in nilad to arrive at the present form Maynilà. As an example, nearby Bacoor retains the final consonant of the old Tagalog word bakoód ("elevated piece of land"), even in old Spanish renderings of the placename (e.g., Vacol, Bacor).{{Cite book |last=Aloma Monte de los Santos |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hibkAAAAMAAJ |title=Parish of Santo Niño de Molino – Bacoor, Cavite – 1984–1994: The Making of a Parish |date=1994 |publisher=Parish of Santo Niño de Molino |access-date=August 20, 2018}} Historians Ambeth Ocampo{{Cite book |last=Ocampo |first=Ambeth R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nCZyAAAAMAAJ |title=Looking Back, Volume 1 |date=1990 |publisher=Anvil Publishing Inc. |isbn=9789712700583 |access-date=August 21, 2018}} and Joseph Baumgartner have shown, in every early document, that the place name Maynilà was always written without a final /d/. This documentation shows that the may-nilad etymology is spurious.

Originally, the mistaken identification of nilad as the source of the toponym probably originated in an 1887 essay by Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, in which he mistakenly used the word nila to refer both to Indigofera tinctoria (true indigo) and to Ixora manila, which is actually nilád in Tagalog.). Early 20th century writings, such as those of Julio Nakpil,Nakpil, Julio. "A Suggestion to the Tagalistas to Elucidate the Origin of the Name of the Capital City of the Philippines: Manila. Which of these Three Terms or Names Is the More Accurate: Maynilad, Manilad, or Manila?". August 26, 1940. and Blair and Robertson, repeated the claim.Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898, Vol. VIII, pp. 96–141. The Arthur H. Clarke Company.; Census of the Philippines, 1903 Today, this erroneous etymology continues to be perpetuated through casual repetition in literature{{Cite book |last1=Velasquez-Ty |first1=Catalina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IE8OAQAAIAAJ |title=Your Country and Mine |last2=García |first2=Tomas |last3=Maceda |first3=Antonio J. |date=1955}}An example is: {{Cite book |last=Saenger |first=Peter |title=Mangrove Ecology, Silviculture and Conservation |date=June 29, 2013 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=9789401599627 |pages=19}} and in popular use. Examples of popular adoption of this mistaken etymology include the name of a local utility company Maynilad Water Services and the name of an underpass close to Manila City Hall, Lagusnilad (meaning "Nilad Pass").{{Citation |last=Ambeth Ocampo |title=Looking Back: Pre-Spanish Manila |date=June 25, 2008 |url=http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080625-144587/Pre-Spanish-Manila |access-date=August 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628110827/http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080625-144587/Pre-Spanish-Manila |archive-date=June 28, 2008 |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer}}

On the other hand, in a rather first account of importance on the Philippine flora that appeared in 1704 as an Appendix to Ray's Historia Plantarum which is the Herbarium aliarumque Stirpium in Insula Luzone Philippinarum primaria nascentium... by Fr. Georg Josef Kamel{{r|Transactions_rolfe|}}, he mentioned that, Nilad arbor mediocris, rarissimi recta, ligno folido, et compacto ut Molavin, ubi abundant Mangle, locum vocant Manglar, ita ubi nilad, Maynilad, unde corrupte Manila (Nilad is an average tree, very rare straight, leafy wood, and compact like Molavin, where Mangle abounds, the place is called Manglar, so where nilad (abounds), Maynilad, whence the corruption Manila){{r|Historia Plantarum_bhl|}}, making this an earlier account of the change in this name.

{{main|History of Manila}}

{{For timeline}}

File:Laguna Copperplate Inscription.gif is the oldest historical record in the Philippines. It has the first historical reference to Tondo and dates back to Saka 822 (c. 900).]]

{{Battles of Manila}}

The earliest evidence of human life around present-day Manila is the nearby Angono Petroglyphs, which are dated to around 3000 BC. Negritos, the aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines, lived across the island of Luzon, where Manila is located, before Malayo-Polynesians arrived and assimilated them.Mijares, Armand Salvador B. (2006). .[http://ejournal.anu.edu.au/index.php/bippa/article/viewFile/10/9 The Early Austronesian Migration To Luzon: Perspectives From The Peñablanca Cave Sites] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707050814/http://ejournal.anu.edu.au/index.php/bippa/article/viewFile/10/9 |date=July 7, 2014 }}. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 26: 72–78.

Maynila, along with Tondo, were active trade partners with the Song and Yuan dynasties of China and flourished during the mid to later period of the Ming dynasty.{{Cite book |last=Junker |first=Laura Lee |title=Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political Economy of Philippine Chiefdoms |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-9715503471 |location=Quezon City |pages=184–192}} According to a Japanese encyclopedia Wakan Sansai Zue, Luzon or Lusong (Maynila) was referred to as a "kingdom" south of Taiwan.Wakan Sansai Zue, Pages 202-216

During the 12th century, then-Hindu Brunei called "Pon-i", as reported in the Chinese annals Nanhai zhi, invaded Malilu 麻裏蘆 (claimed by various scholars to be the present-day Manila) as it also administered Sarawak and Sabah, as well as the Philippine kingdoms of: Butuan, Sulu, Ma-i (Mindoro or Laguna), Shahuchong 沙胡重 (present-day Zamboanga), Yachen 啞陳 (Oton), and 文杜陵 Wenduling (present-day Mindanao, Bintulu or Mindoro).[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228735802.pdf Reading Song-Ming Records on the Pre-colonial History of the Philippines] By Wang Zhenping Page 256.{{Cite journal |last=Lopez |first=V.B. |date=April 1, 1974 |title=Culture Contact and Ethnogenesis in Mindoro up to the End of the Spanish Rule |journal=The Asian Center |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=3 |via=Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia}} In the 13th century, Manila consisted of a fortified settlement and trading quarter on the shore of the Pasig River.

{{Main|History of the Philippines (1565–1898)|Captaincy General of the Philippines|Spanish East Indies}}

File:Walled_City_of_Manila,_detail_from_Carta_Hydrographica_y_Chorographica_de_las_Yslas_Filipinas_(1734).jpg. The city was planned according to the Laws of the Indies.]]

File:Gerald R Mondala Ayuntamiento de Manila (Casas Consistoriales).jpg served as the City Hall during the Spanish Colonial Period.]]

On June 24, 1571, conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in Manila and declared it a territory of New Spain (Mexico), establishing a city council in what is now Intramuros district. Inspired by the Reconquista, he took advantage of a territorial conflict between Hindu Tondo and Islamic Manila to justify expelling or converting Bruneian Muslim colonists who supported Maynila while his Mexican grandson Juan de Salcedo had a romantic relationship with Kandarapa, a princess of Tondo.Wright, Hamilton M. (1907). [https://archive.org/details/ahandbookphilip01wriggoog/page/n208 "A Handbook of the Philippines"], p. 143. A.C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. López de Legazpi had the local royalty executed or exiled after the failure of the Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, a plot in which an alliance of datus, rajahs, Japanese merchants, and the Sultanate of Brunei would band together to execute the Spaniards, along with their Latin American recruits and Visayan allies. The victorious Spaniards made Manila the capital of the Spanish East Indies and of the Philippines, which their empire would control for the next three centuries. In 1574, Manila was besieged by the Chinese pirate Lim Hong, who was thwarted by local inhabitants. Upon Spanish settlement, Manila was immediately made, by papal decree, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mexico. By royal decree of Philip II of Spain, Manila was put under the spiritual patronage of Saint Pudentiana and Our Lady of Guidance.{{efn|This was spurred by a locally found sacred image, i.e., a Black Madonna of unknown origin; one theory is that it is from Portuguese-Macau, another is that it is a Tantric goddess and this was worshiped by the natives in a Pagan-Hindu manner and had survived Islamic iconoclasm by the Sultanate of Brunei. This image was interpreted to be of Marian nature, and it was found during the Miguel de Legazpi expedition and eventually, a Mexican hermit built a chapel around that image.}}

Manila became famous for its role in the Manila–Acapulco galleon trade, which lasted for more than two centuries and brought goods from Europe, Africa, and Hispanic America across the Pacific Islands to Southeast Asia, and vice versa. Silver that was mined in Mexico and Peru was exchanged for Chinese silk, Indian gems, and spices from Indonesia and Malaysia. Wine and olives grown in Europe and North Africa were shipped via Mexico to Manila.{{Cite book |last=Kane |first=Herb Kawainui |title=Hawai{{okina}}i Chronicles: Island History from the Pages of Honolulu Magazine |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8248-1829-6 |editor-last=Bob Dye |volume=I |location=Honolulu |pages=25–32 |chapter=The Manila Galleons |author-link=Herb Kawainui Kane}} Because of the Ming ban on trade leveled against the Ashikaga shogunate in 1549, this resulted in the ban of all Japanese people from entering China and of Chinese ships from sailing to Japan. Manila became the only place where the Japanese and Chinese could openly trade.[https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/578752#page=22 The "Indo-Pacific" Crossroads]:

The Asian Waters as Conduits of Knowledge, People, Cargoes, and Technologies Page 107 (Citing:"Wang 1953; Tanaka Takeo 1961.") In 1606, upon the Spanish conquest of the Sultanate of Ternate, one of monopolizers of the growing of spice, the Spanish deported the ruler Sultan Said Din BurkatBartolome Juan Leonardy y de Argensola, Conquistas de las islas Molucas (Madrid: Alonso Martin, 1909) pp. 351-8; Cesar Majul, Muslims in the Philippines (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1973) pp. 119-20; Hal, History of Southeast Asia, pp. 249-50. of Ternate, along with his clan and his entourage to Manila, where they were initially enslaved and eventually converted to Christianity.{{Cite book |last=Peter Borschberg |url=https://www.academia.edu/4302783 |title=Journal, Memorials and Letters of Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge. Security, Diplomacy and Commerce in 17th-Century Southeast Asia |publisher=NUS Press |year=2015 |location=Singapore |pages=82, 84, 126, 421 |access-date=August 30, 2015}} About 200 families of mixed Spanish-Mexican-Filipino and Moluccan-Indonesian-Portuguese descent from Ternate and Tidor followed him there at a later date.Zamboangueño Chavacano: Philippine Spanish Creole or Filipinized Spanish Creole? By Tyron Judes D. Casumpang (Page 3)

The city attained great wealth due to its location at the confluence of the Silk Road, the Spice Route, and the Silver Way.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5pFDQEACAAJ|title=The Silver Way: China, Spanish America and the Birth of Globalisation, 1565-1815|first1=Peter|last1=Gordon|first2=Juan José|last2=Morales|date=April 8, 2017|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-7343-9943-4 |via=Google Books}} Significant is the role of Armenians, who acted as merchant intermediaries that made trade between Europe and Asia possible in this area. France was the first nation to try financing its Asian trade with a partnership in Manila through Armenian khojas. The largest trade volume was in iron, and 1,000 iron bars were traded in 1721.{{Cite journal|last=Bhattacharya|first=Bhaswati|date=March 2008|title=Making money at the blessed place of Manila: Armenians in the Madras–Manila trade in the eighteenth century*|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-global-history/article/abs/making-money-at-the-blessed-place-of-manila-armenians-in-the-madrasmanila-trade-in-the-eighteenth-century/5B0481C8F3C2F0D7D470D38408B956BB|journal=Journal of Global History|language=en|volume=3|issue=1|pages=1–20|doi=10.1017/S1740022808002416|issn=1740-0236}} In 1762, the city was captured by Great Britain as part of the Seven Years' War, in which Spain had recently become involved.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Manila (Philippines) |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/362270/Manila |access-date=March 3, 2014}} The British occupied the city for twenty months from 1762 to 1764 in their attempt to capture the Spanish East Indies but they were unable to extend their occupation past Manila proper.{{Cite book |last=Backhouse, Thomas |title=The Secretary at War to Mr. Secretary Conway |publisher=British Library |year=1765 |location=London |pages=v. 40}} Frustrated by their inability to take the rest of the archipelago, the British withdrew in accordance with the Treaty of Paris signed in 1763, which brought an end to the war. An unknown number of Indian soldiers known as sepoys, who came with the British, deserted and settled in nearby Cainta, Rizal.{{cite book|last1=Fish|first1=Shirley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4goyHgAACAAJ|title=When Britain Ruled The Philippines 1762–1764|year=2003|publisher=1stBooks|isbn=978-1-4107-1069-7|page=158}}{{Cite web |title=Wars and Battles: Treaty of Paris (1763) |url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h754.html |publisher=www.u-s-history.com}}

File:Parian Manila Philippines 1792.jpg, or Parián de Arroceros was an area outside of Intramuros built to house Sangley (Chinese) merchants during the Spanish rule.]]

The Chinese minority were punished for supporting the British, and the fortress city Intramuros, which was initially populated by 1,200 pure Spanish families and garrisoned by 400 Spanish troops,{{Cite journal |last=Barrows |first=David |year=2014 |title=A History of the Philippines |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38269/38269-h/38269-h.htm#pb139 |journal=Guttenburg Free Online E-books |volume=1 |page=179 |quote=Within the walls, there were some six hundred houses of a private nature, most of them built of stone and tile, and an equal number outside in the suburbs, or "arrabales", all occupied by Spaniards ("todos son vivienda y poblacion de los Españoles"). This gives some twelve hundred Spanish families or establishments, exclusive of the religious, who in Manila numbered at least one hundred and fifty, the garrison, at certain times, about four hundred trained Spanish soldiers who had seen service in Holland and the Low Countries, and the official classes.}} kept its cannons pointed at Binondo, the world's oldest Chinatown.Raitisoja, Geni [http://en.radio86.com/travel/travel-destinations/chinatown-manila-oldest-world " Chinatown Manila: Oldest in the world"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402180844/http://en.radio86.com/travel/travel-destinations/chinatown-manila-oldest-world |date=April 2, 2011 }}, Tradio86.com, July 8, 2006, accessed March 19, 2011. The population of native Spaniards was concentrated in the southern part of Manila and in 1787, La Pérouse recorded one regiment of 1,300 Mexicans garrisoned at Manila,"In 1637 the military force maintained in the islands consisted of one thousand seven hundred and two Spaniards and one hundred and forty Indians." ~Memorial de D. Juan Grau y Monfalcon, Procurador General de las Islas Filipinas, Docs. Inéditos del Archivo de Indias, vi, p. 425. "In 1787 the garrison at Manila consisted of one regiment of Mexicans comprising one thousand three hundred men, two artillery companies of eighty men each, three cavalry companies of fifty men each." La Pérouse, ii, p. 368. and they were also at Cavite, where ships from Spain's American colonies docked at,(Page 10) {{cite thesis |type=PhD|last=Pérez|first=Marilola |date=2015|title=Cavite Chabacano Philippine Creole Spanish: Description and Typology|quote= "The galleon activities also attracted a great number of Mexican men that arrived from the Mexican Pacific coast as ships' crewmembers (Grant 2009: 230). Mexicans were administrators, priests and soldiers (guachinangos or hombres de pueblo) (Bernal 1964: 188) many though, integrated into the peasant society, even becoming tulisanes "bandits" who in the late 18th century "infested" Cavite and led peasant revolts (Medina 2002: 66). Meanwhile, in the Spanish garrisons, Spanish was used among administrators and priests. Nonetheless, there is not enough historical information on the social role of these men. In fact some of the few references point to a quick integration into the local society: "los hombres del pueblo, los soldados y marinos, anónimos, olvidados, absorbidos en su totalidad por la población Filipina." (Bernal 1964: 188). In addition to the Manila-Acapulco galleon, a complex commercial maritime system circulated European and Asian commodities including slaves. During the 17th century, Portuguese vessels traded with the ports of Manila and Cavite, even after the prohibition of 1644 (Seijas 2008: 21). Crucially, the commercial activities included the smuggling and trade of slaves: "from the Moluccas, and Malacca, and India... with the monsoon winds" carrying "clove spice, cinnamon, and pepper and black slaves, and Kafir [slaves]" (Antonio de Morga cf Seijas 2008: 21)." Though there is no data on the numbers of slaves in Cavite, the numbers in Manila suggest a significant fraction of the population had been brought in as slaves by the Portuguese vessels. By 1621, slaves in Manila numbered 1,970 out of a population of 6,110. This influx of slaves continued until late in the 17th century; according to contemporary cargo records in 1690, 200 slaves departed from Malacca to Manila (Seijas 2008: 21). Different ethnicities were favored for different labor; Africans were brought to work on the agricultural production, and skilled slaves from India served as caulkers and carpenters. " |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6xj6f1jt |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114232555/https://escholarship.org/content/qt6xj6f1jt/qt6xj6f1jt_noSplash_fd187448d1120e8904337fe47b42df2a.pdf |archive-date=January 14, 2021}} and at Ermita, which was thus-named because of a Mexican hermit who lived there. The Hermit-Priest's name was Juan Fernandez de Leon who was a Hermit in Mexico before relocating to Manila.[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.530346/2015.530346.jesuits-in_djvu.txt "Jesuits In The Philippines (1581-1768)" Page 132] "In 1591 there arrived in Manila a secular priest named Juan Fernandez de Leon. He had led a hermit's life in Mexico and planned to continue it in the Philippines. For this purpose he built himself a retreat near a wayside shrine just outside the city walls which was dedicated to Our Lady of Guidance, Nuestra Sehora de Guia. His hermitage later gave its name to the entire district, which is called Ermita to this day." Priests weren't usually alone too since they often brought along Lay Brothers and Sisters. The years: 1603, 1636, 1644, 1654, 1655, 1670, and 1672; saw the deployment of 900, 446, 407, 821, 799, 708, and 667 Latin American soldiers from Mexico at Manila.{{Cite journal |last=Mawson |first=Stephanie J. |date=2016-08-01 |title=Convicts or Conquistadores ? Spanish Soldiers in the Seventeenth-Century Pacific |url=https://academic.oup.com/past/article/232/1/87/1752419 |journal=Past & Present |issue=232 |pages=87–125 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gtw008 |issn=0031-2746}} The Philippines hosts the only Latin American established districts in Asia.{{Cite web |title=West Coast of the Island Of Luzon {{pipe}} Tourist Attractions |url=http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/travel-guides/getting-to-philippines/979-tourist-attraction-city-of-manila |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206200644/http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/travel-guides/getting-to-philippines/979-tourist-attraction-city-of-manila |archive-date=December 6, 2016 |access-date=December 6, 2016}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10609164.2023.2205233|title=Colonial Latin Asia? The case for incorporating the Philippines and the Spanish Pacific into colonial Latin American studies|first=Kristie|last=Patricia Flannery|date=April 3, 2023|journal=Colonial Latin American Review|volume=32|issue=2|pages=235–242|via=Taylor and Francis+NEJM|doi=10.1080/10609164.2023.2205233|doi-access=free}} The Spanish evacuated Ternate and settled Papuan refugees in Ternate, Cavite, which was named after their former homeland.{{Cite book |last=John. M. Lipski, with P. Mühlhaüsler and F. Duthin |title=Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas: Texts, Volume 2 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1996 |isbn=9783110134179 |editor-last=Stephen Adolphe Wurm & Peter Mühlhäusler |page=276 |chapter=Spanish in the Pacific |chapter-url=https://johnlipski.github.io/pacific.pdf}} In 1603, Manila was also home to 25,000 Chinese{{Cite web |url=http://www.xeniaeditrice.it/zu%C3%B1igaIocrpdf.pdf |title=ESTADISMO DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS TOMO PRIMERO By Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga (Original Spanish) |access-date=February 3, 2024 |archive-date=March 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309030040/http://www.xeniaeditrice.it/zu%C3%B1igaIocrpdf.pdf |url-status=live }}{{rp|260}} and housed 14,437 native (Malay-Filipino) families, as well as 3,528 mixed Spanish-Filipino families.{{rp|539}}

The rise of Spanish Manila marked the first time all hemispheres and continents were interconnected in a worldwide trade network, making Manila, alongside Mexico City and Madrid, the world's original set of global cities.The Age of Trade: The Manila Galleons and the Dawn of the Global Economy by Arturo Giraldez A Spanish Jesuit priest commented due to the confluence of many foreign languages in Manila, the confessional in Manila was "the most difficult in the world".{{cite book | author=Robertson, James Alexander | author-link=James Alexander Robertson | author2=Blair, Emma Helen | author2-link=Emma Helen Blair | year=1906 | title=The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898 | volume=XLIV | page=29 | url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924070600261#page/n29/mode/2up | access-date=September 24, 2013 }}Bartolomé de Letona, La perfecta religiosa (Puebla, 1662), as quoted in Irving, Colonial Counterpoint, page 245 Juan de Cobo, another Spanish missionary of the 1600s, was so astonished by the commerce, cultural complexity, and ethnic diversity in Manila he wrote to his brethren in Mexico:

{{blockquote|The diversity here is immense such that I could go on forever trying to differentiate lands and peoples. There are Castilians from all provinces. There are Portuguese and Italians; Dutch, Greeks and Canary Islanders, and Mexican Indians. There are slaves from Africa brought by the Spaniards [Through America], and others brought by the Portuguese [Through India]. There is an African Moor with his turban here. There are Javanese from Java, Japanese and Bengalese from Bengal. Among all these people are the Chinese whose numbers here are untold and who outnumber everyone else. From China there are peoples so different from each other, and from provinces as distant, as Italy is from Spain. Finally, of the mestizos, the mixed-race people here, I cannot even write because in Manila there is no limit to combinations of peoples with peoples. This is in the city where all the buzz is. (Remesal, 1629: 680–1){{Cite web |title=Connecting the Indies: the hispano-asian Pacific world in early Modern Global History |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316871600 |website=ResearchGate}}}}

File:Manila Cathedral (1792) by Brambila.jpg by Fernando Brambila, a member of the Malaspina Expedition during their stop in Manila in 1792.]]

After Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, the Spanish crown began to directly govern Manila.{{cite book|editor-last=Criado|editor-first=Buenaventura Delgado|title=Historia de la educación en España y América|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDegTDTzMlAC&pg=PA508|volume=3: La educación en la España contemporánea (1789–1975)|year=1992|publisher=Fundación Santa María|location=Madrid|language=es|isbn=978-84-7112-378-7|page=508}} Under direct Spanish rule, banking, industry, and education flourished more than they had in the previous two centuries.John Bowring, "Travels in the Philippines", p. 18, London, 1875 The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 facilitated direct trade and communications with Spain. The city's growing wealth and education attracted indigenous peoples, Negritos, Malays, Africans, Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Europeans, Latinos and Papuans from the surrounding provinces,{{Cite web |last=Olsen |first=Rosalinda N. |title=Semantics of Colonization and Revolution |url=http://www.bulatlat.com/news/7-4/7-4-semantics.htm |access-date=January 8, 2011 |publisher=www.bulatlat.com}} and facilitated the rise of an ilustrado class who espoused liberal ideas, which became the ideological foundations of the Philippine Revolution, which sought independence from Spain. A revolt by Andres Novales was inspired by the Latin American wars of independence but the revolt itself was led by demoted Latin-American military officers stationed in the city from the newly independent nations of Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Costa Rica.{{Cite web |url=http://adoborepublic.net/live-local-mexico/filipinos-in-mexican-history/filipinos-in-mexicos-history-4/ |title=Filipinos In Mexico's History 4 (The Mexican Connection – The Cultural Cargo Of The Manila-Acapulco Galleons) By Carlos Quirino |access-date=April 22, 2021 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804134705/http://adoborepublic.net/live-local-mexico/filipinos-in-mexican-history/filipinos-in-mexicos-history-4/ |url-status=dead }} Following the Cavite Mutiny and the Propaganda Movement, the Philippine revolution began; Manila was among the first eight provinces to rebel and their role was commemorated on the Philippine Flag, on which Manila was represented by one of the eight rays of the symbolic sun.{{cite book |last1=Beede |first1=Benjamin R. |title=The War of 1898 and U.S. Interventions, 1898T1934: An Encyclopedia |date=May 1, 1994 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-74690-1 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rg6BAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA418 417-418] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rg6BAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA418 |access-date=March 28, 2022 |language=en}}

{{Main|History of the Philippines (1898–1946)}}

After the 1898 Battle of Manila, Spain ceded the city to the United States. The First Philippine Republic based in nearby Bulacan fought against the Americans for control of the city.The text of the amended version published by General Otis is quoted in its entirety in {{Citation |last1=José Roca de Togores y Saravia |title=Blockade and siege of Manila |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhZ3AAAAMAAJ |pages=148–150 |year=2003 |publisher=National Historical Institute |isbn=978-971-538-167-3 |last2=Remigio Garcia |last3=National Historical Institute (Philippines)}}
See also s:Letter from E.S. Otis to the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, January 4, 1899. The Americans defeated the First Philippine Republic and captured its president Emilio Aguinaldo, who pledged allegiance to the U.S. on April 1, 1901.{{cite book |last1=Magoc |first1=Chris J. |last2=Bernstein |first2=David |title=Imperialism and Expansionism in American History: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes]: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection |date=December 14, 2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-430-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CMEnCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA731 731] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMEnCwAAQBAJ |access-date=September 15, 2022 |language=en}}

Upon drafting a new charter for Manila in June 1901, the U.S. officially recognized that the city of Manila consisted of Intramuros and the surrounding areas. The new charter proclaimed Manila was composed of eleven municipal districts: Binondo, Ermita, Intramuros, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, Sampaloc, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, and Tondo. The Catholic Church recognized five parishes as parts of Manila; Gagalangin, Trozo, Balic-Balic, Santa Mesa, and Singalong; and Balut and San Andres were later added.Joaquin, Nick (1990). Manila My Manila. Vera-Reyes, Inc. p. 137, 178.

File:Jones Bridge Manila 1930's Philippines.jpg in the 1930's]]

Under U.S. control, a new, civilian-oriented Insular Government headed by Governor-General William Howard Taft invited city planner Daniel Burnham to adapt Manila to modern needs.Moore 1921, p. 162. The 1905 Burnham Plan of Manila recommended improving the city's transit systems by creating diagonal arteries radiating from the new central civic district into areas at the outskirts of the city. It included the development of a road system, the use of waterways for transportation, and the beautification of Manila with waterfront improvements and construction of parks, parkways, and buildings.Moore 1921, p. 162B.Moore 1921, p. 180. The planned buildings included a government center occupying all of Wallace Field, which extends from Rizal Park to the present Taft Avenue. The Philippine capitol was to rise at the Taft Avenue end of the field, facing the sea. Along with buildings for government bureaus and departments, it would form a quadrangle with a central lagoon and a monument to José Rizal at the other end of the field.{{cite book |last1=Torres |first1=Cristina Evangelista |title=The Americanization of Manila, 1898-1921 |date=2010 |publisher=UP Press |isbn=978-971-542-613-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=WVKrcWhwPsUC&pg=PA169 169] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVKrcWhwPsUC |language=en}} Of Burnham's proposed government centers in Luneta, only three units—the Legislative Building, and the buildings of the Finance and Agricultural Departments—were completed before World War II began.

File:Plaza Moraga Manila Philippines.jpg|Plaza Moraga in the early 1900s

File:Central facade of the Legislative Building.jpg|The Old Legislative Building featuring a Neoclassical style architecture.

File:Manilastreetcar.jpg|The tranvía running along Escolta Street during the American period

File:Philippine Island - Manila - NARA - 68156635.jpg|Aerial view of Manila, 1936

{{Further|Battle of Manila (1945)|Manila Massacre}}

File:US Navy Photo 114-1 Bombing Manila 14 Nov 1944.png dropping a bomb over the Pasig River in Manila targeting the dockyard, November 14, 1944]]

File:Manila Street Scene 1945 SLNSW FL9537975.jpg

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, American soldiers were ordered to withdraw from Manila and all military installations were removed by December 24, 1941. Two days later, General Douglas MacArthur declared Manila an open city to prevent further death and destruction but Japanese warplanes continued bombing the city.{{cite journal | url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2825808/posts | title=Japanese Bombs Fire Open City Of Manila; Civilian Toll Heavy; In=vaders Gain In Luzon | journal=The New York Times | volume=XCI | issue=30,654 | pages=1 | date=December 28, 1941}} Japanese forces occupied Manila on January 2, 1942.{{cite book |last1=Horner |first1=David |title=World War II: The Pacific |date=January 15, 2010 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |isbn=978-1-4358-9133-3 |page=30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBX2LsCCYYcC&pg=PA30 |access-date=March 27, 2022 |language=en}}

From February 3 to March 3, 1945, Manila was the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific theater of World War II. Under orders of Japanese Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, retreating Japanese forces killed about 100,000 Filipino civilians and perpetrated the mass rape of women in February.{{cite book |last1=Stich |first1=Rodney |title=Japanese and U.S. World War II Plunder and Intrigue |date=2010 |publisher=Silverpeak Enterprises |isbn=978-0-932438-70-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=d-44dpgvU0YC&pg=PA26 26] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-44dpgvU0YC |access-date=September 15, 2022 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=White |first=Matthew |title=Death Tolls for the Man-made Megadeaths of the 20th Century |url=http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/battles.htm#Manila |access-date=August 1, 2007}} At the end of the war, Manila had suffered from heavy bombardment and became the second-most-destroyed city of World War II.{{cite book |last1=Boldorf |first1=Marcel |last2=Okazaki |first2=Tetsuji |title=Economies under Occupation: The hegemony of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in World War II |date=March 24, 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-50650-8 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=18QqBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 194] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18QqBwAAQBAJ |access-date=March 28, 2022 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Synott |first1=John P. |title=Teacher Unions, Social Movements and the Politics of Education in Asia: South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines |date=November 22, 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-73424-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Me1HDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT330 |access-date=March 28, 2022 |language=en}} Manila was recaptured by American and Philippine troops.

{{Main|History of the Philippines (1946–1965)}}

File:Aerial view of Manila, Philippines, in May 1958.jpg

After the war, reconstruction efforts started. Buildings like Manila City Hall, the Legislative Building (now the National Museum of Fine Arts), and Manila Post Office were rebuilt, and roads and other infrastructures were repaired. In 1948, President Elpidio Quirino moved the seat of government of the Philippines to Quezon City, a new capital in the suburbs and fields northeast of Manila, which was created in 1939 during the administration of President Manuel L. Quezon.[http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=319&Itemid=277 "Milestone in History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307060446/http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=319&Itemid=277 |date=March 7, 2016 }}. Quezon City Official Website. Retrieved April 22, 2013. The move ended any implementation of the Burnham Plan's intent for the government center to be at Luneta.

When Arsenio Lacson became the first elected Mayor of Manila in 1952, before which all mayors were appointed, Manila underwent a "Golden Age",{{Harvnb|Hancock|2000|p=16}} regaining its pre-war moniker "Pearl of the Orient". After Lacson's term in the 1950s, Manila was led by Antonio Villegas for most of the 1960s. Ramon Bagatsing was mayor from 1972 until the 1986 People Power Revolution.{{cite book |last1=Kahlon |first1=Swarn Singh |title=Sikhs in Asia Pacific: Travels Among the Sikh Diaspora from Yangon to Kobe |date=September 13, 2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-98741-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5TslDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 184] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5TslDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 |access-date=March 28, 2022 |language=en}}

During the administration of Ferdinand Marcos, Metro Manila was created as an integrated unit with the enactment of Presidential Decree No. 824 on November 7, 1975. The area encompassed four cities and thirteen adjoining towns as a separate regional unit of government.{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Gavin W. |last2=Douglass |first2=Mike |title=Mega-urban Regions in Pacific Asia: Urban Dynamics in a Global Era |date=2008 |publisher=NUS Press |isbn=978-9971-69-379-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oVAPbP_aXQEC&pg=PA154 154] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVAPbP_aXQEC |access-date=March 28, 2022 |language=en}} On June 24, 1976, the 405th anniversary of the city's founding, President Marcos reinstated Manila as the capital of the Philippines for its historical significance as the seat of government since the Spanish Period.{{cite book |title=Yearbook of Philippine Statistics |date=1994 |publisher=Philippines Bureau of the Census and Statistics |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=JlZylP2w6acC&pg=PA18 18] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlZylP2w6acC&pg=PA18 |access-date=March 28, 2022 |language=en}}[http://www.chanrobles.com/presidentialdecrees/presidentialdecreeno940.html "Presidential Decree No. 940 June 24, 1976"]. Chan C. Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved April 22, 2013. At the same time, Marcos designated his wife Imelda Marcos as the first governor of Metro Manila. She started the rejuvenation of the city and re-branded Manila the "City of Man".Lico, Gerard. Edifice Complex: Power, Myth, and Marcos State Architecture. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2003.

{{Main|History of the Philippines (1965–1986)}}

Many of the key events of the historical period from the first major protests against the administration of Ferdinand Marcos in January 1970 until his ouster in February 1986 took place within the city of Manila. The first, the January 26, 1970, State of the Nation Address Protest which kicked off the "First Quarter Storm", took place at the Legislative Building (now the National Museum of Fine Arts) on Padre Burgos Avenue,Lacaba, Jose F. (February 7, 1970) The January 26 Confrontation: A Highly Personal Account. The Philippines Free Press. and the very last saw the Marcos family flee Malacañang Palace into exile in the United States.{{Cite news |last=Dacanay |first=Barbara Mae Naredo |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/02/24/20/the-7-deadly-protests-of-the-first-quarter-storm |title=The 7 deadly protests of the First Quarter Storm |date=February 24, 2020 |work=ABS CBN News and Public Affairs |access-date=February 28, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228094412/https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/02/24/20/the-7-deadly-protests-of-the-first-quarter-storm |archive-date=February 28, 2020}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/edsa/the-ph-protest-appendix/ |title=A History of the Philippine Political Protest |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705180022/http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/edsa/the-ph-protest-appendix/ |archive-date=July 5, 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=December 10, 2018 }}

The beginning weeks of Ferdinand Marcos' second term as president was marked by the 1969 balance of payments crisis, which economists trace to his first term tactic of using foreign loans to fund massive government projects in an effort to curry votes.{{Cite journal |last=Balbosa |first=Joven Zamoras |date=1992 |title=IMF Stabilization Program and Economic Growth: The Case of the Philippines |journal=Journal of Philippine Development |volume=XIX |issue=35 |url=https://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/pjd/pidsjpd92-2imf.pdf |access-date=January 16, 2024 |archive-date=September 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921141056/https://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/pjd/pidsjpd92-2imf.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{Cite journal |last=Cororaton |first=Cesar B. |title=Exchange Rate Movements in the Philippines |journal=DPIDS Discussion Paper Series 97-05 |pages=3, 19}}{{Cite news |url=https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/golden-era |title=Debt, deprivation and spoils of dictatorship: 31 years of amnesia |last=Diola |first=Camille |work=The Philippine Star |access-date=May 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626200905/https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/golden-era |archive-date=June 26, 2017 |url-status=live}} In protest, protest groups led mostly by students decided to picket Marcos' 1970 State of the Nation Address at the legislative building on January 26. The protesters were initially bickering amongst themselves because both moderate reformist and radical activist groups were present and fighting to gain control of the stage. But all of them, regardless of advocacy, were violently dispersed by the Philippine Constabulary.Talitha Espiritu Passionate Revolutions: The Media and the Rise and Fall of the Marcos Regime Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2017.{{Cite book |title=Dictatorship and revolution : roots of people's power |last=Daroy |first=Petronilo Bn. |date=1988 |publisher=Conspectus |isbn=978-9919108014 |editor-last=Javate -de Dios |editor-first=Aurora |edition= 1st |location=Metro Manila |chapter=On the Eve of Dictatorship and Revolution |oclc=19609244 |editor-last2=Daroy |editor-first2=Petronilo Bn. |editor-last3=Kalaw-Tirol |editor-first3=Lorna}} This was followed by six more major protests which were violently dispersed, from the end of January until March 17, 1970.

Instability continued the following year, with the most significant incident being the August 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing caused nine deaths and injured 95 others, including many prominent Liberal Party politicians including incumbent Senators Jovito Salonga, Eddie Ilarde, Eva Estrada-Kalaw, and Liberal Party president Gerardo Roxas, Sergio Osmeña Jr., Manila 2nd District Councilor Ambrosio "King" Lorenzo Jr., and Congressman Ramon Bagatsing who was the party's mayoral candidate for Manila.

Marcos reacted to the bombing by blaming the still nascent Communist Party of the Philippines and then suspending of the writ of Habeas Corpus. The suspension is noted for forcing many members of the moderate opposition, including figures like Edgar Jopson, to join the ranks of the radicals. In the aftermath of the bombing, Marcos lumped all of the opposition together and referred to them as communists, and many former moderates fled to the mountain encampments of the radical opposition to avoid being arrested by Marcos' forces. Those who became disenchanted with the excesses of the Marcos administration and wanted to join the opposition after 1971 often joined the ranks of the radicals, simply because they represented the only group vocally offering opposition to the Marcos government.{{Cite news |url=https://opinion.inquirer.net/80765/why-ateneo-is-honoring-edgar-jopson |title=Why Ateneo is honoring Edgar Jopson |last=Tan |first=Oscar Franklin |date=December 8, 2014 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |access-date=December 4, 2018}}{{Cite book |title=U.G. an underground tale: the journey of Edgar Jopson and the first quarter storm generation |last=Pimentel |first=Benjamin |date=2006 |publisher=Anvil Publishing, Inc |isbn=9712715906 |location=Pasig |oclc=81146038}}

Marcos' declaration of martial law in September 1972 saw the immediate shutdown of all media not approved by Marcos, including Quezon City media outlets, including the Manila-based Manila Times, Philippines Free Press, The Manila Tribune and the Philippines Herald. At the same time, it saw the arrest of many students, journalists, academics, and politicians who were considered political threats to Marcos, many of them residents of the City of Manila. The first one was Ninoy Aquino who was arrested just before midnight on September 22 while at a hotel on UN Avenue preparing for a senate committee session the following morning.

About 400 prominent critics of the Marcos administration were jailed in the first few hours of September 23 alone, and eventually about 70,000 individuals became Political detainees under the Marcos dictatorship - most of them arrested without warrants, which is why they were called detainees rather than prisoners.{{cite web | url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/803518/ricky-lee-martial-law-detainee-on-historical-revisionism-para-akong-binubura/story/ | title=Ricky Lee, martial law detainee, on historical revisionism: 'Para akong binubura' | date=September 16, 2021 }}{{Cite news| url= http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/31/16/victims-recall-horrors-of-marcos-martial-law| title=Victims recall horrors of Marcos' martial law|work=ABS-CBN News|access-date=June 15, 2018|language=en-US}} At least 11,103 of them have since been officially recognized by the Philippine government as having been extensively tortured and abused.{{cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/29/asia/philippines-martial-law-50-years-marcos-intl-hnk/index.html | title=They were tortured under Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos SNR. Now they fear their stories are being erased | date=September 30, 2022 }}{{Cite book |last=Rocamora |first=Rick |title=Dark Memories of Torture, Incarceration, Disappeareance, and Death under Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.'s Martial Law |year=2023 |isbn=979-8-218-96751-2 |location=Quezon City}} and in April 1973 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila student journalist Liliosa Hilao became the first of these detainees to be killed while in prison{{cite web|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/718061/liliosa-hilao-first-martial-law-detainee-killed|title=Liliosa Hilao: First Martial Law detainee killed|first=Kate Pedroso, Marielle|last=Medina|date=September 2015}} - one of 3,257 known extrajudicial killings during the last 14 years of Marcos' presidency.{{Cite web |date=April 12, 2016 |title=3,257: Fact checking the Marcos killings, 1975–1985 – The Manila Times Online |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/3257-fact-checking-the-marcos-killings-1975-1985/255735/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412150835/http://www.manilatimes.net/3257-fact-checking-the-marcos-killings-1975-1985/255735/ |archive-date=April 12, 2016 |access-date=June 15, 2018 |website=www.manilatimes.net}}

In 1975, Marcos formalized the creation of a region called Metropolitan Manila, incorporating the four cities of 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. And then he appointed his wife Imelda Marcos, who had been angered by the revelation of his dalliances during the Dovie Beams scandal, Governor of Metro Manila.{{Cite book |last1=Sicat |first1=Gerardo P. |title=Cesar Virata: life and times ; through four decades of Philippine economic history |last2=Virata |first2=Cesar Enrique Aguinaldo |date=2014 |publisher=The Univ. of the Philippines Press |isbn=978-971-542-741-8 |location=Diliman, Quezon City}}

Despite Marcos' declaration of martial law, poverty and other social issues persisted, so even with the military in his control, Marcos could not hold back the unrest. A major turning point was reached in Tondo in the form of the 1975 La Tondeña Distillery strike which was one of the first major open acts of resistance against the Marcos dictatorship which paved the way for similar protest actions elsewhere in the country.{{Cite web|title=10 anniversaries Filipinos should remember in 2015|url=https://globalnation.inquirer.net/116251/10-anniversaries-filipinos-should-remember-in-2015|last=Pimentel|first=Benjamin|date=December 30, 2014|website=Inquirer|language=en|access-date=May 5, 2020}} From then, Manila continued to be a center of resistance activity; youth and student demonstrators repeatedly clashed with the police and military.{{cite news |last1=Mathews |first1=Jay |title=Philippine Police Arrest Hundreds To Block Protest |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/04/10/philippine-police-arrest-hundreds-to-block-protest/eee6d6d5-8852-42e0-a182-6cb6aae3c48b/ |access-date=January 12, 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=April 10, 1978 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170828135407/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/04/10/philippine-police-arrest-hundreds-to-block-protest/eee6d6d5-8852-42e0-a182-6cb6aae3c48b/ |archive-date=August 28, 2017}}

Another major protest was the September 1984 Welcome Rotonda protest dispersal at the border of Manila and Quezon City, which came in the wake of the Aquino assassination the year before in 1983. International pressure had forced Marcos to give the press more freedom, so coverage exposed Filipinos to how opposition figures including 80-year-old former Senator Lorenzo Tañada and 71-year old Manila Times founder Chino Roces were waterhosed despite their frailty and how student leader Fidel Nemenzo (later Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman) was shot nearly to death.{{Cite news|url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2016/11/19/they-are-scared-martial-law-victim-says-of-surprise-marcos-burial|title='They are scared,' Martial law victim says of surprise Marcos burial|work=Manila Bulletin|access-date=January 16, 2024|archive-date=February 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203092943/https://news.mb.com.ph/2016/11/19/they-are-scared-martial-law-victim-says-of-surprise-marcos-burial/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web | url=https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/184586-lorenzo-tanada-undaunted-line-of-fire | title=Lorenzo Tañada undaunted in line of fire | date=October 8, 2017 }}{{Cite news |last=Oreña-Drilon |first=Ces |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/02/29/20/the-m-16-bullet-that-changed-fidel-nemenzos-life |title=The M-16 bullet that changed Fidel Nemenzo's life |date=February 29, 2020 |work=ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs |access-date=March 2, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229150137/https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/02/29/20/the-m-16-bullet-that-changed-fidel-nemenzos-life |archive-date=February 29, 2020}}

In late 1985, in the face of escalating public discontent and under pressure from foreign allies, Marcos called a snap election with more than a year left in his term, selecting Arturo Tolentino as his running mate. The opposition to Marcos united behind Ninoy's widow Corazon Aquino and her running mate, Salvador Laurel.{{cite book|author=Pollard, Vincent Kelly|title=Globalization, democratization and Asian leadership: power sharing, foreign policy and society in the Philippines and Japan|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7546-1539-2|page=50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L37RZlzA530C&pg=PA50}}{{cite book|author=Parnell, Philip C.|chapter=Criminalizing Colonialism: Democracy Meets Law in Manila|editor1=Parnell, Philip C. |editor2=Kane, Stephanie C.|title=Crime's power: anthropologists and the ethnography of crime|publisher=Palgrave-Macmillan|year=2003|isbn=978-1-4039-6179-2|page=214|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2hpz4_fob4C&pg=PA214}} The elections were held on February 7, 1986, an exercise marred by widespread reports of violence and tampering of election results.{{cite book|last1=Zunes|first1=Stephen|last2=Asher|first2=Sarah Beth|last3=Kurtz|first3=Lester|title=Nonviolent Social Movements: A Geographical Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlIH-NQbFQgC&pg=PA129|date=November 5, 1999|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-57718-076-0|page=129|access-date=May 14, 2016|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107165602/https://books.google.com/books?id=rlIH-NQbFQgC&pg=PA129|url-status=live}}

On February 16, 1986, Corazon Aquino held the "Tagumpay ng Bayan" (People's Victory) rally at Luneta Park, announcing a civil disobedience campaign and calling for her supporters to boycott publications and companies which were associated with Marcos or any of his cronies.{{Cite web|title=Speech of President Aquino at the anniversary of Tagumpay ng Bayan, February 16, 2012 (English translation)|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2012/02/16/speech-of-president-aquino-at-the-anniversary-of-tagumpay-ng-bayan-february-16-2012-english-translation/|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|archive-date=May 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518094855/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2012/02/16/speech-of-president-aquino-at-the-anniversary-of-tagumpay-ng-bayan-february-16-2012-english-translation/|url-status=dead}} The event was attended by a crowd of about two million people.{{Cite journal|last=Schock|first=Kurt|date=1999|title=People Power and Political Opportunities: Social Movement Mobilization and Outcomes in the Philippines and Burma|journal=Social Problems|volume=46|issue=3|pages=355–375|doi=10.2307/3097105|jstor=3097105|issn=0037-7791}} Aquino's camp began making preparations for more rallies, and Aquino herself went to Cebu to rally more people to their cause.{{Cite web|last=Cruz|first=Elfren S.|title=The road to EDSA|url=https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2017/02/23/1674106/road-edsa|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=Philstar.com}}

In the aftermath of the election and the revelations of irregularities, Juan Ponce Enrile and the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) - a cabal of disgruntled officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP){{Cite news |last1=Vitug |first1=Marites Dañguilan |last2=Almonte |first2=Jose T. |date=February 23, 2015 |title=Transfer power to the people |language=en |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/674636/transfer-power-to-the-people |access-date=August 20, 2021}} - set into motion a coup attempt against Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.{{Cite web|last=Fineman|first=Mark|title=The 3-Day Revolution: How Marcos Was Toppled |website=Los Angeles Times | url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-27-mn-12085-story.html|date=February 27, 1986}} Enrile and RAM's coup was quickly uncovered, which prompted Enrile to ask for the support of Philippine Constabulary chief Fidel Ramos. Ramos agreed to join Enrile but even so, their combined forces were trapped in Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo, and were about to be overrun by Marcos loyalist forces.{{Citation |last1=Paul Sagmayao |first1=Mercado |first2=Francisco S.|last2=Tatad |title=People Power: The Philippine Revolution of 1986: An Eyewitness History |publisher=The James B. Reuter, S.J., Foundation |year=1986 |location=Manila, Philippines |oclc=16874890}}{{cite web | url=https://opinion.inquirer.net/93174/what-was-edsa | title=What was Edsa? | date=February 25, 2016 }}{{YouTube|BWQHSJJ8OyE}} Discovering what was happening, the forces which had been organizing Aquino's civil disobedience campaign went to the stretch of Efipanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) between the two camps, beginning to form a human barricade to keep Marcos loyalist forces from attacking. The crowd grew even larger when Ramos telephoned Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin for help, and Sin went on Radyo Veritas to invite Catholics to join in protecting Enrile and Ramos.{{Citation |last=McCargo |first=Duncan |publication-date=2003|title=Media and Politics in Pacific Asia |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-23375-0 |page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CuGJ575iLLAC&q=Radio+Veritas+1986+Philippine+revolution&pg=PA20 |access-date= December 3, 2007 |year=2003}} Seeing what was happening, multiple units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines defected Marcos, with air units under the command of General Antonio Sotelo and Colonel Charles Hotchkiss, even performed calculated operations which included strafing the grounds of Malacañang palace with bullets and disabling gunships at nearby Villamor Airbase.

The Reagan administration eventually decided to offer Marcos a chance to flee into exile. Shortly after midnight on February 26, 1986, the Marcos Family fled Malacañang and were taken to Clark Airbase, after which they went into exile in Honolulu along with some select followers including Fabian Ver and Danding Cojuangco.{{Cite book |last=Joaquin |first=Nick |title=The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People-Power Apocalypse |publisher=Book Stop |year=1986 |isbn=971-8523-00-6 |pages=90}} Because the victory had been won by the civilians on the streets rather than the military, the event was dubbed the People Power revolution. Ferdinand Marcos' 21 years as President - and his 14 years as authoritarian leader - of the Philippines was over.

{{Main|History of the Philippines (1986–present)}}

File:Puente Binondo–Intramuros, Manila, Filipinas, 2023-08-27, DD 135-137 HDR.jpg, opened in 2022, connecting the districts of Binondo and Intramuros.]]

From 1986 to 1992, Mel Lopez was mayor of Manila, first due to presidential designation, before being elected in 1988.{{Cite news |url=https://www.manilastandard.net/opinion/columns/hail-to-the-chair-by-victor-avecilla/226918/remembering-manila-s-mel-lopez.html |title=Remembering Manila's Mel Lopez |last=Avecilla |first=Victor |work=Manila Standard |date=January 17, 2017 |access-date=January 24, 2023}} In 1992, Alfredo Lim was elected mayor, the first Chinese-Filipino to hold the office. He was known for his anti-crime crusades. Lim was succeeded by Lito Atienza, who served as his vice mayor, and was known for his campaign and slogun "Buhayin ang Maynila" (Revive Manila), which saw the establishment of several parks, and the repair and rehabilitation of the city's deteriorating facilities. He was the city's mayor for nine years before being termed out of office. Lim once again ran for mayor and defeated Atienza's son Ali in the 2007 city election, and immediately reversed all of Atienza's projects,{{Cite news |last=Mundo |first=Sheryl |date=December 1, 2009 |title=It's Atienza vs. Lim Part 2 in Manila |work=ABS-CBN News |location=Manila |url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/12/01/09/it%E2%80%99s-atienza-vs-lim-part-2-manila |url-status=dead |access-date=March 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203170220/http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/12/01/09/it%E2%80%99s-atienza-vs-lim-part-2-manila |archive-date=December 3, 2009 |quote=Environment Secretary Jose "Lito" Atienza will get to tangle again with incumbent Manila Alfredo Lim in the coming 2010 elections.}} which he said made little contribution to the improvements of the city. The relationship of both parties turned bitter, with them both contesting the 2010 city elections, which Lim won. Lim was sued by councilor Dennis Alcoreza on 2008 over human rights,{{Cite news |last=Legaspi |first=Amita |date=July 17, 2008 |title=Councilor files raps vs Lim, Manila execs before CHR |work=GMA News |publisher=GMA Network |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/107511/news/nation/councilor-files-raps-vs-lim-manila-execs-before-chr |access-date=March 4, 2014}} he was charged with graft over the rehabilitation of public schools.{{Cite web |title=Mayor Lim charged anew with graft over rehabilitation of public schools |url=http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20100504met3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611085344/http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20100504met3.html |archive-date=June 11, 2011 |access-date=June 25, 2012 |publisher=The Daily Tribune}}

In 2012, DMCI Homes began constructing Torre de Manila, which became controversial for ruining the sight line of Rizal Park.{{Cite news |last=Ranada |first=Pia |date=August 4, 2014 |title=Pia Cayetano to look into Torre de Manila violations |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/65252-pia-cayetano-resolution-torre-de-manila-violations |access-date=April 28, 2017}} The tower became known as "Terror de Manila" and the "national photobomber",{{Cite news |last=Dario |first=Dethan |date=April 28, 2017 |title=Timeline: Tracking the Torre De Manila case |work=The Philippine Star |url=http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/04/28/1694678/timeline-tracking-torre-de-manila-case |url-status=dead |access-date=April 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428051359/http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/04/28/1694678/timeline-tracking-torre-de-manila-case |archive-date=April 28, 2017}} and became a sensationalized heritage issue. In 2017, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines erected a "comfort woman" statue on Roxas Boulevard, causing Japan to express regret about the statue's erection despite the healthy relationship between Japan and the Philippines.{{Cite news |date=January 18, 2018 |title=Duterte says "comfort woman" statue a "constitutional right" |work=ABS-CBN News |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/18/18/duterte-says-comfort-woman-statue-a-constitutional-right |access-date=January 21, 2018}}{{Cite news |date=January 10, 2018 |title=Japan voices regret to Duterte over "comfort women" statue |publisher=ABS-CBN Corporation |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/10/18/japan-voices-regret-to-duterte-over-comfort-women-statue |access-date=January 21, 2018}}

In the 2013 election, former President Joseph Estrada succeeded Lim as the city's mayor. During his term, Estrada allegedly paid {{Philippine peso|5 billion|link=yes}} in city debts and increased the city's revenues. In 2015, in line with President Noynoy Aquino's administration progress, the city became the most-competitive city in the Philippines. In the 2016 elections, Estrada narrowly won over Lim.{{Cite web |last=Lopez |first=Tony |date=June 10, 2016 |title=Erap's hairline victory |url=http://thestandard.com.ph/opinion/columns/virtual-reality-by-tony-lopez/207830/erap-s-hairline-victory.html |access-date=June 22, 2016 |publisher=The Standard Philippines |archive-date=August 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818012326/http://thestandard.com.ph/opinion/columns/virtual-reality-by-tony-lopez/207830/erap-s-hairline-victory.html |url-status=dead }} Throughout Estrada's term, numerous Filipino heritage sites were demolished, gutted, or approved for demolition; these include the post-war Santa Cruz Building, Capitol Theater, El Hogar, Magnolia Ice Cream Plant, and Rizal Memorial Stadium.{{Cite web |title=10 Heritage Sites in Manila That Need Your Attention |url=https://www.spot.ph/arts-culture/the-latest-arts-culture/78562/heritage-sites-in-manila-city-a1284-20190726-lfrm |website=SPOT.PH}}{{Cite news |date=June 2, 2019 |title=NHCP stops Erap's demolition of postwar Santa Cruz Building in Escolta |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/337040/nhcp-stops-eraps-demolition-of-postwar-santa-cruz-building-in-escolta/}}{{Cite web |date=June 3, 2019 |title=Almost already gone: Santa Cruz Bldg. in Escolta saved from demolition |url=https://nolisoli.ph/63148/sta-cruz-bldg-escolta-csanjose-20190603/}} Some of these sites were saved after the intervention of governmental cultural agencies and heritage advocate groups.{{Cite news |last=Rola |first=Alyssa |title=Rizal Memorial saved from demolition by NHCP |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/sports/philippines/167602-rizal-complex-saved-from-demolition}} In May 2019, Estrada said Manila was debt-free;{{Cite news |title=Estrada declares Manila City government "debt-free" after paying off GSIS arrears |work=Manila Bulletin |url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/05/10/estrada-declares-manila-city-government-debt-free-after-paying-off-gsis-arrears |access-date=September 1, 2019 |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901122739/https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/05/10/estrada-declares-manila-city-government-debt-free-after-paying-off-gsis-arrears/ |url-status=dead }} two months later, however, the Commission on Audit said Manila was {{Philippine peso|4.4 billion}} in debt.{{Cite news |last=Tomacruz |first=Sofia |title=Erap leaves Manila in debt by P4.4 billion – COA |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/234903-erap-leaves-manila-in-debt-audit-report-2018}}

File:Roxas Boulevard Ermita-Malate top view MH (Manila; 07-20-2024).jpg in 2023]]

Estrada, who was seeking for re-election for his third and final term, lost to Isko Moreno in the 2019 local elections.{{Cite news |last=Modesto |first=Catherine A. |date=May 14, 2019 |title=Isko Moreno is new Manila mayor, defeats "Goliaths" in politics |work=The Manila Times |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/isko-moreno-is-new-manila-mayor-defeats-goliaths-in-politics/554524/ |access-date=May 14, 2019}}{{Cite news |last=Esguerra |first=Christian V. |date=May 14, 2019 |title=Ex-scavenger beats ex-president: Moreno in, Estrada out as Manila mayor |work=ABS-CBN News |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/14/19/ex-scavenger-beats-ex-president-moreno-in-estrada-out-as-manila-mayor |access-date=May 14, 2019}} Moreno has served as the vice mayor under both Lim and Estrada. Estrada's defeat was seen as the end of their reign as a political clan, whose other family members run for national and local positions.{{Cite news |last=Maru |first=Davinci |date=May 14, 2019 |title=End of an era for Estrada-Ejercito political clan? |work=ABS-CBN News |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/14/19/end-of-an-era-for-estrada-ejercito-political-clan |access-date=May 14, 2019}} After assuming office, Moreno initiated a city-wide cleanup of illegal vendors, signed an executive order promoting open governance, and vowed to stop bribery and corruption in the city.{{Cite news |last=Cabico |first=Gaea Katreena |date=July 10, 2019 |title=Recto: Isko's efforts to fix Manila show charter change not sole solution |work=The Philippine Star |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/07/10/1933604/recto-iskos-efforts-fix-manila-show-charter-change-not-sole-solution |access-date=July 11, 2019}} Under his administration, several ordinances were signed, giving additional perks and privileges to Manila's elderly people,{{Cite news |date=September 28, 2019 |title=Perks and privileges for Manila senior citizens |work=BusinessMirror |url=https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/09/28/perks-and-privileges-for-manila-senior-citizens/ |access-date=March 22, 2020}} and monthly allowances for Grade 12 Manileño students in all public schools in the city, including students of Universidad de Manila and the University of the City of Manila.{{Cite news |date=July 31, 2019 |title=Moreno signs ordinance granting monthly allowance for qualified PLM, UdM students |work=CNN Philippines |url=https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/7/31/PLM-UdM-monthly-allowance-students-Isko-Moreno.html |access-date=March 22, 2020 |archive-date=March 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322150025/https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/7/31/PLM-UdM-monthly-allowance-students-Isko-Moreno.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news |date=January 28, 2020 |title=Students of PLM, UdM start receiving P1,000 allowance from Manila gov't |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1220834/students-of-plm-udm-start-receiving-p1000-allowance-from-manila-govt |access-date=March 22, 2020}}

In 2022, Time Out ranked Manila in 34th position in its list of the 53 best cities in the world, citing it as "an underrated hub for art and culture, with unique customs and cuisine to boot". Manila was also voted the third-most-resilient and least-rude city for the year's index.{{Cite news |date=July 11, 2022 |title=The 53 best cities in the world in 2022 |work=Time Out |url= https://www.timeout.com/things-to-do/best-cities-in-the-world |access-date=July 16, 2022}}{{Cite news |date=July 11, 2022 |title=Manila adjudged as one of world's best cities |work=Philippine News Agency |url= https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1178873 |access-date=July 16, 2022}} In 2023, the search site Crossword Solm utilizing internet geotagging, showed that Manila is the world's most loving capital city.[https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/02/09/2243581/manila-named-worlds-most-loving-capital-city Manila named world's 'most loving capital city'] By Marc Jayson Cayabyab

In August 2023, President Bongbong Marcos suspended all reclamation projects in Manila Bay, including those in the City of Manila.{{Cite news |date=August 11, 2023 |title=Marcos suspends all Manila Bay reclamation projects under review |work=PhilStar Global |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/08/11/2287772/marcos-suspends-all-manila-bay-reclamation-projects-under-review |access-date=November 26, 2023}} However, the city has no objections and is willing to pursue the suspended reclamation projects.{{Cite news |date=November 23, 2023 |title=Manila wants to pursue bay reclamation activities |work=PhilStar Global |url=https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/11/23/Manila-bay-reclamation.html |access-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126135220/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/11/23/Manila-bay-reclamation.html |url-status=dead }}

{{main|Geography of Manila}}

File:Manila Bay Sunset (2).JPG sunset]]

File:Manila_Bay_beach_(Roxas_Boulevard,_Manila;_09-19-2020)_wiki.jpg during the International Coastal Cleanup Day in September 2020]]

File:Manila Outlined Territories.png, and Manila Boystown Complex, which is a property in Marikina owned by the Manila city government.]]

The City of Manila is situated on the eastern shore of Manila Bay, on the western coast of Luzon, {{convert|1300|km|abbr=on}} from mainland Asia.{{Cite web |title=Geography of Manila |url=http://geography.howstuffworks.com/asia/geography-of-manila.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202210542/http://geography.howstuffworks.com/asia/geography-of-manila.htm |archive-date=February 2, 2014 |access-date=March 4, 2014 |publisher=HowStuffWorks}} The protected harbor on which Manila lies is regarded as the finest in Asia.{{Cite web |title=Environment – Manila |url=http://www.city-data.com/world-cities/Manila-Environment.html |access-date=February 26, 2017 |publisher=City-Data}} The Pasig River flows through the middle of city, dividing it into north and south.{{Cite web |date=November 14, 2013 |title=An Update on the Earthquake Hazards and Risk Assessment of Greater Metropolitan Manila Area |url=http://www.mbc.com.ph/engine/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Solidum-Update-of-Earthquake-Hazards-and-Risk-Assessment-of-MMla-14Nov2013.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624134051/http://www.mbc.com.ph/engine/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Solidum-Update-of-Earthquake-Hazards-and-Risk-Assessment-of-MMla-14Nov2013.pdf |archive-date=June 24, 2016 |access-date=May 16, 2016 |publisher=Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology}}{{Cite web |title=Enhancing Risk Analysis Capacities for Flood, Tropical Cyclone Severe Wind and Earthquake for the Greater Metro Manila Area Component 5 – Earthquake Risk Analysis |url=http://ndrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/article/1509/Component_5_Earthquake_Risk_Analysis_Technical%20Report_-_Final_Draft_by_GA_and_PHIVOLCS.pdf |access-date=May 16, 2016 |publisher=Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and Geoscience Australia}} The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of the natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation.{{cite book |title=Guidelines for Settlement Planning In Areas Prone To Flood Disasters |publisher=UN-HABITAT |isbn=978-92-1-131296-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4pqbzhoUVJwC&pg=PA77 77] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4pqbzhoUVJwC |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=en}}

Almost all of Manila sits on top prehistoric alluvial deposits built by the waters of the Pasig River and on land reclaimed from Manila Bay. Manila's land has been substantially altered by human intervention; there has been considerable land reclamation along the waterfronts since the early-to-mid twentieth century. Some of the city's natural variations in topography have been leveled. {{As of|2013}}, Manila had a total area of {{Convert|42.88|km2|sqmi|abbr=out}}.

In 2017, the City Government approved five reclamation projects; the New Manila Bay–City of Pearl (New Manila Bay International Community) ({{convert|407.43|ha|acre|abbr=out}}), Solar City ({{convert|148|ha|acre|abbr=out}}), Manila Harbour Center expansion ({{convert|50|ha|acre|abbr=out}}), Manila Waterfront City ({{convert|318|ha|acre|abbr=out}}),{{Cite news |last=Cabuenas, Jon Viktor D. |date=October 26, 2017 |title=Waterfront Manila to develop man-made island in Manila Bay |work=GMA News |publisher=GMA Network |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/companies/630989/waterfront-manila-to-develop-man-made-island-in-manila-bay/story/ |access-date=October 26, 2017}} and Horizon Manila ({{convert|419|ha|acre|abbr=out}}). Of the five planned projects, only Horizon Manila was approved by the Philippine Reclamation Authority in December 2019 and was scheduled for construction in 2021.{{Cite web |date=December 12, 2019 |title=4 Manila Bay reclamation projects get greenlight as gov't dispels flooding fears |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/12/19/4-manila-bay-reclamation-projects-get-greenlight-as-govt-dispel-flooding-fears |access-date=September 24, 2020 |publisher=ABS-CBN News}} Another reclamation project is possible and when built, it will include in-city housing relocation projects.{{Cite news |last=Talabong, Rambo |date=May 12, 2017 |title=Manila to relocate 7,000 families in esteros |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/169626-manila-housing-project-families-esteros |access-date=June 12, 2017}} Environmental activists and the Catholic Church have criticized the land reclamation projects, saying they are not sustainable and would put communities at risk of flooding.{{Cite news |last=Rambo Talabong |date=June 6, 2017 |title=Estrada approves building 3 islands at Manila Bay for new commercial district |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/172156-estrada-reclamation-project-manila-bay-commercial-district |access-date=June 12, 2017}}{{Cite news |last=See, Aie Balagtas |date=June 7, 2017 |title=Erap OKs fourth reclamation project in Manila Bay |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/903263/erap-oks-fourth-reclamation-project-on-manila-bay |access-date=June 12, 2017}} In line of the upcoming reclamation projects, the Philippines and the Netherlands agreed to a cooperation on the ₱250 million Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan to oversee future decisions on projects on Manila Bay.{{Cite web |date=January 22, 2018 |title=Philippines, Netherlands Sign MOU on Manila Bay Development |url=http://www.neda.gov.ph/2018/01/22/philippines-netherlands-sign-mou-on-manila-bay-development/ |access-date=January 29, 2018 |publisher=National Economic and Development Authority}}{{Dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

File:Ph fil congress districts manila.png

File:Ph fil manila districts.png

Manila is made up of 897 barangays,{{Cite web |title=2015 Annual Financial Reports for Local Government Units (Volume III) |url=http://www.coa.gov.ph/local-government-units-lgus/category/6072-2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201200852/http://www.coa.gov.ph/local-government-units-lgus/category/6072-2015 |archive-date=December 1, 2016 |access-date=December 1, 2016 |publisher=Commission on Audit}} which are grouped into 100 zones for statistical convenience. Manila has the most barangays of any metropolis in the Philippines.{{Cite news |last=Santos |first=Reynaldo Jr. |date=October 24, 2013 |title=Barangay in numbers |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/42084-barangay-in-numbers |access-date=April 27, 2016}} Due to a failure to hold a plebiscite, attempts at reducing its number have not succeeded despite local legislation—Ordinance 7907, passed on April 23, 1996—reducing the number from 896 to 150 by merging existing barangays.{{Cite news |last=Macairan |first=Evelyn |date=August 15, 2007 |title=Manila councilor wants fewer barangays |work=The Philippine Star |url=http://www.philstar.com/metro/13006/manila-councilor-wants-fewer-barangays |access-date=April 27, 2016}}

• District I (2020 population: 441,282){{cite web |title=TABLE 1 Population of Legislative Districts by Province and Selected Highly Urbanized/ Component City: 2020 |url=https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/attachments/ird/specialrelease/2_Table%201%20Population%20of%20Legislative%20Districts%20by%20Province%20and%20Selected%20HUC_Component%20City%20Web%20Final-signed.pdf |website=Philippine Statistics Authority |access-date=January 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205112812/https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/attachments/ird/specialrelease/2_Table%201%20Population%20of%20Legislative%20Districts%20by%20Province%20and%20Selected%20HUC_Component%20City%20Web%20Final-signed.pdf |archive-date=February 5, 2022}} covers the western part of Tondo and is made up of 136 barangays. It is the most-densely populated Congressional District and was also known as Tondo I. The district includes one of the biggest urban-poor communities. Smokey Mountain on Balut Island was once known as the country's largest landfill where thousands of impoverished people lived in slums. After the closure of the landfill in 1995, mid-rise housing was built on the site. This district also contains the Manila North Harbor Center, Manila North Harbor, and Manila International Container Terminal of the Port of Manila. The boundaries of the 1st District are the neighboring cities Navotas and the southern enclave of Caloocan.
• District II (2020 population: 212,938) covers the eastern part of Tondo and contains 122 barangays. It is also referred to as Tondo II. It includes Gagalangin, a prominent place in Tondo, and Divisoria, a popular shopping area and the site of the Main Terminal Station of the Philippine National Railways. The boundary of the 2nd District is the neighboring city Caloocan.
• District III (2020 population: 220,029) covers Binondo, Quiapo, San Nicolas and Santa Cruz. It contains 123 barangays and includes "Downtown Manila", the historic business district of the city, and the oldest Chinatown in the world. The boundary of the 3rd District is the neighboring city Quezon City.
• District IV (2020 population: 277,013) covers Sampaloc and some parts of Santa Mesa. It contains 192 barangays and has numerous colleges and universities, which were located along the city's "University Belt", a de facto sub-district. The University of Santo Tomas, the oldest-existing university in Asia, which was established in 1611. The boundaries of the 4th District are the neighboring cities San Juan and Quezon City. The Institution was home to at least 30 Catholic Saints.{{Cite web|url=https://pintakasiph.wordpress.com/2021/11/06/the-fruits-of-unending-grace-the-martyrs-of-university-of-santo-tomas/|title=Heralds of Unending Grace – The Martyrs of University of Santo Tomas|first=Ang|last=Tagapagtala|date=November 6, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings-articles/world-university-rankings/which-university-has-most-saints|title=Which University Has Most Saints?|date=April 8, 2025|website=Top Universities}}
• District V (2020 population: 395,065) covers Ermita, Malate, Port Area, Intramuros, San Andres Bukid, and a portion of Paco. It is made up of 184 barangays. The historic Walled City is located here, along with Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The boundaries of the 5th District are the neighboring cities Makati and Pasay. This district also includes the Manila South Cemetery, an exclave surrounded by Makati City.
• District VI (2020 population: 300,186) covers Pandacan, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Santa Mesa, and a portion of Paco. It contains 139 barangays. Santa Ana district is known for its 18th Century Santa Ana Church and historic ancestral houses. The boundaries of the 6th District are the neighboring cities Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, and San Juan.

File:Climate-Manila (Philippines).svg

Under the Köppen climate classification system, Manila has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am), closely bordering on a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw). Together with the rest of the Philippines, Manila lies entirely within the tropics. Its proximity to the equator means temperatures are high year-round especially during the daytime, rarely going below {{convert|19|°C|°F|1}} or above {{convert|39|°C|°F|1}}. Temperature extremes have ranged from {{convert|14.5|°C|°F}} on January 11, 1914,{{Cite news |title=Temperatures drop further in Baguio, MM |work=The Philippine Star |url=http://www.philstar.com:8080/nation/2014/01/01/1273885/temperatures-drop-further-baguio-mm |url-status=dead |access-date=October 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025102904/http://www.philstar.com:8080/nation/2014/01/01/1273885/temperatures-drop-further-baguio-mm |archive-date=October 25, 2014}} to {{convert|38.6|°C|°F}} on May 7, 1915.{{Cite news |title=Metro Manila temperature soars to 36.2C |work=ABS-CBN News |url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/05/08/14/metro-manila-temperature-soars-362c |access-date=October 12, 2014}}

Humidity levels are usually very high all year round, making the air feel hotter than its actual temperature. Manila has a distinct dry season lasting from late December through early April, and a relatively lengthy wet season that covers the remaining period with slightly cooler daytime temperatures and slightly warmer nighttime temperatures. In the wet season, rain rarely falls all day but rainfall is very heavy for short periods. Typhoons usually occur from June to September.{{Cite web |title=Manila |url=http://jeepneyguide.com/manila/travel-guide |access-date=March 4, 2014 |publisher=Jeepneyguide |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822140435/http://jeepneyguide.com/manila/travel-guide |url-status=dead }}

{{Weather box

| location = Port Area, Manila (1991–2020, extremes 1885–2024)

| metric first = Yes

| single line = Yes

| temperature colour =

| Jan record high C = 36.5

| Feb record high C = 35.6

| Mar record high C = 36.8

| Apr record high C = 38.8

| May record high C = 38.6

| Jun record high C = 37.6

| Jul record high C = 37.0

| Aug record high C = 36.2

| Sep record high C = 35.3

| Oct record high C = 35.8

| Nov record high C = 35.6

| Dec record high C = 34.6

| year record high C = 38.8

| Jan high C = 29.9

| Feb high C = 30.7

| Mar high C = 32.1

| Apr high C = 33.8

| May high C = 33.6

| Jun high C = 32.8

| Jul high C = 31.5

| Aug high C = 31.0

| Sep high C = 31.2

| Oct high C = 31.4

| Nov high C = 31.3

| Dec high C = 30.3

| year high C = 31.6

| Jan mean C = 26.9

| Feb mean C = 27.5

| Mar mean C = 28.7

| Apr mean C = 30.3

| May mean C = 30.3

| Jun mean C = 29.7

| Jul mean C = 28.7

| Aug mean C = 28.5

| Sep mean C = 28.4

| Oct mean C = 28.6

| Nov mean C = 28.3

| Dec mean C = 27.4

| year mean C = 28.6

| Jan low C = 23.9

| Feb low C = 24.3

| Mar low C = 25.3

| Apr low C = 26.7

| May low C = 27.0

| Jun low C = 26.5

| Jul low C = 25.9

| Aug low C = 25.9

| Sep low C = 25.7

| Oct low C = 25.7

| Nov low C = 25.3

| Dec low C = 24.6

| year low C = 25.6

| Jan record low C = 14.5

| Feb record low C = 15.6

| Mar record low C = 16.2

| Apr record low C = 17.2

| May record low C = 20.0

| Jun record low C = 20.1

| Jul record low C = 19.4

| Aug record low C = 18.0

| Sep record low C = 20.2

| Oct record low C = 19.5

| Nov record low C = 16.8

| Dec record low C = 15.7

| year record low C = 14.5

| rain colour = green

| Jan rain mm = 19.4

| Feb rain mm = 21.9

| Mar rain mm = 21.8

| Apr rain mm = 23.4

| May rain mm = 159.1

| Jun rain mm = 253.3

| Jul rain mm = 432.3

| Aug rain mm = 476.1

| Sep rain mm = 396.4

| Oct rain mm = 220.6

| Nov rain mm = 119.9

| Dec rain mm = 98.5

| year rain mm = 2242.7

| unit rain days = 1.0 mm

| Jan rain days = 4

| Feb rain days = 3

| Mar rain days = 3

| Apr rain days = 3

| May rain days = 9

| Jun rain days = 14

| Jul rain days = 19

| Aug rain days = 19

| Sep rain days = 18

| Oct rain days = 14

| Nov rain days = 10

| Dec rain days = 8

| year rain days = 124

| Jan humidity = 72

| Feb humidity = 70

| Mar humidity = 67

| Apr humidity = 66

| May humidity = 72

| Jun humidity = 76

| Jul humidity = 80

| Aug humidity = 82

| Sep humidity = 81

| Oct humidity = 77

| Nov humidity = 75

| Dec humidity = 75

| year humidity = 74

| Jan sun = 177

| Feb sun = 198

| Mar sun = 226

| Apr sun = 258

| May sun = 223

| Jun sun = 162

| Jul sun = 133

| Aug sun = 133

| Sep sun = 132

| Oct sun = 158

| Nov sun = 153

| Dec sun = 152

| year sun = 2105

| source 1 = PAGASA{{Cite web |title=Port Area Manila (MCO) Climatological Normal Values 1991–2020 |url=https://pubfiles.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/pagasaweb/files/cad/CLIMATOLOGICAL%20NORMALS%20(1991-2020)/PORT%20AREA.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302064412/https://pubfiles.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/pagasaweb/files/cad/CLIMATOLOGICAL%20NORMALS%20(1991-2020)/PORT%20AREA.pdf |archive-date=March 2, 2022 |access-date=May 3, 2022 |publisher=Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration}}{{Cite web |title=Port Area (MCO) Manila Climatological Extremes |url=https://pubfiles.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/pagasaweb/files/cad/CLIMATOLOGICAL%20EXTREMES%20(as%20of%202020)/Port%20Area.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307194050/https://pubfiles.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/pagasaweb/files/cad/CLIMATOLOGICAL%20EXTREMES%20(as%20of%202020)/Port%20Area.pdf |archive-date=March 7, 2022 |access-date=May 3, 2022 |publisher=Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration}}

| source 2 = Danish Meteorological Institute (sun, 1931–1960){{Cite web |last1=Cappelen |first1=John |last2=Jensen |first2=Jens |title=Filippinerne – Manila, Luzon |url=http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/tr01-17.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427173827/http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/tr01-17.pdf |archive-date=April 27, 2013 |access-date=December 17, 2019 |website=Climate Data for Selected Stations (1931–1960) |publisher=Danish Meteorological Institute |language=da}}

| date = December 2014

| source =

}}

{{See also|List of earthquakes in the Philippines}}

Swiss Re ranked Manila as the second-riskiest capital city to live in, citing its exposure to natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods, and landslides.{{Cite news |last=Lozada |first=Bong |date=March 27, 2014 |title=Metro Manila is world's second riskiest capital to live in–poll |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/589526/manila-is-worlds-second-riskiest-city-to-live-in-poll |access-date=April 9, 2014}} The seismically active Marikina Valley Fault System poses a threat of a large-scale earthquake with an estimated magnitude of between 6 and 7, and as high as 7.6{{Cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=Alan R. |last2=Personius |first2=Stephen F. |last3=Rimando |first3=Rolly E. |last4=Punongbayan |first4=Raymundo S. |last5=Tungol |first5=Norman |last6=Mirabueno |first6=Hannah |last7=Rasdas |first7=Ariel |year=2000 |title=Multiple Large Earthquakes in the Past 1500 Years on a Fault in Metropolitan Manila, the Philippines |url=http://www.bssaonline.org/content/90/1/73.abstract |journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America |volume=90 |issue=1 |page=84 |bibcode=2000BuSSA..90...73N |doi=10.1785/0119990002 |access-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-date=August 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820083908/http://www.bssaonline.org/content/90/1/73.abstract |url-status=dead }} to Metro Manila and nearby provinces.{{Cite journal |last1=Rimando |first1=Rolly |last2=Rolly E. Rimando |last3=Peter L.K. Knuepfer |date=February 10, 2004 |title=Neotectonics of the Marikina Valley fault system (MVFS) and tectonic framework of structures in northern and central Luzon, Philippines |journal=Tectonophysics |volume=415 |issue=1–4 |pages=17–38 |bibcode=2006Tectp.415...17R |doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2005.11.009 |ref=Tectonophysics, Volume 415, Issues 1–4, March 27, 2006}} Manila has experienced several deadly earthquakes, notably those of 1645 and 1677, which destroyed the stone-and-brick medieval city.[http://www2.hull.ac.uk/FASS/pdf/History-Bankoff-fire2.pdf "Fire and Quake in the construction of old Manila"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203214248/http://www2.hull.ac.uk/fass/pdf/History-Bankoff-fire2.pdf |date=February 3, 2013 }}. The Frequency of Earthquakes in Manila. Retrieved November 22, 2013. Architects during the Spanish colonial period used the Earthquake Baroque style to adapt to the region's frequent earthquakes.[http://www.aenet.org/manila-expo/page16.htm "The City of God: Churches, Convents and Monasteries"] Discovering Philippines. Retrieved July 6, 2011.

Manila experiences between five and seven typhoons each year.{{Cite web |last=Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Hurricane Research Division |title=Frequently Asked Questions: What are the upcoming tropical cyclone names? |url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/B2.html |access-date=December 11, 2006 |publisher=NOAA}} In 2009, Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) struck the Philippines, leading to one of the worst floods in Metro Manila and several provinces in Luzon with an estimated damages worth ₱11 billion ({{US$|237 million|link=yes}}),{{Cite magazine |last=Tharoor |first=Ishaan |date=September 29, 2009 |title=The Manila Floods: Why Wasn't the City Prepared? |magazine=TIME |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1926646,00.html |access-date=March 4, 2014}}{{Cite web |title=Situation Report: Ondoy |url=http://210.185.184.53/ndccWeb/images/ndccWeb/ndcc_advisory/TC_ONDOY/ondoy15.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110530012257/http://210.185.184.53/ndccWeb/images/ndccWeb/ndcc_advisory/TC_ONDOY/ondoy15.pdf |archive-date=May 30, 2011 |access-date=September 29, 2009}} and caused 448 deaths in Metro Manila alone. Following the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana, the city began to dredge its rivers and improve its drainage network.

{{See also|Manila Bay|List of parks in Metro Manila}}

File:Manila Lawton Ermita Arroceros Forest Park Paths 11.jpg is considered as the "last lung of Manila".{{cite news|url=https://opinion.inquirer.net/106588/manilas-last-lung |title=Manila's 'last lung'|work=Inquirer.net|accessdate=June 15, 2023}}]]

Metro Manila is situated in a variety of ecosystems including upland forests, mangrove forests, mudflats, sandy beaches, sea grass meadows and coral reefs. Metro Manila is home to urban parks, nature parks, plazas, nature reserves, and an arboretum. However, according to the Asian Green City Index, in 2007 Manila contained only an average of {{convert|4.5|sqm|sp=us}} of green space per person, well below the index average of {{convert|39|sqm|sp=us}}{{Cite book |url=https://impact.economist.com/perspectives/sites/default/files/Asian%20GCI%20FINAL.pdf |title=Asian Green City Index |publisher=Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Siemens |year=2011 |location=Munich, Germany |pages=80}} and below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended minimum of {{convert|9|sqm|sp=us}} per person.{{Cite web |last=Centre |first=European Commission-Joint Research |title=The Future of Cities |url=https://urban.jrc.ec.europa.eu/thefutureofcities/ |access-date=June 7, 2023 |website=European Commission}}{{Cite book |url=https://chm.cbd.int/api/v2013/documents/9D0D456A-FAC1-9806-3B90-21B37D4DEE5B/attachments/207967/Public%20Parks%20and%20Open%20Spaces%20-%20A%20Planning%20and%20Development%20Guide.pdf |title=Public Parks and Open Spaces: A Planning & Development Guide |publisher=The Alliance for Safe, Sustainable & Resilient Environments (ASSURE) |pages=2–3}}

The Arroceros Forest Park is a {{convert|2.2|ha|adj=on}} nature park situated in the heart of downtown Manila along the south bank of the Pasig River. Considered as the "last lung of Manila", the park was professionally planned in 1993 with its secondary growth forest of 61 different native tree varieties and 8,000 ornamental plants providing a habitat for about 10 different bird species.{{cite news|url=http://www.philstar.com/opinion/274716/arroceros-forest-park-should-be-preserved |title=Arroceros forest park should be preserved |work=The Philippine Star|accessdate=June 15, 2023}}

File:Manila_downtown_-_Binondo,_Quiapo,_Quezon_Bridge,_Pasig_River,_Arroceros_(close-up)_(Manila)(2018-02-07).jpg in Quiapo-Binondo area]]

Air pollution in Manila is due to industrial waste and automobiles.{{Cite web |title=City Profiles:Manila, Philippines |url=https://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/habitat/profiles/manila.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815101306/http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/habitat/profiles/manila.asp |archive-date=August 15, 2010 |access-date=March 4, 2010 |publisher=United Nations}}{{Cite web |last=Alave |first=Kristine L. |date=August 18, 2004 |title=Metro Manila Air Polluted Beyond Acceptable Levels |url=http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-58903.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051203095144/http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-58903.html |archive-date=December 3, 2005 |access-date=March 4, 2014 |website=Clean Air Initiative – Asia |publisher=Cleanairnet.org |location=Manila}} Swiss firm IQAir reported in December 2020 Manila experienced an average PM2.5 concentration of {{convert|6.1e-6|g/m3|abbr=on}}, which is classed as "Good" according to recommendations made by the World Health Organization.{{cite web |title=Air quality in Manila |url=https://www.iqair.com/philippines/ncr/manila |website=IQAir |access-date=February 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212111903/https://www.iqair.com/philippines/ncr/manila |archive-date=February 12, 2022}}

According to a report in 2003, the Pasig River is one of the most-polluted rivers in the world in which {{convert|150|t|sp=us}} of domestic waste and {{convert|75|t|sp=us}} of industrial waste are dumped daily.{{Cite news |last=de Guzman |first=Lawrence |date=November 11, 2006 |title=Pasig now one of world's most polluted rivers |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20061111-31901/Pasig_now_one_of_world%92s_most_polluted_rivers |url-status=dead |access-date=June 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530222756/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20061111-31901/Pasig_now_one_of_world%92s_most_polluted_rivers |archive-date=May 30, 2012}}{{update inline|date=January 2022}} The city is the second-biggest waste producing metropolis in the country with 1,151.79 tons ({{convert|7,500.07|m3|ft3|abbr=out|sp=us}}) per day, after Quezon City, which produces 1,386.84 tons ({{convert|12,730.59|m3|ft3|abbr=out|sp=us}}) per day. Both cities were cited as having poor management in garbage collection and disposal.{{Cite news |last=Badilla |first=Nelson |date=December 28, 2017 |title=Quezon City, Manila, Caloocan biggest waste producers |work=The Manila Times |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/quezon-city-manila-caloocan-biggest-waste-producers/370936/ |access-date=December 28, 2017}}

Rehabilitation efforts have resulted in the creation of parks along the riverside and stricter pollution controls.{{Cite web |last=Santelices |first=Menchit |title=A dying river comes back to life |url=http://www.pia.ops.gov.ph/philtoday/pt01/pt0103.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316044417/http://www.pia.ops.gov.ph/philtoday/pt01/pt0103.htm |archive-date=March 16, 2008 |website=Philippine Information Agency}}{{Cite web |title=Estero de San Miguel: The great transformation |url=http://ph.news.yahoo.com/estero-de-san-miguel--the-great-transformation.html?page=all |access-date=February 5, 2013 |publisher=Yahoo! Philippines}} In 2019, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources launched a rehabilitation program for Manila Bay that will be administered by different government agencies.{{Cite news |last=Mayuga |first=Jonathan |date=January 14, 2019 |title=DENR, 12 agencies to craft Manila Bay rehab plan |work=BusinessMirror |url=https://businessmirror.com.ph/denr-12-agencies-to-craft-manila-bay-rehab-plan/ |access-date=January 15, 2019}}{{Cite news |last=Santos G. |first=Tina |date=February 1, 2019 |title=Manila Bay Still Unsafe For Bathers |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1080191/manila-bay-still-unsafe-for-bathers |access-date=February 1, 2019}}

File:Manila Harbour View by night (Thomas Yie) - Flickr.jpg skyline at night along Manila Bay.]]

Manila is a planned city. In 1905, American architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham was commissioned to design the new capital.{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=Thomas |title=Early Urban Planning |date=November 2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-16094-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1zNNdADCYcAC&pg=PA201 201] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1zNNdADCYcAC&pg=PA201 |access-date=March 28, 2022 |language=en}} His design for the city was based on the City Beautiful movement, which favored broad streets and avenues radiating out from rectangles. Manila is made up of fourteen city districts, according to Republic Act No. 409—the Revised Charter of the City of Manila—the basis of which officially sets the present-day boundary of the city.{{Cite PH act|chamber=RA |number=409 |title=Revised Charter of the City of Manila |date=June 18, 1949 |publisher=Official Gazette |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1949/06/18/republic-act-no-409 |access-date=June 30, 2015 |archive-date=August 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831222511/http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1949/06/18/republic-act-no-409/ |url-status=live }} The districts Santa Mesa, which was partitioned from Sampaloc,{{cite news |last1=Alcazaren |first1=Paulo |title=Sta. Mesa: Manila's northeastern edge |url=https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/modern-living/2012/06/30/822717/sta-mesa-manilas-northeastern-edge |access-date=August 21, 2022 |work=The Philippine Star |date=June 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210024400/https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/modern-living/2012/06/30/822717/sta-mesa-manilas-northeastern-edge |archive-date=December 10, 2021}} and San Andres, which was partitioned off from Santa Ana, were later created.

Manila's mix of architectural styles reflects its, and the Philippines', turbulent history. During World War II, Manila was razed to the ground by Japanese forces and the shelling of American forces.{{cite book |title=World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia |date=2007 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-7642-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=72VwCFtYHCgC&pg=PA1261 1261] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72VwCFtYHCgC |access-date=August 12, 2022 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Byrne |first1=Denis Richard |title=Surface Collection: Archaeological Travels in Southeast Asia |date=2007 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=978-0-7591-1018-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=JFQQMKW6fr8C&pg=PA6 6] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JFQQMKW6fr8C |access-date=August 12, 2022 |language=en}} After the war ended, rebuilding began and most of the historical buildings were reconstructed. Many of the historic churches and buildings in Intramuros, Manila's historic core, however, had been damaged beyond repair.{{cite book |last1=Wernstedt |first1=Frederick L. |last2=Spencer |first2=Joseph Earle |title=The Philippine Island World: A Physical, Cultural, and Regional Geography |date=January 1, 1967 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03513-3 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=6Pn0Pfh1Cl0C&pg=PA388 388] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Pn0Pfh1Cl0C |access-date=August 18, 2022 |language=en}} Manila's current urban landscape is one of modern and contemporary architecture. Manila's historic sites under the entry of The Walled City and Historic Monuments of Manila is currently being proposed to the tentative list for future UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription.{{cite web | url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZE3O3izqc0kSv74xD3VGFfWPZJJcvDbTtf4zPoBzcJY/edit?fbclid=IwAR3CBSvRRuSmOiqAYC3yZscm1XV9YJfXEqA_wu_sE1VLXTcbd2gNzSvY5UU#gid=0 | title=Pending Philippine UNESCO Nominations or Applications }}

File:GRMondala Manila Metropolitan Theater.jpg, designed by Filipino architect Juan M. Arellano]]

File:Jones Bridge ML PH (M. Onod pic) - Flickr.jpg was redeveloped in 2019 to "restore" it to its near-original design using Beaux-Arts architecture.]]

Manila is known for its eclectic mix of architecture that includes a wide range of styles spanning the city's historical and cultural periods. Its architectural styles reflect American, Spanish, Chinese, and Malay influences.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Manila : : Architecture |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/362270/Manila/12356/Architecture |access-date=January 29, 2015}} Prominent Filipino architects including Antonio Toledo,{{cite book |title=Art: Perception & Appreciation |publisher=Goodwill Trading Co., Inc. |isbn=978-971-11-0933-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=T9UE6SQayrUC&pg=PA292 292] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9UE6SQayrUC |access-date=September 15, 2022 |language=en}} Felipe Roxas,{{cite news |last1=Harper |first1=Bambi L. |title=An architect named Roxas |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2479&dat=20010102&id=K342AAAAIBAJ&sjid=hCUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1413,29269197&hl=en |via=Google News |access-date=September 15, 2022 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=January 2, 2001 |page=9}} Juan M. Arellano{{cite news |last1=Martinez |first1=Melanio L. Jr. |title=Juan Arellano and the Bulacan Provincial Capitol Building |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/05/10/business/real-estate-and-property/juan-arellano-and-the-bulacan-provincial-capitol-building/1843010 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |work=The Manila Times |date=May 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509224458/https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/05/10/business/real-estate-and-property/juan-arellano-and-the-bulacan-provincial-capitol-building/1843010 |archive-date=May 9, 2022 |language=en}} and Tomás Mapúa have designed significant buildings in Manila such as churches, government offices, theaters, mansions, schools, and universities.{{cite news |last1=Ronquillo |first1=Aaron |title=Tomas Mapua — first Philippine architect |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/08/30/business/real-estate-and-property/tomas-mapua-first-philippine-architect/1856445 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |work=The Manila Times |date=August 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829234555/https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/08/30/business/real-estate-and-property/tomas-mapua-first-philippine-architect/1856445 |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |language=en}}

Manila is known for its Art Deco theaters, some of which were designed by Juan Nakpil and Pablo Antonio.{{cite book |last1=Deocampo |first1=Nick |title=Film: American Influences on Philippine Cinema |date=November 9, 2017 |publisher=Anvil Publishing, Inc. |isbn=978-971-27-2896-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WzaWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT310 |access-date=September 8, 2022 |language=en}} The historic Escolta Street in Binondo has many buildings of Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts architectural styles, many of which were designed by prominent Filipino architects during the American colonial period between the 1920s and the late 1930s. Many architects, artists, historians, and heritage advocacy groups are campaigning for the restoration of Escolta Street, which was once the premier street of the Philippines.{{Cite web |title=Escolta Street tour shows retro architecture and why it's worth reviving as a gimmick place |url=http://www.interaksyon.com/lifestyle/escolta-street-tour-shows-retro-architecture-and-why-its-worth-reviving-as-a-gimmick-place |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302171227/http://www.interaksyon.com/lifestyle/escolta-street-tour-shows-retro-architecture-and-why-its-worth-reviving-as-a-gimmick-place |archive-date=March 2, 2015 |access-date=January 30, 2015 |publisher=News5}}

File:Luneta Hotel.jpg, an example of French Renaissance architecture with Filipino stylized beaux art]]

Almost all of Manila's pre-war and Spanish colonial architecture was destroyed during the 1945 Battle of Manila by intensive bombardment by the United States Air Force. Reconstruction took place afterward, replacing the destroyed historic Spanish-era buildings with modern ones, erasing much of the city's character. Some of the destroyed buildings, such as the Old Legislative Building (now the National Museum of Fine Arts), Ayuntamiento de Manila (now the Bureau of the Treasury), and the under-construction San Ignacio Church and Convent (as the Museo de Intramuros), have been reconstructed. There are plans to refurbish and restore several neglected historic buildings and places such as Plaza Del Carmen, San Sebastian Church, and the NCCA Metropolitan Theater. Spanish-era shops and houses in the districts of Binondo, Quiapo, and San Nicolas are also planned to be restored as a part of a movement to restore the city to its pre-war state.{{Cite news |last=Jenny F. Manongdo |date=June 13, 2016 |title=Culture agency moves to restore "Manila, Paris of the East" image |work=Manila Bulletin |url=http://www.mb.com.ph/culture-agency-moves-to-restore-manila-paris-of-the-east-image/ |access-date=July 6, 2016}}{{Cite web |date=June 17, 2016 |title=Let's bring back the glory days of Manila with the rehabilitation of the Met! |url=http://manila.coconuts.co/2016/06/17/lets-bring-back-glory-days-manila-rehabilitation-met |access-date=July 6, 2016 |publisher=Coconuts Manila}}

Because Manila is prone to earthquakes, Spanish colonial architects invented a style called Earthquake Baroque, which churches and government buildings during the Spanish colonial period adopted. As a result, succeeding earthquakes of the 18th and 19th centuries barely affected Manila, although they periodically leveled the surrounding area. Modern buildings in and around Manila are designed or have been retrofitted to withstand an 8.2 magnitude quake in accordance with the country's building code.{{Cite news |last=Lila Ramos Shahani |date=May 11, 2015 |title=Living on a Fault Line: Manila in a 7.2 Earthquake |work=The Philippine Star |url=http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2015/05/11/1453392/living-fault-line-manila-7.2-earthquake |url-status=dead |access-date=May 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518090248/http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2015/05/11/1453392/living-fault-line-manila-7.2-earthquake |archive-date=May 18, 2015}}

{{Philippine Census

| title= Population Census of Manila

| 1903 = {{PH census population|1903}}

| 1918 = {{PH census population|1918}}

| 1939 = {{PH census population|1939}}

| 1948 = {{PH census population|1948}}

| 1960 = {{PH census population|1960}}

| 1970 = {{PH census population|1970}}

| 1975 = {{PH census population|1975}}

| 1980 = {{PH census population|1980}}

| 1990 = {{PH census population|1990}}

| 1995 = {{PH census population|1995}}

| 2000 = {{PH census population|2000}}

| 2007 = {{PH census population|2007}}

| 2010 = {{PH census population|2010}}

| 2015 = {{PH census population|2015}}

| 2020 = {{PH census population|2020}}

| 2025 =

| 2030 =

| footnote= Source: Philippine Statistics Authority{{PH census|2020}}{{PH census|2015}}{{PH census|2010}}{{PH census|2007}}{{LWUA population data}}

}}

File:Manila population pyramid.svg

File:Binondo Chinese New Year Ongpin Street 2024-02-10.jpg during Chinese New Year]]

According to the 2020 Philippine census, Manila has a population of 1,846,513 people, making it the second-most-populous city in the Philippines.{{PH census|2015|NCR}} Manila is the most-densely populated city in the world, with 41,515 inhabitants per km{{Sup|2}} in 2015. District 6 is listed as the densest with 68,266 inhabitants per km{{Sup|2}}, followed by District 1 with 64,936 and District 2 with 64,710. District 5 is the least-densely populated area with 19,235.{{Cite web |title=Manila – The city, History, Sister cities |url=http://www.manilacityph.com/pdf/population.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121093537/http://www.manilacityph.com/pdf/population.pdf |archive-date=November 21, 2008 |access-date=April 4, 2010 |publisher=Cambridge Encyclopedia}} (from Webcite archive)

Manila has been presumed to be the Philippines' largest city since the establishment of a permanent Spanish settlement, and eventually became the political, commercial, and ecclesiastical capital of the country.{{Cite web |title=The Philippines: The Spanish Period |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines/The-Spanish-period |access-date=April 8, 2017 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}} Since colonial times, Manila has been the destination of peoples whose origins are as wide-ranging as India{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23902933 | jstor=23902933 | title=Being Indian in Post-colonial Metro Manila: Ethnic Identities, Class, Race and the Media | last1=Lorenzana | first1=Jozon A. | journal=Philippine Sociological Review | date=2008 | volume=56 | pages=56–79 }} and Latin America.{{Cite journal |last=Barrows |first=David |year=2014 |title=A History of the Philippines |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38269/38269-h/38269-h.htm#pb139 |journal=Guttenburg Free Online E-books |volume=1 |page=229 |quote=Reforms under General Arandía.—The demoralization and misery with which Obando's rule closed were relieved somewhat by the capable government of Arandía, who succeeded him. Arandía was one of the few men of talent, energy, and integrity who stood at the head of affairs in these islands during two centuries. He reformed the greatly disorganized military force, establishing what was known as the "Regiment of the King," made up very largely of Mexican soldiers. He also formed a corps of artillerists composed of Filipinos. These were regular troops, who received from Arandía sufficient pay to enable them to live decently and like an army.}} Practicing forensic anthropology, while exhuming cranial bones in several Philippine cemeteries, researcher Matthew C. Go estimated that 7% of the mean amount, among the samples exhumed, have attribution to European descent.{{cite journal | last = Go | first = Matthew C. | title = An Admixture Approach to Trihybrid Ancestry Variation in the Philippines with Implications for Forensic Anthropology | journal = Human Biology | volume = 232 | issue =3 | date = January 15, 2018 | page = 178 | language = en | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329903258 | doi = 10.13110/humanbiology.90.3.01 | pmid = 33947174 | access-date = September 11, 2020 | doi-access = free | quote = Filipinos appear considerably admixed with respect to the other Asian population samples, carrying on average less Asian ancestry (71%) than our Korean (99%), Japanese (96%), Thai (93%), and Vietnamese (84%) reference samples. We also revealed substructure in our Filipino sample, showing that the patterns of ancestry vary within the Philippines—that is, between the four differently sourced Filipino samples. Mean estimates of Asian (76%) and European (7%) ancestry are greatest for the cemetery sample of forensic significance from Manila.}} Research work published in the Journal of Forensic Anthropology, collating contemporary Anthropological data show that the percentage of Filipino bodies who were sampled from the University of the Philippines, that is phenotypically classified as Asian (East, South and Southeast Asian) is 72.7%, Hispanic (Spanish-Amerindian Mestizo, Latin American, and/or Spanish-Malay Mestizo) is at 12.7%, Indigenous American (Native American) at 7.3%, African at 4.5%, and European at 2.7%.{{cite journal | vauthors = Go MC, Jones AR, Algee-Hewitt B, Dudzik B, Hughes C | title = Classification Trends among Contemporary Filipino Crania Using Fordisc 3.1 | journal = Human Biology | volume = 2 | issue = 4 | pages = 293–303 | publisher = University of Florida Press | date = 2019 | language = en | url = https://www.academia.edu/38744342 | doi = 10.5744/fa.2019.1005 | s2cid = 159266278 | quote = [Page 1] ABSTRACT: Filipinos represent a significant contemporary demographic group globally, yet they are underrepresented in the forensic anthropological literature. Given the complex population history of the Philippines, it is important to ensure that traditional methods for assessing the biological profile are appropriate when applied to these peoples. Here we analyze the classification trends of a modern Filipino sample (n = 110) when using the Fordisc 3.1 (FD3) software. We hypothesize that Filipinos represent an admixed population drawn largely from Asian and marginally from European parental gene pools, such that FD3 will classify these individuals morphometrically into reference samples that reflect a range of European admixture, in quantities from small to large. Our results show the greatest classification into Asian reference groups (72.7%), followed by Hispanic (12.7%), Indigenous American (7.3%), African (4.5%), and European (2.7%) groups included in FD3. This general pattern did not change between males and females. Moreover, replacing the raw craniometric values with their shape variables did not significantly alter the trends already observed. These classification trends for Filipino crania provide useful information for casework interpretation in forensic laboratory practice. Our findings can help biological anthropologists to better understand the evolutionary, population historical, and statistical reasons for FD3-generated classifications. The results of our study indicate that ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology would benefit from population-focused research that gives consideration to histories of colonialism and periods of admixture. | access-date = September 13, 2020 | doi-access = }} However, this is only according to an interpretation of the data wherein the reference groups, which were cross checked to the Filipino samples; for the Hispanic category, were Mexican-Americans, and the reference groups for the: European, African, and Indigenous American, categories, were: White Americans, Black Americans, and Native Americans from the USA, while the Asian reference groups were sourced from Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese origins. In contrast, a different anthropology study using Morphoscopic ancestry estimates in Filipino crania using multivariate probit regression models by J. T. Hefner, while analyzing Historic and Modern samples of Philippine skeletons, paint a different picture,{{Cite journal |last1=Go |first1=Matthew C. |last2=Hefner |first2=Joseph T. |date=14 January 2020 |title=Morphoscopic ancestry estimates in Filipino crania using multivariate probit regression models |journal=American Journal of Biological Anthropology |volume=172 |issue=3 |pages=386–401 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.24008|pmid=31943139 }} in that, when the reference group for "Asian" was Thailand (Southeast Asians) rather than Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese; and the reference group for "Hispanic" was Colombians (South Americans) rather than Mexicans, the historical and modern sample results for Filipinos, yielded the following ratios: Asian at 48.6%, African at 32.9%, and only a small portion classifying as either European at 12.9%, and finally for Hispanic at 5.7%.

Between the 1860s and 1890s, in urban areas of the Philippines – especially Manila – according to burial statistics, as much as 3.3% of the population were pure European Spaniards and pure Chinese composed 9.9% of the city's populace. The Spanish-Filipino and Chinese-Filipino Mestizo populations also fluctuated, with the mixed Spanish-Filipinos composing 19% of Manila's population.{{rp|539}} Eventually, these non-native categories diminished because they were assimilated into the majority Austronesian Filipino population.{{Cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29792149 |page=82|jstor=29792149 |title=Tracing the Decline of the Mestizo Categories in Philippine Life in the Late 19th Century |last1=Doeppers |first1=Daniel F. |journal=Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society |date=1994 |volume=22 |issue=2 }} During the Philippine Revolution, the term "Filipino" included people of any race born in the Philippines.{{cite book |last1=Hedman |first1=Eva-Lotta |last2=Sidel |first2=John |title=Philippine Politics and Society in the Twentieth Century: Colonial Legacies, Post-Colonial Trajectories |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-75421-2 |page=71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_lDpY3vj60C&pg=PA71 |access-date=July 30, 2020 }}{{cite book

| quote = The cultural identity of the mestizos was challenged as they became increasingly aware that they were true members of neither the Indio nor the Chinese community. Increasingly powerful but adrift, they linked with the Spanish mestizos, who were also being challenged because after the Latin American revolutions broke the Spanish Empire, many of the settlers from the New World, Caucasian Creoles born in Mexico or Peru, became suspect in the eyes of the Iberian Spanish. The Spanish Empire had lost its universality. |chapter=Chapter – 3 A SINGULAR AND A PLURAL FOLK |last=Steinberg |first=David Joel |title=THE PHILIPPINES A Singular and a Plural Place |publisher=Routledge |date=2018 |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NFMDwAAQBAJ |doi=10.4324/9780429494383 |isbn=978-0-8133-3755-5}} This explains the abrupt drop of the proportion of Chinese, Spanish, and Mestizo peoples across the country by the time of the first American census in 1903, as the foreign and mixed descended peoples identified solely as pure Filipinos.{{Cite journal |last=Doeppers |first=Daniel F. |date=1994 |title=Tracing the Decline of the Mestizo Categories in Philippine Life in the Late 19th Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29792149 |journal=Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=80–89 |jstor=29792149 |issn=0115-0243}} Manila's population dramatically increased since the 1903 census because people tended to move from rural areas to towns and cities. In the 1960 census, Manila became the first Philippine city to exceed one million people – more than five times of its 1903 population. The city continued to grow until the population stabilized at 1.6 million and experienced alternating increases and decreases starting in the 1990 census year. This phenomenon may be attributed to the higher growth experienced by suburbs and the already-very-high population density of the city. As such, Manila exhibited a decreasing percentage share of the metropolitan population{{Cite web|url=https://books.mongabay.com/population_estimates/full/Metro_Manila-Philippines.html|title=Population estimates for Metro Manila, Philippines, 1950–2015|website=books.mongabay.com}} from 63% in the 1950s to 27.5%{{Cite web |title=Profile of Makati City |url=http://www.makati.gov.ph/portal/uploads/staticmenu/docs/Human%20Resource.pdf |website=Makati City Government}} in 1980, and 13.8% in 2015. The much-larger Quezon City marginally surpassed the population of Manila in 1990 and by the 2015 census it already has 1.1 million more people. Nationally, the population of Manila was expected to be overtaken by cities with larger territories such as Caloocan and Davao City by 2020.{{Cite news |last=Mercurio |first=Richmond S. |title=Philippine cities with over 1M population to nearly triple by 2025 |work=The Philippine Star |url=http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/09/19/1501296/philippine-cities-over-1m-population-nearly-triple-2025 |access-date=April 8, 2017}} The vernacular language is Filipino, which is mostly based on the Tagalog language of the city and its surroundings, and this Manilan form of spoken Tagalog has become the lingua franca of the Philippines, having spread throughout the archipelago through mass media and entertainment. English is the language most widely used in education and business, and is in heavy everyday use throughout Metro Manila and the rest of the Philippines.

Philippine Hokkien, which is locally known as Lan-nang-oe, a variant of Southern Min, is mainly spoken by the city's Chinese-Filipino community. According to data provided by the Bureau of Immigration, 3.12 million Chinese citizens arrived in the Philippines from January 2016 to May 2018.{{Cite news |title=More than 3 million Chinese allowed entry into Philippines since 2016 – Immigration data |work=The Philippine Star |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/06/09/1823064/more-3-million-chinese-allowed-entry-philippines-2016-immigration-data |access-date=October 4, 2018}}

File:PNP Policemen (Rizal Park, Manila; 2015-06-12).jpg officers in Rizal Park.]]

Crime in Manila is concentrated in areas that are associated with poverty, drug abuse, and gangs. Crime in the city is also directly related to its changing demographics and unique criminal justice system. The illegal drug trade is a major problem of the city; in Metro Manila alone, 92% of the barangays were affected by illegal drugs in February 2015.{{Cite news |last=Ranada |first=Pia |date=January 5, 2016 |title=A look at the state of crime, drugs in the Philippines |work=Rappler |agency=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/118004-crime-drugs-philippines |access-date=April 26, 2016}}

From 2010 to 2015, Manila had the second-highest index crime rates in the Philippines, with 54,689 cases or an average of about 9,100 cases per year.{{Cite news |date=April 1, 2016 |title=Top 15 cities with highest index crimes |work=ABS-CBN News |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/v2/04/01/16/top-15-cities-with-highest-index-crimes |access-date=December 5, 2017}} By October 2017, Manila Police District (MPD) reported a 38.7% decrease in index crimes from 5,474 cases in 2016 to 3,393 in 2017. MPD's crime-solution efficiency also improved; six-to-seven of every ten crimes were solved by the city police force.{{Cite news |last=Aberia, Jaimie Rose |date=October 2, 2017 |title=Crime rate in Manila drops by 38% for past 12 months |work=Manila Bulletin |url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/02/crime-rate-in-manila-drops-by-38-for-past-12-months/ |access-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205194709/https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/02/crime-rate-in-manila-drops-by-38-for-past-12-months/ |url-status=dead }} MPD was cited as the Best Police District in Metro Manila in 2017 for registering the highest crime-solution efficiency.{{Cite news |last=Casas, Bill |date=August 22, 2017 |title=MPD is top NCR police district |work=Manila Standard |url=http://manilastandard.net/sunday-lgu-section-pdf/ncr/245047/mpd-is-top-ncr-police-district.html |access-date=March 3, 2018}}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption= Religion in Manila (circa 2010)

|label1 = Catholicism

|value1 = 93.5

|color1 = Gold

|label2 = {{Lang|tl|Iglesia ni Cristo|italic=no}}

|value2 = 1.9

|color2 = skyblue

|label3 = Protestantism

|value3 = 1.8

|color3 = Indigo

|label4 = Buddhism

|value4 = 1.1

|color4 = orange

|label5 = Other

|value5 = 1.4

|color5 = Green

}}

As a result of Spanish cultural influence, Manila is a predominantly Christian city. {{As of|2010}}, 93.5% of the population were Roman Catholic, 1.9% were adherents of the {{Lang|tl|Iglesia ni Cristo|italic=no}}, 1.8% followed various Protestant, and 1.1% were Buddhists. Members of Islam and other religions make up the remaining 1.4% of the population.{{Cite web |title=Manila ("Maynila") |url=http://www.manilacityph.com/aboutmanila.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110125033029/http://www.manilacityph.com/aboutmanila.pdf |archive-date=January 25, 2011 |access-date=October 22, 2010}}

Manila is the seat of prominent Catholic churches and institutions. There are 113 Catholic churches within the city limits; 63 of which are considered major shrines, basilicas, or cathedrals.{{Cite news |date=December 15, 2016 |title=Manila churches under tight guard |work=The Manila Times |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/manila-churches-tight-guard/301839/ |access-date=December 21, 2016}} Manila Cathedral, the country's oldest established church, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila.{{Cite web |title=Wow Philippines: Manila-Cosmopolitan City of the Philippines |url=http://www.tourism.gov.ph/explore_phil/place_details.asp?content=description&province=80 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730045417/http://www.tourism.gov.ph/explore_phil/place_details.asp?content=description&province=80 |archive-date=July 30, 2008 |access-date=March 4, 2014 |publisher=Department of Tourism}} There are another three basilicas in the city; Quiapo Church, Binondo Church, and the Minor Basilica of San Sebastián.{{cite news |last1=Madarang |first1=Rhea Claire |title=8 beautiful Metro Manila churches for Visita Iglesia |url=https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/travel/55535-beautiful-churches-manila-visita-iglesia/ |access-date=August 12, 2022 |work=Rappler |date=April 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702111509/https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/travel/55535-beautiful-churches-manila-visita-iglesia/ |archive-date=July 2, 2022}}San Agustín Church in Intramuros is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.{{cite web |title=Baroque Churches of the Philippines |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/677/ |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |access-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808063410/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/677 |archive-date=August 8, 2022 |language=en}}

Several Mainline Protestant denominations are headquartered in the city. St. Stephen's Parish pro-cathedral in Santa Cruz district is the see of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines' Diocese of Central Philippines, while on Taft Avenue are the main cathedral and central offices of {{Lang|es|Iglesia Filipina Independiente}} (also called the Aglipayan Church), a nationalist church that is a product of the Philippine Revolution. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has a temple within Manila, one of two operating LDS temples in the Philippines.

The indigenous {{Lang|tl|Iglesia ni Cristo|italic=no}} has several locales (akin to parishes) in the city, including its first chapel, now a museum, in Punta, Santa Ana.{{cite news |title=House Honors Iglesia Ni Cristo on 108th Founding Anniversary |url=https://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=12205 |access-date=August 18, 2022 |work=House of Representatives of the Philippines |date=August 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808163605/https://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=12205 |archive-date=August 8, 2022}} Evangelical, Pentecostal and Seventh-day Adventist denominations also thrive. The headquarters of the Philippine Bible Society is in Manila. The main campus of the Cathedral of Praise is located on Taft Avenue. Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide has several branches and campuses in Manila.

Religious groups such as Members Church of God International (MCGI),{{Cite news |date=May 26, 2021 |title=Religious group na MCGI, namigay ng food packs sa Manila Police District |url=https://rmn.ph/religious-group-na-mcgi-namigay-ng-food-packs-sa-manila-police-district/ |access-date=May 8, 2024 |work=RMN Networks}} Iglesia ni Cristo, Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide, and the El Shaddai movement celebrate their anniversaries at Quirino Grandstand, which is an open space in Rizal Park.{{cite book |last1=Veer |first1=Peter van der |title=Handbook of Religion and the Asian City: Aspiration and Urbanization in the Twenty-First Century |date=May 19, 2015 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-28122-6 |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdYkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |access-date=September 9, 2022 |language=en}}

File:Allan Jay Quesada - Manila Cathedral 001.jpg|Manila Cathedral is the seat of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila.

File:San Sebastian Church, Quiapo, Manila, Dec 2023.jpg|The Minor Basilica of San Sebastián is the only all-steel church in Asia.{{Cite web |title=World Heritage: San Sebastian Church |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/518/ |access-date=April 20, 2008 |website=Tentative List for the World Heritage List |publisher=UNESCO}}

File:San Agustin Church Intramuros 2023-05-28.jpg|San Agustín Church in Intramuros, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

File:Binondo, Manila San Nicolas Heritage Centre 47.jpg|Binondo Church serves the Roman Catholic Chinese community.

File:Quiapo Church 2024-05-31.jpg|Quiapo Church, home of the iconic Black Nazarene, whose Traslacion feast is celebrated every January 9

Manila has many Taoist and Buddhist temples like Seng Guan Temple that serve the spiritual needs of the Chinese Filipino community.{{cite news |last1=Calvelo |first1=George |title=Seng Guan temple prepped for Lunar New Year |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/multimedia/photo/01/27/22/prepping-for-chinese-new-year |access-date=August 18, 2022 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=January 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127180610/https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/multimedia/photo/01/27/22/prepping-for-chinese-new-year |archive-date=January 27, 2022}} Quiapo has a "Muslim town" that includes the city's largest mosque Masjid Al-Dahab.{{cite news |last1=Saludes |first1=Mark |title=Manila tour promotes closer Muslim-Christian ties - UCA News |url=https://www.ucanews.com/news/manila-tour-promotes-closer-muslim-christian-ties/85454 |access-date=August 18, 2022 |work=Union of Catholic Asian News |date=June 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818104403/https://www.ucanews.com/news/manila-tour-promotes-closer-muslim-christian-ties/85454 |archive-date=August 18, 2022 |language=en}} Members of the Indian expatriate community can worship at the large Hindu temple in the city or at the Sikh gurdwara on United Nations Avenue. The Baháʼí Faith's governing body in the Philippines the National Spiritual Assembly is headquartered near Manila's eastern boundary with Makati.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

File:Intramuros, Binondo-Quiapo skyline MH (Manila; 07-19-2024).jpg, the central business district of the city of Manila.]]

Manila is a major center for commerce, banking and finance, retailing, transportation, tourism, real estate, new media, traditional media, advertising, legal services, accounting, insurance, theater, fashion, and the arts. Around 60,000 establishments operate in the city.{{Cite news |last=Macapagal |first=Tony |date=February 8, 2017 |title=Manila dads hail fast CTO service |work=The Standard |url=http://thestandard.com.ph/news/metro/228740/manila-dads-hail-fast-cto-service.html |access-date=February 10, 2017 |archive-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211155344/http://thestandard.com.ph/news/metro/228740/manila-dads-hail-fast-cto-service.html |url-status=dead }}

The National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines, which annually publishes the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), ranks the country's cities, municipalities, and provinces according to their economic dynamism, government efficiency, and infrastructure. According to the 2022 CMCI, Manila was the second-most-competitive highly urbanized city in the Philippines.{{Cite web |title=2022 Rankings of Highly Urbanized Cities |url=https://cmci.dti.gov.ph/rankings-data.php?unit=Highly%20Urbanized%20Cities |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221230111219/https://cmci.dti.gov.ph/rankings-data.php?unit=Highly%20Urbanized%20Cities |archive-date=December 30, 2022 |access-date=December 30, 2022 |website=Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index |url-status=live }} Manila held the title of the country's most-competitive city in 2015, and since then has been in the top three, denoting Manila is consistently one of the best place to live in and do business.{{Cite news |last=Rex Remitio |date=July 17, 2015 |title=Manila is Philippines' most competitive city – NCC |work=CNN Philippines |url=http://cnnphilippines.com/metro/2015/07/17/Manila-most-competitive-city-national-competitiveness-council.html |url-status=dead |access-date=July 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818083722/http://cnnphilippines.com/metro/2015/07/17/Manila-most-competitive-city-national-competitiveness-council.html |archive-date=August 18, 2016}} The city has an estimated GDP of ₱987.88 billion{{cite web |url=https://rssoncr.psa.gov.ph/system/files/attachment-dir/Press-Release_Provincial-Product-Accounts_2023_City-of-Manila.pdf | title=City of Manila's Economy Records a 2.2 Percent Growth in 2023 |date=November 15, 2024 |accessdate=December 31, 2024 |work=Philippine Statistics Authority }} and is the 3rd largest economy of the National Capital Region, accounting for 15% of the region's total economy as of 2023.{{cite web |url=https://rssoncr.psa.gov.ph/content/NCRII/quezon-city-posts-45-percent-gdp-growth-2023-leading-ncrs-economy-193-percent-share | title=Quezon City Posts 4.5 Percent GDP Growth in 2023; Leading NCR's Economy with 19.3 Percent Share |date=November 15, 2024 |accessdate=November 17, 2024 |work=Philippine Statistics Authority }}

Binondo, the oldest and one of the largest Chinatowns in the world, was the center of commerce and business activities in the city. Numerous residential and office skyscrapers occupy its medieval streets. As of 2013, plans by the city government of Manila to turn the Chinatown area into a business process outsourcing (BPO) hub were in progress; thirty unoccupied buildings had been already identified for conversion into BPO offices. Most of these buildings are on Escolta Street, Binondo.{{Cite news |title=Plan to turn Chinatown into BPO hub gains ground |work=ABS-CBN News |url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/07/03/12/plan-turn-chinatown-bpo-hub-gains-ground |access-date=March 1, 2013}}

File:Port of Manila.jpg, the chief port of the Philippines]]

The Port of Manila is the largest seaport in the Philippines and the main international shipping route into the country. The Philippine Ports Authority oversees the operation and management of the country's ports. International Container Terminal Services Inc., according to the Asian Development Bank, is one of the top-five major maritime terminal operators in the world,{{Cite web |title=International Container Terminal Services Inc. |url=http://www.pse.org.ph/html/ListedCompanies/listedcompanyinfo.jsp?compID=83&recCtr=4&srch=I |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20080229193046/http://www.pse.org.ph/html/ListedCompanies/listedcompanyinfo.jsp?compID=83&recCtr=4&srch=I |archive-date=February 29, 2008 |access-date=October 22, 2008 |publisher=Philippine Stock Exchange}}{{Cite web |date=September 27, 2007 |title=Asia's 200 Best Under A Billion: International Container Terminal Services |url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/24/markets_07bub_International-Container-Terminal-Services_I1PT.html |access-date=October 22, 2008 |website=Forbes}} and has its headquarters and main operations at the Port of Manila. Another port operator, Asian Terminal Incorporated, has its corporate office and main operations at Manila South Harbor, and its container depository is in Santa Mesa. Manila is classified as a Medium-Port Megacity, using the Southampton system for port-city classification.{{cite journal | doi=10.1080/03088839.2020.1802785 | title=The Southampton system: A new universal standard approach for port-city classification | year=2021 | last1=Roberts | first1=Toby | last2=Williams | first2=Ian | last3=Preston | first3=John | journal=Maritime Policy & Management | volume=48 | issue=4 | pages=530–542 | s2cid=225502755 | doi-access=free }}

Manufacturers within the city produce industrial-related products such as chemicals, textiles, clothing, electronic goods, food, beverages, and tobacco products. Local businesses process primary commodities for export, including rope, plywood, refined sugar, copra, and coconut oil. The food-processing industry is one of the most-stable manufacturing sector in the city.{{cite web|url=https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Food%20Processing%20Ingredients%20Annual_Manila_Philippines_RP2024-0011.pdf|title=Food Processing Ingredients Annual|publisher=Foreign Agricultural Service|date=1 April 2024|access-date=28 June 2024}}

File:CCP in Roxas Boulevard SJasminum 48 BSP Multi-storey (cropped).jpg headquarters]]

Pandacan oil depot houses the storage facilities and distribution terminals of Caltex Philippines, Pilipinas Shell, and Petron Corporation; the major players in the country's petroleum industry. The oil depot has been a subject of various concerns, including its environmental and health impact on the residents of Manila. The Supreme Court ordered the oil depot to be relocated outside the city by July 2015,{{Cite news |date=December 16, 2014 |title=Estrada: Oil depot closed by July 15 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/657244/estrada-vows-to-enforce-eviction-of-oil-firms-from-pandacan-by-july-15-2015 |access-date=February 5, 2015}}{{Cite news |date=December 21, 2014 |title=Pandacan oil depot "decontamination" pushed after Big 3 exit |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/658372/pandacan-oil-depot-decontamination-pushed-after-big-3-exit |access-date=February 5, 2015}} but it failed to meet this deadline. Most of the oil depot facility inside the {{Convert|33|ha|acre|abbr=out|adj=on}} compound were demolished,{{cite news |title=Finally, Pandacan oil depot dismantled |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2015/08/17/todays-headline-photos/top-stories/finally-pandacan-oil-depot-dismantled/210501 |access-date=September 15, 2022 |work=The Manila Times |date=August 17, 2015 |language=en }} and plans have been made to convert it into a transport hub or food park.{{cite news |last1=Lectura |first1=Lenie |title=SMC wants to turn Pandacan oil depot into bus, food terminal |url=https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/06/06/smc-wants-to-turn-pandacan-oil-depot-into-bus-food-terminal/ |access-date=September 15, 2022 |work=BusinessMirror |date=June 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012033312/https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/06/06/smc-wants-to-turn-pandacan-oil-depot-into-bus-food-terminal/ |archive-date=October 12, 2019}}

Manila is a major publishing center of the Philippines.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=MSN Encarta: Manila |publisher=MSN Encarta |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578132/Manila.html |access-date=March 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028152020/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578132/Manila.html |archive-date=October 28, 2009 |url-status=dead}} Manila Bulletin, the Philippines' largest broadsheet newspaper by circulation, is headquartered in Intramuros.{{Cite news |title=MB Website |work=Manila Bulletin |url=http://www.mb.com.ph/}} Other major publishing companies in the country The Manila Times, The Philippine Star, and Manila Standard Today are headquartered in the Port Area. The Chinese Commercial News, the Philippines' oldest existing Chinese-language newspaper, and the country's third-oldest newspaper,{{Cite news |last=Andrade, Jeannette |date=December 1, 2007 |title=Lino Brocka, 3 others installed on remembrance wall |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20071201-104249/Lino_Brocka,_3_others_installed_on_remembrance_wall |url-status=dead |access-date=July 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502193758/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20071201-104249/Lino_Brocka%2C_3_others_installed_on_remembrance_wall |archive-date=May 2, 2014}} is headquartered in Binondo. DWRK used to have its studio at the FEMS Tower 1 along Osmeña Highway in Malate before transferring to the MBC Building at the CCP Complex in 2008.{{cite web |title=COMPANY PROFILE |url=https://www.easyrock.com.ph/info/company-profile/ |website=96.3 Easy Rock |access-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921040017/https://www.easyrock.com.ph/info/company-profile/ |archive-date=September 21, 2015}}

Manila serves as the headquarters of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which is located on Roxas Boulevard.{{Cite web |title=BSP Website |url=http://www.bsp.gov.ph/ |publisher=Central Bank of the Phils.}} The Landbank of the Philippines and Philippine Trust Company also have their headquarters in Manila. Unilever Philippines used to have its corporate office on United Nations Avenue in Paco before transferring to Bonifacio Global City in 2016.{{Cite web |title=Unilever Philippines |url=http://www.unilever.com.ph/ |publisher=Unilever}} Vehicle manufacturer Toyota also has its regional office on UN Avenue.

{{main|Tourism in Metro Manila}}

File:Manila Cathedral at Noon.jpg with the Manila Cathedral in the background.]]

Manila welcomes over one million tourists each year. Major tourist destinations include the historic Walled City of Intramuros, the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, Manila Ocean Park, Binondo (Chinatown), Ermita, Malate, Manila Zoo, the National Museum Complex, and Rizal Park.{{Cite web |title=10 Best Places to Visit in Manila with Kids |url=https://gofamgo.com/10-best-places-to-visit-in-manila-with-kids/ |publisher=Gofamgo |access-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120094008/https://gofamgo.com/10-best-places-to-visit-in-manila-with-kids/ |url-status=dead }} Both the historic Walled City of Intramuros and Rizal Park were designated as flagship destinations and as tourism enterprise zones in the Tourism Act of 2009.{{cite PH act |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2009/05/12/republic-act-no-9593-s-2009 |title=The Tourism Act of 2009 |chamber=RA |number=9593 |date=2009-05-12 |publisher=Official Gazette |accessdate=2024-10-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906213559/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2009/05/12/republic-act-no-9593-s-2009 |archivedate=September 6, 2017}}

Rizal Park, also known as Luneta Park, is a national park and the largest urban park in Asia.{{Cite news |last=Gwen de la Cruz |date=January 12, 2015 |title=FAST FACTS: Rizal Park |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/specials/pope-francis-ph/stories/80688-fast-facts-rizal-park |access-date=March 8, 2015 |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307100459/http://www.rappler.com/specials/pope-francis-ph/stories/80688-fast-facts-rizal-park |url-status=dead }} with an area of {{convert|58|ha|acre|abbr=off}},{{Cite web |title=Rizal Park |url=http://www.wordtravels.com/Attractions/?attraction=735 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420054605/http://www.wordtravels.com/Attractions/?attraction=735 |archive-date=April 20, 2009 |access-date=March 4, 2014 |publisher=WordTravels}} The park was constructed to honor of the country's national hero José Rizal, who was executed by the Spaniards on charges of subversion. The flagpole west of the Rizal Monument is the Kilometer Zero marker for distances to locations across the country. The park is managed by the National Parks and Development Committee.{{cite news |last1=Aning |first1=Jerome |title=Vatican City can fit in Rizal Park |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/120581/vatican-city-can-fit-in-rizal-park-2 |access-date=August 19, 2022 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=January 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107191158/https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/120581/vatican-city-can-fit-in-rizal-park-2 |archive-date=January 7, 2012 |language=en}}

The {{convert|0.67|km2|sqmi|sp=us|adj=on}} Walled City of Intramuros is the historic center of Manila. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism. It contains Manila Cathedral and the 18th Century San Agustin Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kalesa is a popular mode of transportation for tourists in Intramuros and nearby places including Binondo, Ermita and Rizal Park.{{Cite news |last=Jovic Lee |date=July 20, 2014 |title=Intramuros cocheros: Hooves, history and hope for a fare hike |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/621494/intramuros-cocheros-hooves-history-and-hope-for-a-fare-hike |access-date=March 23, 2015}} Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world, was established in 1521{{cite book |last1=Cortés |first1=Carlos E. |title=Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia |date=August 15, 2013 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-7626-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VQ1zAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA485 485] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQ1zAwAAQBAJ |access-date=August 19, 2022 |language=en}} and served as a hub of Chinese commerce before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines. Its main attractions are Binondo Church, Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch, Seng Guan Buddhist Temple, and authentic Chinese restaurants.

Manila is designated as the country's leading destination for medical tourism, which is estimated to annually generate $1 billion in revenue.{{Cite web |title=Medical Tourism, Treatments and Surgery in Manila |url=http://www.world-guides.com/asia/philippines/national-capital-region/manila/manila_medical.html |access-date=October 27, 2014 |publisher=World Guides}} Lack of a progressive health system, inadequate infrastructure, and the unstable political environment are seen as hindrances to its growth.{{Cite news |last=Edgardo S. Tugade |date=June 1, 2014 |title=Challenges to PH medical tourism |work=The Manila Times |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/challenges-to-ph-medical-tourism/100820/ |access-date=October 27, 2014}}

File:Old Tutuban Train Station, Manila, Aug 2024.jpg built in 1892, which is now converted to a shopping mall]]

File:Divisoria Shopping.jpg is a popular flea market for locals and tourists. Shown is the interior of 168 Shopping Mall.]]

Manila is regarded as one of the best shopping destinations in Asia.{{Cite web |date=November 1, 2012 |title=Manila 11th most attractive shopping destination in Asia Pacific –study – Yahoo! News Philippines |url=http://ph.news.yahoo.com/manila-11th-most-attractive-shopping-destination-asia-pacific-050612020.html |access-date=March 12, 2013 |publisher=Ph.news.yahoo.com}}{{Cite web |last=Arveen |first=Kim |date=October 30, 2012 |title=Manila outperforms 15 Asian cities in "shopping" index – Yahoo! News Philippines |url=http://ph.news.yahoo.com/manila-outperforms-15-asian-cities-in--shopping--index.html |access-date=March 12, 2013 |publisher=Ph.news.yahoo.com}} Major shopping malls, department stores, markets, supermarkets, and bazaars are located within the city.

Divisoria in Tondo has been locally described as a "shopping mecca" of Manila.{{cite news |last1=Macas |first1=Trisha |title=Divisoria shopping guide: Where to shop for what in Manila's shopping mecca |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/387866/divisoria-shopping-guide-where-to-shop-for-what-in-manila-s-shopping-mecca/story/ |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=GMA News Online |date=November 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620104908/https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/387866/divisoria-shopping-guide-where-to-shop-for-what-in-manila-s-shopping-mecca/story/ |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=What NOT to buy in Divisoria |url=https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/15849-a-guide-to-divisoria/ |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=Rappler |date=November 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112134935/https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/15849-a-guide-to-divisoria/ |archive-date=November 12, 2012}} Shopping malls sell goods at bargain prices. Small vendors occupy several roads, causing pedestrian and vehicular traffic. A well-known landmark in Divisoria is the Tutuban Center, a large shopping mall that is a part of the Philippine National Railways' Main Station. It attracts 1 million people every month and is expected to add another 400,000 people upon the completion of the LRT Line 2 West Extension, making it Manila's busiest transfer station.{{Cite news |title=Tutuban Center may become Manila's busiest transfer station |work=ABS-CBN News |url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/03/20/15/tutuban-center-may-become-manilas-busiest-transfer-station |access-date=March 21, 2015}} Another "lifestyle mall" is Lucky Chinatown. There are almost 1 million shoppers in Divisoria according to the Manila Police District.{{Cite web |date=November 27, 2017 |title=More cops on Manila streets |url=http://tempo.com.ph/2017/11/28/more-cops-on-manila-streets/ |access-date=November 28, 2017 |publisher=Tempo}}

Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world, is the city's center of commerce and trade for all types of businesses run by Filipino-Chinese merchants, with a wide variety of shops and restaurants. Quiapo is referred to as the "Old Downtown", where tiangges, markets, boutique shops, music and electronics stores are common.{{cite web |title=Quiapo: "Old Downtown" Manila |url=https://legacy.pulitzercenter.org/reporting/quiapo-old-downtown-manila |website=Pulitzer Center |access-date=September 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220908120910/https://legacy.pulitzercenter.org/reporting/quiapo-old-downtown-manila |archive-date=September 8, 2022 |language=en |date=August 12, 2011 |url-status=live }} Many department stores are on Recto Avenue.

Robinsons Place Manila is Manila's largest shopping mall.{{Cite web |title=Manila |url=http://www.robinsonsmalls.com/malls_manila.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308214134/http://robinsonsmalls.com/malls_manila.php |archive-date=March 8, 2013 |access-date=March 12, 2013 |publisher=Robinsons Malls}} The mall was the second and the largest Robinsons Malls built. SM Supermalls operates the shopping malls SM City Manila and SM City San Lazaro. SM City Manila is located on the former site of YMCA Manila beside Manila City Hall in Ermita, while SM City San Lazaro is built on the site of the former San Lazaro Hippodrome in Santa Cruz. The building of the former Manila Royal Hotel in Quiapo, which is known for its revolving restaurant, is now the SM Clearance Center and was established in 1972.{{Cite web |title=Miss Earth candidates visits 100 Revolving Restaurant |url=http://renz15.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/miss-earth-candidates-visits-100-revolving-restaurant/ |access-date=January 12, 2012}} The site of the first SM Department Store is Carlos Palanca Sr. (formerly Echague) Street in San Miguel.{{cite news |title=Sanso mural hails 70-year friendship with Henry Sy |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i1Q1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=YiUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1890%2C14990342 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |via=Google News |date=November 4, 2007}}

File:National Museum of Fine Arts (Manila, 2024) (digitally altered to remove Torre de Manila).jpg]]

As the cultural center of the Philippines, Manila has a number of museums. The National Museum Complex of the National Museum of the Philippines, located in Rizal Park, is composed of the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Anthropology, the National Museum of Natural History,{{cite news |last1=Layug |first1=Benjamin |title=The Museum of the Filipino People reopens its doors |url=https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/11/27/the-museum-of-the-filipino-people-reopens-its-doors/ |access-date=August 18, 2022 |work=BusinessMirror |date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126162252/https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/11/27/the-museum-of-the-filipino-people-reopens-its-doors/ |archive-date=November 26, 2021}} and the National Planetarium. Spoliarium, a famous painting by Juan Luna, can be found in the complex.{{cite news |last1=Nicolas |first1=Jino |title=National Museum of Natural History: A focus on biodiversity |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/focus/2018/05/18/158707/national-museum-of-natural-history-a-focus-on-biodiversity/ |access-date=August 18, 2022 |work=BusinessWorld |date=May 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507013515/https://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/focus/2018/05/18/158707/national-museum-of-natural-history-a-focus-on-biodiversity/ |archive-date=May 7, 2022}}

The city hosts the National Library of the Philippines, a repository of the country's printed and recorded cultural heritage, and other literary and information resources.{{cite web |title=Philippines |url=http://web.simmons.edu/~chen/gdl/a-p/Philippines.htm |website=Simmons University |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122105351/http://web.simmons.edu/~chen/gdl/a-p/Philippines.htm |archive-date=January 22, 2022}}{{cite web |title=Other Executive Offices (OEOs); National Library of the Philippines; Strategic Objectives |url=https://www.dbm.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/PerformanceManagement/Mandate/2601922018.pdf |website=Department of Budget and Management |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627043943/https://www.dbm.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/PerformanceManagement/Mandate/2601922018.pdf |archive-date=June 27, 2021}} The National Historical Commission of the Philippines maintains two history museums in the city, which are the Museo ni Apolinario Mabini – PUP and the Museo ni Jose Rizal – Fort Santiago.{{cite news |last1=Villafuerte |first1=Din M. |title=Water runs deep at Museo El Deposito |url=https://business.inquirer.net/265943/water-runs-deep-at-museo-el-deposito |access-date=August 20, 2022 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=March 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302023859/https://business.inquirer.net/265943/water-runs-deep-at-museo-el-deposito |archive-date=March 2, 2019 |language=en}} Museums established or run by the National Library and by educational institutions such asDLS-CSB Museum of Contemporary Art and Design,{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.mcadmanila.org.ph/about-us/ |website=Museum of Contemporary Art and Design |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203171203/https://www.mcadmanila.org.ph/about-us/ |archive-date=February 3, 2021}} UST Museum of Arts and Sciences,{{cite web |title=Home |url=https://ustmuseum.ust.edu.ph/ |website=UST Museum |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815021459/https://ustmuseum.ust.edu.ph/ |archive-date=August 15, 2022}} and the UP Museum of a History of Ideas are located in the city.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://mhi.upm.edu.ph/node/6 |website=UP Museum of a History of Ideas |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820114604/https://mhi.upm.edu.ph/node/6 |archive-date=August 20, 2022}}

File:Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Manila, Filipinas, 2023-08-26, DD 46.jpg at Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park]]

Bahay Tsinoy, one of Manila's prominent museums, documents the lives of Chinese people and their contributions to the history of the Philippines.{{cite news |last1=Mawis |first1=Arch Vittoria Lou |title=The house that Tsinoys built |url=https://business.inquirer.net/245719/house-tsinoys-built |access-date=August 18, 2022 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=February 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185432/https://business.inquirer.net/245719/house-tsinoys-built |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Rocamora |first1=Joyce Ann L. |title=Visita Intramuros: Reintroducing Manila's tourism belt |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1072253 |access-date=August 18, 2022 |work=Philippine News Agency |date=June 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818121610/https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1072253 |archive-date=August 18, 2022 |language=en}} Intramuros Light and Sound Museum chronicles Filipinos' desire for freedom during the revolution under Rizal's leadership and other revolutionary leaders. The Metropolitan Museum of Manila houses modern and contemporary visual arts, and exhibits Filipino arts and culture.{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum of Manila |url=https://culture360.asef.org/resources/metropolitan-museum-manila/ |website=ASEF culture360 |publisher=Asia-Europe Museum Network |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123142338/https://culture360.asef.org/resources/metropolitan-museum-manila/ |archive-date=January 23, 2021 |language=en}}

Other museums in the city are the Museo Pambata,{{cite web |title=Contact Information |url=http://www.museopambata.org/contactinfo.html |website=Museo Pambata |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502162027/http://www.museopambata.org/contactinfo.html |archive-date=May 2, 2017}} a children's museum;{{cite web |title=Museo Pambata |url=https://culture360.asef.org/resources/museo-pambata/ |website=ASEF culture360 |publisher=Asia-Europe Museum Network |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204145033/https://culture360.asef.org/resources/museo-pambata/ |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |language=en}} and Plaza San Luis, an outdoor heritage public museum that includes nine Spanish Bahay na Bato houses.{{cite web |title=2021 Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Presidential Decree No. 1616, as Amended |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2021/01jan/20211103-IRR-OF-PD-1616.pdf |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |publisher=Intramuros Administration |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125113431/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2021/01jan/20211103-IRR-OF-PD-1616.pdf |archive-date=January 25, 2022 |page=49}} Ecclesiastical museums located in the city are the Parish of the Our Lady of the Abandoned in Santa Ana;{{cite web |title=Built Heritage Tradition of the Sta. Ana Church |url=https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2021/10/28/built-heritage-tradition-of-the-sta-ana-church/ |website=National Museum of the Philippines |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731094214/https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2021/10/28/built-heritage-tradition-of-the-sta-ana-church/ |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |date=October 28, 2021}} San Agustin Church Museum;{{cite news |last1=Godinez |first1=Bong |title=Catch a Lenten exhibit at the reopened San Agustin Museum in Intramuros, Manila |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/celebritylife/hobbies/74637/catch-a-lenten-exhibit-at-the-reopened-san-agustin-museum-in-intramuros-manila/story |access-date=August 20, 2022 |work=GMA Entertainment |date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227120838/https://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/celebritylife/hobbies/74637/catch-a-lenten-exhibit-at-the-reopened-san-agustin-museum-in-intramuros-manila/story |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |language=en}} and the Museo de Intramuros, which houses the ecclesiastical art collection of the Intramuros Administration in the reconstructed San Ignacio Church and Convent.{{cite news |last1=Soliman |first1=Michelle Anne P. |title=Filipino faith and artistry at the Museo de Intramuros |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2019/05/08/229596/filipino-faith-and-artistry-at-the-museo-de-intramuros/ |access-date=August 20, 2022 |work=BusinessWorld |date=May 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820112137/https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2019/05/08/229596/filipino-faith-and-artistry-at-the-museo-de-intramuros/ |archive-date=August 20, 2022}}

File:Rizal Memorial Football Stadium - grandstand, track and field (Malate, Manila; 11-27-2019).jpg, part of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.]]

File:Basketball in Intramuros.jpg in Intramuros]]

Sports in Manila have a long and distinguished history. The city's, and in general the country's, main sport is basketball. Most barangays have a basketball court or a makeshift one, and court markings are frequently drawn on the streets. Larger barangays have covered courts where inter-barangay leagues are held every April to May. Manila's major sports venues include Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and San Andres Gym, the base of the now-defunct Manila Metrostars.{{Cite web |title=Manila: Sports |url=http://www.city-data.com/world-cities/Manila-Sports.html |access-date=January 15, 2010}} Rizal Memorial Sports Complex houses a track and football stadium, a baseball stadium, tennis courts, Rizal Memorial Coliseum, and Ninoy Aquino Stadium; the latter two are indoor arenas. The Rizal complex had hosted several multi-sport events, such as the 1954 Asian Games and the 1934 Far Eastern Games. When the Philippines hosts the Southeast Asian Games, most of the events are held at the complex but in the 2005 Games, most events were held elsewhere. The 1960 ABC Championship and the 1973 ABC Championship, forerunners of the FIBA Asia Championship, were hosted at the memorial coliseum; the national basketball team won both tournaments.{{cite news |last1=Terrado |first1=Reuben |title=Five times the Philippines reigned as FIBA Asia Cup champion |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/fiba/a-lookback-at-the-five-titles-of-the-philippines-in-the-fiba-asia-cup-a795-20220713 |access-date=December 30, 2022 |work=Sports Interactive Network Philippines |date=July 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713115605/https://www.spin.ph/basketball/fiba/a-lookback-at-the-five-titles-of-the-philippines-in-the-fiba-asia-cup-a795-20220713 |archive-date=July 13, 2022 |language=en}} The 1978 FIBA World Championship was held at the coliseum although the latter stages were held in the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Manila has several other well-known sports facilities such as Enrique M. Razon Sports Center and the University of Santo Tomas Sports Complex, both of which are private venues owned by a university; collegiate sports are also held in the city; the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball games held at Rizal Memorial Coliseum and Ninoy Aquino Stadium, although basketball events have been transferred to San Juan's Filoil Flying V Arena and Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Other collegiate sports are still held at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. Professional basketball, which has been mostly organized by corporate teams, also used to play at the city but the Philippine Basketball Association now holds their games at Araneta Coliseum and Cuneta Astrodome at Pasay; the now-defunct Philippine Basketball League played some of their games, such as its 1995–96 Philippine Basketball League season, at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.{{cite news |last1=Terrado |first1=Reuben |title=Remembering that grand slam-winning Stag team in the PBL |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/remembering-the-1995-grand-slam-of-stag-pale-pilsen-in-the-pbl-a795-20200607 |access-date=September 9, 2022 |work=Spin.ph |date=June 7, 2020 |language=en}}

Manila Metrostars participated in the Metropolitan Basketball Association.{{cite news |title=Manila routes Cebu, 96-70 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4JYVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9goEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3999%2C917731 |access-date=September 17, 2022 |work=Manila Standard |date=March 8, 1998 |via=Google News}} The Metrostars, named after the Metrostar Express – the brand name of the Metro Manila MRT-3, which does not have stations in the city – participated in its first three seasons and won the 1999 championship.{{cite news |title=Manila is 1999 MBA Champion |url=http://www.newsflash.org/1999/12/sp/sp000927.htm |access-date=September 17, 2022 |work=Newsflash.org |date=December 9, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040923094712/http://www.newsflash.org/1999/12/sp/sp000927.htm |archive-date=September 23, 2004}} The Metrostars later merged with the Batangas Blades and subsequently played in Lipa, Batangas. Almost twenty years later, Manila Stars participated in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, reaching the Northern Division Finals in 2019. Both teams played in the San Andres Sports Complex. Other teams that represented Manila but did not host games in the city are the Manila Jeepney F.C. and FC Meralco Manila. The city's government acknowledged Jeepney as Manila's representative in the United Football League. Meralco Manila played in the Philippines Football League and designated Rizal Memorial Stadium as their home ground.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Manila's rugby league team Manila Storm trains at Rizal Park and plays matches at Southern Plains Field, Calamba, Laguna. Baseball was previously a widely played sport in the city but in 2022, Manila had the Philippines' only sizable baseball stadium, Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, which hosted games of the now-defunct Baseball Philippines; Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth were the first players to score a home run at the stadium during their tour of the country on December 2, 1934.{{Cite news |last=Talao |first=Tito |date=March 10, 2004 |title=Baseball loses no time in preparing for SEAG |work=Manila Bulletin |url=http://www.mb.com.ph/node/158970 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913053124/http://www.mb.com.ph/node/158970 |archive-date=September 13, 2012}} Cue sports are also popular in Manila; billiard halls are present in most barangays. The 2010 World Cup of Pool was held at Robinsons Place Manila.{{Cite news |date=September 7, 2010 |title=World Cup of Pool begins |work=ABS-CBN News |url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/09/07/10/world-cup-pool-begins |access-date=July 4, 2011}}

Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium hosted the first FIFA World Cup qualifier in decades when the Philippines hosted Sri Lanka in July 2011. The stadium, which was previously unfit for international matches, had been renovated before the match.{{Cite news |last=Fenix |first=Ryan |date=June 4, 2011 |title=All systems go for Azkals' World Cup qualifier at Rizal Memorial |work=Interaksyon.com |url=http://www.interaksyon.com/article/6646/all-systems-go-for-azkals-world-cup-qualifier-at-rizal-memorial |url-status=dead |access-date=July 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126102345/http://www.interaksyon.com/article/6646/all-systems-go-for-azkals-world-cup-qualifier-at-rizal-memorial |archive-date=January 26, 2013}} The stadium also hosted its first rugby test for the 2012 Asian Five Nations Division I tournaments.{{Cite web |date=April 14, 2012 |title=Teams ready for RWC Qualifiers in Manila |url=http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/news/newsid=2061800.html#teams+ready+rwc+qualifiers+manila |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417211016/http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/news/newsid=2061800.html#teams+ready+rwc+qualifiers+manila |archive-date=April 17, 2012 |access-date=April 14, 2012 |website=Rugbyworldcup.com}}

{{Further|Public holidays in the Philippines}}

File:Feast of Black Nazarene, Quiapo, Manila.JPG (Traslacíon)]]

Manila celebrates civic and national holidays. Because most of the city's residents are Roman Catholic,{{cite news |last1=Roque |first1=EJ |title=Palace declares June 24 holiday in Manila |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1071718 |access-date=August 12, 2022 |work=Philippine News Agency |date=June 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906015932/https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1071718 |archive-date=September 6, 2019 |language=en}}{{Cite news |title=Living in Manila |publisher=InterNations |url=https://www.internations.org/manila-expats/guide/living-in-manila-15837 |access-date=October 25, 2017 |archive-date=October 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025184849/https://www.internations.org/manila-expats/guide/living-in-manila-15837 |url-status=dead }} most of the festivals are religious in nature. Araw ng Maynila, which celebrates the city's founding on June 24, 1571 {{cite news |last1=Nicolas |first1=Jino |title=A blend of old and new Manila |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/features/2018/06/25/167957/a-blend-of-old-and-new-manila/ |access-date=August 12, 2022 |work=BusinessWorld |date=June 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812131023/https://www.bworldonline.com/features/2018/06/25/167957/a-blend-of-old-and-new-manila/ |archive-date=August 12, 2022}} by the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi, was first proclaimed by the city's vice mayor Herminio A. Astorga on June 24, 1962. It has been annually commemorated under the patronage of John the Baptist, and has always been declared by the national government as a special, non-working holiday through presidential proclamations. Each of the city's 896 barangays also have their own festivities, which are guided by their own patron saints.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Manila also hosts the procession of the Feast of the Black Nazarene (Traslacíon), which is held every January 9 and draws millions of Catholic followers.{{cite news |title=Jan 9 is holiday in Manila due to Traslacion |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/02/17/jan-9-is-holiday-in-manila-due-to-traslacion |access-date=August 12, 2022 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=January 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102153528/https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/02/17/jan-9-is-holiday-in-manila-due-to-traslacion |archive-date=January 2, 2017}} Other religious festivities held in Manila are the Feast of Santo Niño in Tondo and Pandacan, which is held on the third Sunday of January;{{cite news |last1=Luci-Atienza |first1=Charissa |last2=Cahiles-Magkilat |first2=Bernie |title=Feast of Sto. Niño de Tondo |url=https://mb.com.ph/2019/01/20/feast-of-sto-nino-de-tondo/ |access-date=August 12, 2022 |work=Manila Bulletin |date=January 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812125346/https://mb.com.ph/2019/01/20/feast-of-sto-nino-de-tondo/ |archive-date=August 12, 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Marquez |first1=Oliver |title=Viva Sto. Nino De Pandacan |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/photos/30415 |website=Philippine News Agency |access-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812125537/https://www.pna.gov.ph/photos/30415 |archive-date=August 12, 2022 |language=en |date=January 15, 2017}} the Feast of Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados de Manila (Our Lady of the Abandoned), the patron saint of Santa Ana, which is held every May 12;{{cite news |last1=Siytangco |first1=AJ |last2=Hermoso |first2=Christina |title=Feast of Our Lady of the Abandoned, Saint Pancras |url=https://mb.com.ph/2019/05/11/feast-of-our-lady-of-the-abandoned-saint-pancras-3/ |access-date=August 12, 2022 |work=Manila Bulletin |date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514170829/https://mb.com.ph/2019/05/11/feast-of-our-lady-of-the-abandoned-saint-pancras-3/ |archive-date=May 14, 2021}} and the Flores de Mayo.{{cite news |title=Manila Hotel holds Flores de Mayo procession |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2019/04/29/227767/manila-hotel-holds-flores-de-mayo-procession/ |access-date=August 12, 2022 |work=BusinessWorld |date=April 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520145416/https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2019/04/29/227767/manila-hotel-holds-flores-de-mayo-procession/ |archive-date=May 20, 2022}} Non-religious holidays include New Year's Day, National Heroes' Day, Bonifacio Day, and Rizal Day.{{cite web |title=Proclamation No. 1105, s. 2015 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2015/08/20/proclamation-no-1105-s-2015/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623101341/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2015/08/20/proclamation-no-1105-s-2015/ |archive-date=June 23, 2017 |date=August 20, 2015}}

{{main|Sangguniang Panglungsod}}

File:Manila City Hall (Manila; 07-22-2020).jpg, the seat of city government]]

File:Manila Mayor Lacuna in City Council inaugural session.jpg at the city hall (2022)]]

Manila, which is officially known as the City of Manila, is the national capital of the Philippines and is classified as a special city according to its income,{{Cite web |title=Income Classification Per DOF Order No. 23-08, dated July 29, 2008 |url=http://blgf.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/updated-reclassification-Cities.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231151123/http://blgf.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/updated-reclassification-Cities.pdf |archive-date=December 31, 2016 |access-date=December 31, 2016 |publisher=Bureau of Local Government Finance}}{{Cite web |title=Position Classification and Compensation Scheme in Local Government Units |url=http://www.dbm.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Manual-on-PCC-Chapter-9.pdf |website=Department of Budget and Management}} and a highly urbanized city (HUC). The Mayor of Manila is the chief executive, and is assisted by the vice mayor and the 38-member City Council, who are elected as representatives of the six councilor districts within the city, and the municipal presidents of the Liga ng mga Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The city has no control over Intramuros and Manila North Harbor. The historic Walled City is administered by the Intramuros Administration while Manila North Harbor is managed by the Philippine Ports Authority. Both are national government agencies. The barangays that have jurisdictions over these places oversee the welfare of the city's constituents but cannot exercise their executive powers. Manila had a 12,971 personnel complement at the end of 2018. Under the proposed form of federalism in the Philippines, Manila may no longer be the capital and Metro Manila may no longer be the seat of government; the committee has not yet decided on the federal capital and states they are open to other proposals.{{Cite news |date=June 19, 2018 |title=Manila may no longer be the PH capital under federal gov't: Cha-cha panel member |work=ABS-CBN News |url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/19/18/manila-may-no-longer-be-the-ph-capital-under-federal-govt-cha-cha-panel-member |access-date=June 21, 2018}}{{Cite news |last=Aurelio |first=Julie M. |date=June 19, 2018 |title=Roque: No problem if Manila no longer capital under federal gov't |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1002303/roque-no-problem-if-manila-no-longer-capital-under-federal-govt |access-date=June 21, 2018}}

As of May 2022, the Mayor of Manila is Maria Shielah "Honey" Lacuna-Pangan, daughter of former Manila vice mayor Danilo Lacuna. Lacuna is the city's first female mayor.{{Cite news |date=May 10, 2022 |title=Lacuna to be first woman mayor of Manila |work=Philippine News Agency |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1174128|access-date=July 1, 2022}} The vice mayor is Yul Servo. The mayor and the vice mayor are limited to up-to three terms, each term lasting for three years. The city has an ordinance penalizing cat-calling since 2018, and is the second city in the Philippines to do so after Quezon City, which passed a similar ordinance in 2016.{{Cite news |last=Ramos |first=Marjaleen |date=July 1, 2018 |title=Careful now: Catcalling is banned in Manila |work=Manila Bulletin |url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/07/01/careful-now-catcalling-is-banned-in-manila/ |access-date=July 1, 2018 |archive-date=July 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701063137/https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/07/01/careful-now-catcalling-is-banned-in-manila/ |url-status=dead }} In 2017, the city government planned to revise the existing curfew ordinance since the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in August that year. Of the three cities reviewed by the Supreme Court; the City of Manila, Navotas, and Quezon City; only the curfew ordinance of Quezon City was approved.{{Cite web |last=Caliwan |first=Christopher Lloyd |date=September 25, 2017 |title=SC okays curfew for minors in QC, but not in Manila, Navotas |url=http://www.interaksyon.com/sc-okays-curfew-for-minors-in-qc-but-not-in-manila-navotas/ |access-date=September 27, 2017 |publisher=News5}}{{Cite news |last=Aberia |first=Jaimie Rose |date=September 27, 2017 |title=Manila city council planning to revise existing curfew ordinance |work=Manila Bulletin |url=http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/09/26/manila-city-council-planning-to-revise-existing-curfew-ordinance/ |access-date=September 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926080125/http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/09/26/manila-city-council-planning-to-revise-existing-curfew-ordinance/ |archive-date=September 26, 2017}}

File:Malacañang Palace (local img).jpg, the official residence and workplace of the President of the Philippines.]]

File:Palacio Del Gobernador.JPG in Intramuros is home to the Philippine Commission on Elections and Intramuros Administration.]]

Manila, being the seat of political power in the Philippines, has the headquarters of several national government offices. Planning for the city's role as the center of government started during the early years of American colonization, when the U.S. envisioned a well-designed city outside the walls of Intramuros, and chose Bagumbayan, a former town that is now Jose Rizal Park to become the center of government. A design commission was given to Daniel Burnham to create a master plan for the city patterned after Washington, D.C.{{cite book |last1=Morley |first1=Ian |title=Cities and Nationhood: American Imperialism and Urban Design in the Philippines, 1898–1916 |date=June 30, 2018 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-7551-0 |pages=54–55 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VB_HDwAAQBAJ |access-date=January 12, 2023 |language=en}} but the plans were abandoned under the Commonwealth Government of Manuel L. Quezon.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} A new government center was to be built on the hills northeast of Manila, in what is now Quezon City. Several government agencies have set up their headquarters in Quezon City but several key government offices are still based in Manila. Many of the plans were substantially altered after the devastation of Manila during World War II and by subsequent administrations.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

File:Supreme Court of the Philippines.jpg.]]

As the nation's capital, Manila hosts the Office of the President and the President's official residence. It also houses important government agencies and institutions such as the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Departments of Budget and Management, Finance, Health, Justice, Labor and Employment, and Public Works and Highways. Manila also hosts important national institutions such as the National Library, National Archives, National Museum of the Philippines, and Philippine General Hospital.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}. Other notable institutions based in Manila are the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, National Historical Commission, Film Development Council of the Philippines, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Congress previously held office at the Old Congress Building.{{cite web |title=Homes of the Senate of the Philippines |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/homes-senate/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603155119/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/homes-senate/ |archive-date=June 3, 2017}} In 1972, due to declaration of martial law, Congress was dissolved; its successor, the unicameral Batasang Pambansa, held office at the new Batasang Pambansa Complex. When a new constitution restored the bicameral Congress, the House of Representatives stayed at the Batasang Pambansa Complex and the Senate remained at the Old Congress Building. In May 1997, the Senate transferred to a new building, which it shares with the Government Service Insurance System on reclaimed land at Pasay. The Supreme Court was due to transfer to its new campus at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, in 2019 but the move was postponed to a later year.{{Cite news |last=Lopez |first=Virgil |date=April 25, 2017 |title=SC picks PHL flag-inspired design for new "green" building in Taguig |work=GMA News |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/608294/sc-picks-phl-flag-inspired-design-for-new-green-building-in-taguig/story |access-date=April 27, 2017}}

In Congress, Manila has six representatives, one each from its six congressional districts.{{cite web |title=House Members by Region |url=https://www.congress.gov.ph/members/?v=region |website=House of Representatives of the Philippines |access-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128222002/https://www.congress.gov.ph/members/?v=region |archive-date=November 28, 2022}}

In the 2019 Annual Audit Report published by the Commission on Audit, the revenue of the City of Manila was ₱16.534 billion.{{Cite web |title=2019 Annual Audit Reports |url=https://www.coa.gov.ph/index.php/local-government-units/2019/category/8546-cities |access-date=October 24, 2020 |publisher=Commission on Audit}} It is one of the cities with the highest tax collection and internal revenue allotment.{{Cite web |title=Quezon City, Makati richest cities in RP |url=http://www.philippinestodayus.com/news/metro/quezon-city-makati-richest-cities-in-rp/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024161259/http://www.philippinestodayus.com/news/metro/quezon-city-makati-richest-cities-in-rp/ |archive-date=October 24, 2011 |access-date=April 18, 2011 |publisher=Philippine Today US}} For the 2019 fiscal year, the tax revenue collected by the city was ₱8.4 billion. The city's Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the National Treasury was ₱2.94 billion, and the city's total assets were worth ₱63.4 billion in 2019. The City of Manila has the highest budget allocation for healthcare of all the cities and municipalities in the Philippines; the city maintains the six district hospitals, 59 health centers and lying-in clinics, and healthcare programs.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

File:WTMP PhotoPhilia D12 Smokey Mountain Housing.JPG Housing Project was built on a former landfill. Continuous development of housing buildings continues up to the present day.]]

Development of public housing in Manila began in the 1930s under U.S. rule; Americans had to deal with the problem of sanitation and concentration of settlers around business areas.{{cite book |title=United States Congressional Serial Set |date=1932 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=U8lGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA74 74-75] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U8lGAQAAIAAJ |access-date=August 12, 2022 |language=en}} Business codes and sanitation laws were implemented in the 1930s. During this period until the 1950s, new communities were opened for relocation. Among these were Projects 1–8 in Quezon City{{Cite book |last=Pante |first=Michael D. |title=A Capital City at the Margins: Quezon City and Urbanization in the Twentieth-century Philippines |date=2019 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press in association with Kyoto University Press, Kyoto, Japan |others=Ateneo de Manila University Press, Kyōto Daigaku |isbn=978-971-550-923-7 |series=Kyoto CSEAS series on Philippine studies / Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University |location=Quezon City, Philippines |pages=159–160 |language=en}} and the Vitas tenement houses in Tondo.{{cite thesis |last1=Poppellwell |first1=Teresa |title=Slum Upgrading Revisited: An Evaluation of the Tondo Foreshore Urban Development Project |url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/download/pdf/831/1.0087993/1 |website=Open Collections - UBC Library Open Collections |type=M.A. |publisher=University of Regina |date=1994 |access-date=September 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209222737/https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/download/pdf/831/1.0087993/1 |archive-date=February 9, 2020 |pages=8–11}} In 1947, the government implemented a public housing policy that established the People's Homesite and Housing Corporation (PHHC).{{cite book |title=The Philippine Economy Bulletin |date=1964 |publisher=National Economic Council |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zNNLAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA4-PA37 37] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNNLAQAAIAAJ |access-date=December 30, 2022 |language=en}} A few years later, it established a Slum Clearance Committee which, with the help of the PHHC, relocated thousands of families from Manila and Quezon City to Sapang Palay in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan in the 1960s.{{cite book |last1=Office of Economic Coordination |title=Report |date=1963 |location=Philippines |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hetOAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA36 36] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hetOAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}

In 2016, the national government completed several medium-rise houses for 300 Manila residents whose slum community was destroyed by a fire in 2011.{{Cite news |date=June 30, 2016 |title=Aquino admin winds down with Manila housing project |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/793247/aquino-admin-winds-down-with-manila-housing-project |access-date=July 11, 2019}} As of 2019, the city government plans to retrofit dilapidated tenements within the city,{{Cite news |date=July 10, 2019 |title=Mayor Isko wants to improve Manila's old tenements, relocate residents |work=GMA News |publisher=GMA News Online |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/700518/mayor-isko-wants-to-improve-manila-s-old-tenements-relocate-residents/story/ |access-date=July 11, 2019}} and will construct new housing buildings for the city's informal settlers such as the 14-story Tondominium 1 and Tondomium 2 buildings, containing {{Convert|42|m2|sqft|adj=on|abbr=out|sp=us}}, two-bedroom units. The construction of these new in-city vertical housing projects was funded by a loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines.{{Cite news |date=January 7, 2020 |title=Manila gov't working on vertical housing projects for illegal settlers |work=GMA News |publisher=GMA Network |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/721276/manila-gov-t-working-on-vertical-housing-projects-for-illegal-settlers/story/ |access-date=February 28, 2020}}{{Cite news |date=January 7, 2020 |title=Isko on 2020 focus: Tondominium, reviving Manila |work=ABS-CBN News |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/07/20/isko-on-2020-focus-tondominium-reviving-manila |access-date=February 28, 2020}}

Since 2019, the Manila City Government has initiated six housing projects: Tondominium 1 & 2, Binondominium, Basecommunity, San Lazaro Residences, Pedro Gil Residences, and San Sebastian Residences.{{Cite web |title=Manila's 5th housing project begins construction |work=Philippine News Agency |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1152033 |last1=Moaje |first1=Marita |date=August 30, 2021 |access-date=August 31, 2021}}{{Cite web |title=Manila's 5th housing project breaks ground |work=Philippine News Agency |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1149878 |last1=Moaje |first1=Marita |date=August 9, 2021 |access-date=August 31, 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/list-housing-projects-manila-isko-moreno/|title=LIST: The many housing projects in Isko Moreno's Manila|first=Dwight|last=De Leon|accessdate=April 10, 2023|date=April 10, 2023|work=Rappler}}

{{main|Transportation in Metro Manila|Rail transportation in Metro Manila|Major roads in Metro Manila}}

File:WTMP Pangkat E-14-3.JPGs are one of the most popular modes of transportation in Manila.]]

File:Line 2 Train near Pureza Station (Santa Mesa, Manila)(2018-02-22).jpg of LRT Line 2 in Santa Mesa|alt=|left]]

File:LRT-1 4G Carriedo 2024-10-18.jpg of the LRT Line 1]]

One of the best-known modes of transportation in Manila is the jeepney, which were patterned after U.S. Army jeeps and have been in use since the mid-to-late 1940s.{{Cite web |title=Transportation in the Philippines |url=http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/philippines/pro-transportation.htm |access-date=April 24, 2010 |publisher=AsianInfo.org |ref=Information provided in part by the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines}} The Tamaraw FX, the third generation of the Toyota Kijang, once directly competed with jeepneys and followed fixed routes for a set price. They were replaced by the UV Express. All types of public road transportation in Manila are privately owned and operated under government-issued franchises.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

On a for-hire basis, the city is served by taxicabs, "tricycles" – motorcycles with sidecars—the Philippine version of the auto rickshaw), and "trisikads", "sikads" or "kuligligs"; bicycles with sidecars, the Philippine version of pedicabs), which are popular In some areas, especially Divisoria. Spanish-era horse-drawn calesas are a popular tourist attraction and mode of transportation in Binondo and Intramuros. Manila will phase out all gasoline-run tricycles and pedicabs, and replace them with electric tricycles (e-trikes), and plans to distribute 10,000 e-trikes to qualified tricycle drivers from the city.{{Cite news |last=Clapano, Jose Rodel |date=September 18, 2016 |title=Manila: No more trikes, pedicabs next month |work=The Philippine Star |url=http://www.philstar.com/metro/2016/09/18/1624916/manila-no-more-trikes-pedicabs-next-month |access-date=September 19, 2016}}{{Cite web |last=Coconuts Manila |date=September 18, 2016 |title=Manila will say goodbye to old school tricycles and pedicabs on Oct 15 |url=http://manila.coconuts.co/2016/09/18/manila-will-say-goodbye-old-school-tricycles-and-pedicabs-oct-15 |access-date=September 19, 2016}} By January 2018, the city has distributed e-trikes to a number of drivers and operators in Binondo, Ermita, Malate, and Santa Cruz.{{Cite news |date=January 23, 2018 |title=City of Manila to remove old, rusty tricycles from city streets |work=Manila Bulletin |url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/23/city-of-manila-to-remove-old-rusty-tricycles-from-city-streets/ |access-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123154702/https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/23/city-of-manila-to-remove-old-rusty-tricycles-from-city-streets/ |url-status=dead }}

Manila is serviced by LRT Line 1 (LRT-1) and Line 2 (LRT-2), which form the Manila Light Rail Transit System. Development of the light rail system began in the 1970s during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, when the LRT Line 1 was built, making it the first light-rail system in Southeast Asia. Despite its name, LRT-1 operates as a light metro, running on dedicated rights-of-way. LRT 2 operates as a full-metro, heavy rail system. As of 2015, these systems were undergoing a multi-billion-dollar expansion.{{Cite web |last=Republic of the Philippines. Office of the President. |date=July 21, 2005 |title=SONA 2005 Executive Summary |url=http://www.news.ops.gov.ph/sona2005-execsummary.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513025912/http://www.news.ops.gov.ph/sona2005-execsummary.htm |archive-date=May 13, 2010}} The LRT runs along the length of Taft Avenue (N170/R-2) and Rizal Avenue (N150/R-9), while LRT-2 runs along Claro M. Recto Avenue (N145/C-1) and Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard (N180/R-6) from Santa Cruz, through Quezon City, and to Masinag in Antipolo, Rizal.

File:PNR Santa Mesa Station with INKA train (Manila; 02-01-2020) wiki.jpg at Santa Mesa station, the fourth station southbound from Tutuban station terminus.]]

Tutuban station, the central terminal of the Philippine National Railways, lies within Manila.{{cite book |title=Philippine Yearbook |date=1979 |publisher=Republic of the Philippines, National Economic and Development Authority, National Census and Statistics Office |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mv4qAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA763 763] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mv4qAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA763 |access-date=August 20, 2022 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Help & Contacts |url=https://pnr.gov.ph/about-contact-us/how-to-reach-us/help-contacts.html |website=Philippine National Railways |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224232937/https://pnr.gov.ph/about-contact-us/how-to-reach-us/help-contacts.html |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |language=en-gb}} Within Metro Manila, one commuter railway is in operation. The line runs in a general north–south direction from Tutuban (Tondo) toward the province of Laguna. The Port of Manila, which is located in the western section of the city on Manila Bay, is the largest and chief seaport of the Philippines.{{cite book |title=Sustainable Port Development and Improving Port Productivity in ESCAP Member Countries |date=February 2020 |publisher=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific |page=39 |url=https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Port%20development%20-%20Fulltext.pdf |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804233844/https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Port%20development%20-%20Fulltext.pdf |archive-date=August 4, 2020}} The Pasig River Ferry Service is another form of transportation.{{cite news |last1=Dela Cruz |first1=Raymond Carl |title=Pasig River Ferry Service resumes operation |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118732 |access-date=August 20, 2022 |work=Philippine News Agency |date=October 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119151118/https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118732 |archive-date=November 19, 2020 |language=en}} The city is also served by Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country's main international airport and domestic air hub.{{cite book |last1=Facility |first1=Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory |title=Private Solutions for Infrastructure: Opportunities for the Philippines |date=January 1, 2000 |publisher=World Bank Publications |isbn=978-0-8213-4873-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xayTgG2Y8CoC&pg=PA50 50] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xayTgG2Y8CoC |access-date=August 20, 2022 |language=en}}

Trolleys, hand-made human-powered metal handcarts operated by "trolley boys", transport people along sections of the PNR lines. This is a popular means of transportation because it is low-cost – roughly ₱10 or US$.20 per trip – and avoids traffic. Many trolley boys are homeless and live alongside the railroad line, which is actively used by passenger trains, making collisions with passenger trains a consistent danger, although casualties are rare. The trolley rides are unofficial and unregulated but tolerated by authorities.{{Cite web |title=The "trolley boys" who dance with death on Manila's railway carts |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2174876/trolley-boys-who-dance-death-manilas-railway-carts |newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=November 25, 2018 |access-date=April 19, 2021}}{{Cite web |title='Trolley boys' cheat death to make a living |url=https://manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/281422/-trolley-boys-cheat-death-to-make-a-living.html |newspaper=Manila Standard|date=November 25, 2018 |access-date=April 19, 2021}}{{Cite news |title=Manila's "trolley boys" |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-46828430 |agency=BBC|access-date=April 19, 2021}}{{Cite news |title=The trolley boys of Manila – in pictures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2018/nov/26/the-trolley-boys-of-manila-in-pictures |newspaper=The Guardian|date=November 26, 2018 |access-date=April 19, 2021}}

Satellite navigation company TomTom ranked Manila as the second world's most-traffic-congested city in 2019.{{cite news |last1=Alcabaza |first1=Gail |title=Manila Ranks 2nd Worst Traffic Congestion in the World |url=https://ph.news.yahoo.com/manila-ranks-2nd-worst-traffic-000038368.html |access-date=August 20, 2022 |work=Yahoo! News Philippines |date=February 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820104005/https://ph.news.yahoo.com/manila-ranks-2nd-worst-traffic-000038368.html |archive-date=August 20, 2022 |language=en-PH}} According to Waze's 2015 "Global Driver Satisfaction Index", Manila has the worst traffic worldwide.{{Cite web |title=Waze – Official Blog: Global Driver Satisfaction Index |url=https://blog.waze.com/2015/09/global-driver-satisfaction-index.html |access-date=August 12, 2016}} Manila is notorious for its frequent traffic jams and high densities.{{Cite web |title=World's Densest Cities |url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/12/20/worlds-most-congested-cities-biz-energy-cx_rm_1221congested_slide_2.html |work=Forbes|access-date=October 25, 2012}} The government has undertaken several projects to alleviate the traffic in the city, some of which include the proposed construction of a new viaduct or underpass at the intersection of España Boulevard and Lacson Avenue;{{Cite news |date=August 6, 2012 |title=Lacson-España flyover takes off despite protests|url=http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/60807/lacson-espana-flyover-takes-off-despite-protests|website=Inquirer.net|publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer|access-date=October 25, 2012}} the construction of Skyway Stage 3, and NLEX Connector; the proposed LRT Line 2 West Extension Project from Recto Avenue to Pier 4 of Manila North Harbor;{{Cite web |last=Tomas S. Noda III |date=January 28, 2015 |title=DMCI gets $51.5m rail contract in PH |url=http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/dmci-gets-51-5m-lrt-2-contract-ph/ |access-date=February 1, 2015}} the construction of the North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR);{{Cite web |title=Philippine Information Agency's post |url=https://www.facebook.com/share/1AZXHm1r8T/ |website=Facebook}} the proposed construction of the PNR East–West line (MRT Line 8) through España Boulevard to Quezon City; and the expansion and widening of several national and local roads. These projects, however, had yet to make any meaningful impact by 2014, and the traffic jams and congestion continue.{{Cite news |last=Rodis|first=Rodel|date=October 23, 2014 |title=Manila's traffic jams cost $57 million a day|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/113269/manilas-traffic-jams-cost-57-million-a-day/|website=Inquirer.net|publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |access-date=March 20, 2015}}

The government, under its 2014 Metro Manila Dream Plan aims to address these urban transport problems. The plan is a list of short-term priority projects and medium-to-long-term infrastructure projects that will last up to 2030.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/CJ9F2Fnweuo Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140621212124/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ9F2Fnweuo&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ9F2Fnweuo |title=(The Philippines) Mega Manila Infrastructure Roadmap (Long Version) |date=June 10, 2014 |publisher=Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) |work=JICAChannel02: The Official Global Channel of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite report |url=http://www.jica.go.jp/topics/news/2014/ku57pq00001nkatn-att/20140917_01_0.pdf |title=Main Points of the Roadmap |date=September 2014 |publisher=Japan International Cooperation Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011182852/http://www.jica.go.jp/topics/news/2014/ku57pq00001nkatn-att/20140917_01_0.pdf |archive-date=October 11, 2014 |url-status=dead}}

Water services used to be provided by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), which served 30% of the city; most other sewage was directly dumped into storm drains, septic tanks, and open canals.{{Citation |last1=Orozco |first1=G |title=Socio-Economic Study of Two Major Metro Manila Esteros |url=http://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps0118.pdf |year=2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023063018/http://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps0118.pdf |place=Makati, Philippines |publisher=Journal of Environmental Science and Management |access-date=December 3, 2014 |archive-date=October 23, 2016 |last2=Zafaralla |first2=M |url-status=dead}} MWSS was privatized in 1997, which split the water concession into the east and west zones. Maynilad Water Services took over the west zone, of which Manila is a part. As of 2001, Maynilad Water Services provides the supply and delivery of potable water, and sewerage system in Manila{{Citation |last1=Inocencio |first1=A |title=Public-Private-Community Partnerships in Management and Delivery of Water to Urban Poor: The Case of Metro Manila |url=http://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps0118.pdf |year=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023063018/http://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps0118.pdf |place=Makati, Philippines |publisher=Philippine Institute for Development Studies |access-date=December 3, 2014 |archive-date=October 23, 2016 |last2=David |first2=C |url-status=dead}} but does not serve the southeastern part of the city, which belongs to the east zone that is served by Manila Water.{{cite news |title=Manila Water completes individualization project in Rizal |url=https://www.philstar.com/business/2015/08/18/1489566/manila-water-completes-individualization-project-rizal |access-date=August 12, 2022 |work=The Philippine Star |date=August 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912072850/https://www.philstar.com/business/2015/08/18/1489566/manila-water-completes-individualization-project-rizal |archive-date=September 12, 2018}} Electricity services are provided by Meralco, the sole electricity distributor in Metro Manila.{{cite journal |last1=Valderrama |first1=Helena Agnes S. |last2=Bautista |first2=Carlos C. |title=Efficiency Analysis of Electric Cooperatives in the Philippines |journal=Philippine Management Review 2011 |volume=19 |page=2 |url=https://pmr.upd.edu.ph/index.php/pmr/article/download/302/301/ |access-date=August 12, 2022 |publisher=University of the Philippines, College of Business Administration |location=Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812135816/https://pmr.upd.edu.ph/index.php/pmr/article/download/302/301/ |archive-date=August 12, 2022}}

{{See also|List of hospitals in Metro Manila}}

File:Ph-mm-manila-ermita-taft ave.-philippine general hospital (up-pgh) (2014).JPG, established in 1910, is the largest modern tertiary hospital in the country.{{cite web |title=Philippine General Hospital |url=https://www.upm.edu.ph/node/48 |website=University of the Philippines Manila |access-date=April 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822082055/http://www.phap-ph.org/Home/view/manila_doctors_hospital_mdh |archive-date=August 22, 2013}}]]

Manila Health Department is responsible for the planning and implementation of healthcare programs provided by the city government. Manila Health Department operates 59 health centers and six city-run hospitals, which are free of charge for the city's constituents. The six public city-run hospitals are Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, Ospital ng Sampaloc, Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, Ospital ng Tondo, Santa Ana Hospital, and Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital.{{Cite web |last=Joel E. Surbano |date=January 3, 2016 |title=Manila hospital going for upgrade |url=http://thestandard.com.ph/news/metro/195865/manila-hospital-going-for-upgrade.html |access-date=January 3, 2016 |publisher=The Standard |archive-date=October 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023091034/http://thestandard.com.ph/news/metro/195865/manila-hospital-going-for-upgrade.html |url-status=dead }} Philippine General Hospital, a tertiary state-owned hospital in Manila, is operated by the University of the Philippines Manila. The city is planning to build an education, research, and hospital facility for cleft lip and cleft palate patients,{{Cite news |last=Jaime Rose R. Aberia |date=August 6, 2017 |title=World-class hospital to rise in Manila for cleft lip, palate patients |work=Manila Bulletin |url=http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/08/06/world-class-hospital-to-rise-in-manila-for-cleft-lip-palate-patients/ |access-date=August 7, 2017 |archive-date=August 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807114740/http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/08/06/world-class-hospital-to-rise-in-manila-for-cleft-lip-palate-patients/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=Rosabell C. Toledo |date=August 6, 2017 |title=Manila mayor eyes founding of PHL's first "world-class" cleft-palate facility |url=http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/manila-mayor-eyes-founding-of-phls-first-world-class-cleft-palate-facility/ |access-date=August 7, 2017 |publisher=BusinessMirror}} and to establish the first children's surgical hospital in Southeast Asia.{{Cite news |last=Tianco, Minka Klaudia |date=February 28, 2020 |title=First children's surgical hospital in Southeast Asia to be built in Manila |work=Manila Bulletin |url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/02/28/first-childrens-surgical-hospital-in-southeast-asia-to-be-built-in-manila/ |access-date=February 29, 2020 |archive-date=February 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229013333/https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/02/28/first-childrens-surgical-hospital-in-southeast-asia-to-be-built-in-manila/ |url-status=dead }}

Private corporations also provide healthcare in Manila. Private hospitals that operate in the city are Manila Doctors Hospital,{{cite web |title=Manila Doctors Hospital (MDH) |url=http://www.phap-ph.org/Home/view/manila_doctors_hospital_mdh |website=Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822082055/http://www.phap-ph.org/Home/view/manila_doctors_hospital_mdh |archive-date=August 22, 2013}} Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center,{{cite news |last1=Fabonan III |first1=Epi |title=Chinese General Hospital's Dr. James Dy: Fulfilling a vow of service |url=https://www.philstar.com/business/business-as-usual/2014/11/24/1395051/chinese-general-hospitals-dr-james-dy-fulfilling-vow-service |access-date=August 21, 2022 |work=The Philippine Star |date=November 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821114512/https://www.philstar.com/business/business-as-usual/2014/11/24/1395051/chinese-general-hospitals-dr-james-dy-fulfilling-vow-service |archive-date=August 21, 2022}} José R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center,{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://jrrmmc.gov.ph/about-jrrmmc/our-history |website=Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218213503/https://jrrmmc.gov.ph/about-jrrmmc/our-history |archive-date=February 18, 2017}} Metropolitan Medical Center,{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.mmc.com.ph/about-us |website=Metropolitan Medical Center |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922114712/https://www.mmc.com.ph/about-us |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |language=en}} Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital,{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://ollh-manila.com/about-company-profile.php |website=Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital - Manila |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804055909/https://ollh-manila.com/about-company-profile.php |archive-date=August 4, 2020}} and the University of Santo Tomas Hospital.{{cite web |title=University of Santo Tomas Hospital |url=http://www.usthospital.com.ph/aboutusth/usthhistory.php |website=About USTH |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912104254/http://www.usthospital.com.ph/aboutusth/usthhistory.php |archive-date=September 12, 2015}}

The Department of Health (DOH) has its main office in Manila{{cite book |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Joaquin L. |title=Development Sustainability Through Community Participation: Mixed Results from the Philippine Health Sector |date=October 26, 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-86819-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uy1zDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT170 |access-date=August 21, 2022 |language=en}} and operates San Lazaro Hospital, a special referral tertiary hospital. DOH also operates Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, and Tondo Medical Center.{{cite web |title=DOH Hospitals |url=https://doh.gov.ph/doh-hospitals-directory |website=Department of Health |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004032814/https://doh.gov.ph/doh-hospitals-directory |archive-date=October 4, 2015}} Manila is the home to the headquarters of the World Health Organization's Regional Office for the Western Pacific and Country Office for the Philippines.{{cite web |title=Where we work |url=https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/where-we-work |website=WHO Western Pacific |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=August 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007114157/https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/where-we-work |archive-date=October 7, 2018 |language=en}}

The city government provides free immunization programs for children, who are specifically targeted against hepatitis B, hemophilus influenza B pneumonia, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella. As of 2016, 31,115 children aged one and below have been fully immunized.{{Cite news |last=Odronia, Cris G. |date=February 25, 2017 |title=Manila intensifies free immunization program |work=Manila Bulletin |url=http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/25/manila-intensifies-free-immunization-program/ |access-date=February 25, 2017 |archive-date=February 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225210604/http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/25/manila-intensifies-free-immunization-program/ |url-status=dead }} Manila Dialysis Center, which provides free services for the poor, has been cited by the United Nations Committee on Innovation, Competitiveness and Public-Private Partnerships as a model for public-private partnership (PPP) projects.{{Cite web |last=Toledo, Rosabell C. |date=July 10, 2017 |title=UN lauds free dialysis center in Manila |url=http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/un-lauds-free-dialysis-center-in-manila/ |access-date=July 15, 2017 |publisher=BusinessMirror}}{{Cite news |last=Cabalza, Dexter |date=July 9, 2017 |title=Dialysis center for Manila's poor cited by UN body |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/912103/dialysis-center-for-manilas-poor-cited-by-un-body |access-date=July 15, 2017}} The dialysis facility was named Flora V. Valisno de Siojo Dialysis Center in 2019, and was inaugurated as the largest free dialysis facility in the Philippines. It has 91 dialysis machines, which can be expanded up to 100, matching the capabilities of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI).{{Cite news |last=Lalu, Gabriel Pabico |date=October 24, 2019 |title=Manila opens country's largest free dialysis facility |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1181559/manila-opens-countrys-largest-free-dialysis-facility |access-date=October 26, 2019}}{{Cite news |date=October 26, 2019 |title=Isko opens Philippine's largest dialysis center |work=The Philippine Star |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/10/26/1963439/isko-opens-philippines-largest-dialysis-center |access-date=October 26, 2019}}

{{main|List of universities and colleges in Manila|Division of City Schools–Manila}}

File:Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.jpg and Baluarte de San Diego in Intramuros]]

File:De La Salle University Manila La Salle Hall Night Skyline Taft Avenue.jpg is a Lasallian educational institution established in 1911.]]

Manila has been a center of education since the colonial period.{{cite book |last1=Ricklefs |first1=M. C. |last2=Lockhart |first2=Bruce |last3=Lau |first3=Albert |title=A New History of Southeast Asia |date=November 19, 2010 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-137-01554-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ICBHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA224 224] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICBHEAAAQBAJ |access-date=August 18, 2022 |language=en}} The city has several Philippine universities and colleges, some of which are the county's oldest. The city's University Belt has a high concentration of colleges and universities, which are a short walking distance of each other. The University Belt is at the boundaries between San Miguel, Quiapo, and Sampaloc districts, while other clusters colleges lie along the southern bank of the Pasig River – mostly in Intramuros and Ermita districts; and at the southernmost part of Malate near the city limits.

The historic district Intramuros once housed the University of Santo Tomas (1611), Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1620), and Ateneo de Manila University (1859).{{cite web |title=List of PACU Member Schools – Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities |url=https://www.pacu.org.ph/members/ |website=Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities |access-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031231702/https://www.pacu.org.ph/members/ |archive-date=October 31, 2019}} Only Colegio de San Juan de Letran remains at Intramuros; the University of Santo Tomas transferred to a new campus at Sampaloc in 1927 and Ateneo de Manila University relocated to Loyola Heights, Quezon City, in 1952. In the 20th century, new non-sectarian schools were built; Mapúa University (1925), Lyceum of the Philippines University (1952), and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (1965) – which is owned and operated by the Manila city government.{{cite news |last1=Bolido |first1=Linda |title=On hallowed ground |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/learning/view/20081229-180539/On-hallowed-ground |access-date=September 8, 2022 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=December 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920231913/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net:80/inquirerheadlines/learning/view/20081229-180539/On-hallowed-ground |archive-date=September 20, 2009}}{{cite news |last1=Montemayor |first1=Ma. Teresa |title=PLM, UDM students to get P1-K monthly allowance from Manila LGU |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1076635 |access-date=September 8, 2022 |work=Philippine News Agency |date=July 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124073505/https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1076635 |archive-date=November 24, 2021 |language=en}} The four schools in the district formed the Intramuros Consortium. Other notable universities in the city include National University (1900), San Beda University (1901), the only Benedictine university in Asia, De La Salle University (1911), the largest of all De La Salle University System of schools, St. Paul University Manila (1912), one of the seven campuses comprising the St. Paul University System of schools, Far Eastern University (1928), and Adamson University (1939).

The University of the Philippines (1908), the country's main state university, was established in Ermita, Manila. It moved its central administrative offices from Manila to Diliman in 1949 and eventually made the original campus the University of the Philippines Manila, the oldest of the constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System, and the center of health-sciences education in the country.{{Cite web |title=About UP Manila |url=http://www.upm.edu.ph/letter.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206221239/http://www.upm.edu.ph/letter.html |archive-date=February 6, 2013 |access-date=February 5, 2013 |publisher=University of the Philippines Manila}} Manila is also the site of the main campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, the largest university in the country in terms of student population.{{Cite web |date=March 30, 2011 |title=PUP: Profile |url=http://www.pup.edu.ph/profile/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621153354/http://www.pup.edu.ph/Profile/ |archive-date=June 21, 2014 |access-date=March 4, 2014 |publisher=Polytechnic University of the Philippines |ref=PUP Website}}

The city's three-tier public education system, the Division of the City Schools of Manila, is a branch of the Department of Education. The division oversees 71 public elementary schools and 32 public high schools, all located within the city's territory, except for Rafael Palma Elementary School, which is situated in Barangay La Paz, Makati, near the border with Manila.{{Cite web |last=Cabayan |first=Itchie G. |date=April 7, 2010 |title=Good education a right, not privilege – Lim |url=http://manila.gov.ph |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223001303/http://manila.gov.ph/ |archive-date=February 23, 2017 |access-date=April 24, 2010 |publisher=City Government of Manila |quote=NO one should be deprived of a sound education for being poor |ref=Journal Online}} The city also contains Manila Science High School, a pilot science high school.{{Cite web |title=A Brief History of Manila Science High School |url=http://www.manilascience.edu.ph/about/history/brief-history-manila-science-high-school |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109235457/http://www.manilascience.edu.ph/about/history/brief-history-manila-science-high-school |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |access-date=January 9, 2018 |publisher=Manila Science High School}}

{{see also|List of sister cities in Metro Manila}}

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

• {{flagdeco|Astana}} Astana, Kazakhstan{{Cite web |title=About Manila: Sister Cities |url=http://manila.gov.ph/government/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611173109/http://manila.gov.ph/government/ |archive-date=June 11, 2016 |access-date=November 24, 2016 |publisher=City of Manila}}
• {{flagdeco|Cavite}} Bacoor, Cavite{{Cite news |last=Jaimie Rose Aberia |date=August 16, 2017 |title=Manila, Bacoor sign sister city accord |work=Manila Bulletin |url=http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/08/16/manila-bacoor-sign-sister-city-accord/ |access-date=August 16, 2017 |archive-date=August 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816192742/http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/08/16/manila-bacoor-sign-sister-city-accord/ |url-status=dead }}
• {{flagdeco|Bangkok}} Bangkok, Thailand{{Cite web |title=Relationship with Sister Cities: Manila |url=http://iad.bangkok.go.th/en/showsister_cities?id=36 |access-date=May 27, 2015 |publisher=Bangkok Metropolitan Administration}}
• {{flagdeco|PRC}} Beijing, People's Republic of China{{Cite web |title=Beijing's Sister Cities |url=http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/Sister_Cities/Sister_City/ |access-date=January 3, 2015 |publisher=eBeijing |archive-date=February 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216015454/http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/Sister_Cities/Sister_City/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |date=March 5, 2009 |title=Overview of China-Philippines Bilateral Relations: III. Exchanges and Cooperation in the Fields of Culture, Education, Science and the Military, etc. |url=http://ph.china-embassy.org/eng/zfgx/zzgx/t180703.htm |access-date=February 4, 2015 |publisher=Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of the Philippines |quote=There are 24 pairs of sister-cities or sister-provinces between China and the Philippines, namely: Hangzhou and Baguio City, Guangzhou and Manila City, Shanghai and Metro Manila, Xiamen and Cebu City, Shenyang and Quezon City, Fushun and Lipa City, Hainan and Cebu Province, Sanya and Lapu-Lapu City, Shishi and Naya City, Shandong and Ilocos Norte Province, Zibo and Mandaue City, Anhui and Nueva Ecija Province, Hubei and Leyte Province, Liuzhou and Muntinlupa City, Hezhou and San Fernando City, Harbin and Cagayan de Oro City, Laibin and Laoag City, Beijing and Manila City, Jiangxi and Bohol Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Davao City, Lanzhou and Albay Province, Beihai and Puerto Princessa City, Fujian Province and Laguna Province, Wuxi and Puerto Princessa City.}}
• {{flagdeco|TLS}} Dili, East Timor{{Cite web |title=Sisterhood Agreement With Democratic Republic Of Timor Leste |url=https://manila.gov.ph/sisterhood-agreement-with-democratic-republic-of-timor-leste/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714101225/https://manila.gov.ph/sisterhood-agreement-with-democratic-republic-of-timor-leste/ |archive-date=July 14, 2015 |publisher=City of Manila}}{{Cite news |title=Manila, Bacoor forge sisterhood pact |work=Philippine News Agency |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1006608}}
• {{flagdeco|PRC}} Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
• {{flagdeco|Haifa}} Haifa, Israel{{Cite web |title=Twin Cities |url=http://www.hellohaifa.co.il/?page_id=727 |access-date=August 16, 2016 |publisher=Hello Haifa}}
• {{flagdeco|VIE}} Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam{{Cite web |title=Sister Cities – Ho Chi Minh City |url=http://www.eng.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/aboutgovernment/Pages/Sister-Cities.aspx |access-date=February 7, 2015 |publisher=Ho Chi Minh City}}
• {{flagdeco|Incheon}} Incheon, South Korea{{Cite web |title=Sister and Friendship Cities |url=http://guide.incheon.go.kr/articles/2578 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206181857/http://guide.incheon.go.kr/articles/2578 |archive-date=February 6, 2015 |access-date=February 7, 2015}}
• {{flagdeco|Jakarta}} Jakarta, Indonesia{{Cite web |title=About Manila: Sister Cities |url=http://manila.gov.ph/government/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611173109/http://manila.gov.ph/government/ |archive-date=June 11, 2016 |access-date=September 2, 2009 |publisher=City of Manila}}
• {{flagdeco|Nantan}} Nantan, Kyoto, Japan{{Cite web |title=Sister cities, towns and villages of Kyoto Prefecture |url=http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/en/01-04-03.html |access-date=February 5, 2015 |website=Kyoto Prefecture Website}}
• {{flagdeco|Osaka City}} Osaka, Japan (business partner){{Cite web |title=Business Partner Cities (BPC), the official website of Osaka city |url=http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/seisakukikakushitsu/page/0000040993.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120230641/http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/seisakukikakushitsu/page/0000040993.html |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |access-date=August 5, 2009}}
• {{flagdeco|NMI}} Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands{{Cite news |last=Todeno, Junhan B. |date=June 17, 2012 |title=Flores forges sister city ties with Manila |work=Marianas Variety |url=http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/47303-flores-forges-sister-city-ties-with-manila |access-date=November 10, 2015}}
• {{flagdeco|PRC}} Shanghai, People's Republic of China{{Cite web |title=Shanghai Foreign Affairs |url=http://www.shfao.gov.cn/wsb/english/Sister_Cities/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518123518/http://www.shfao.gov.cn/wsb/english/Sister_Cities/index.html |archive-date=May 18, 2011 |access-date=November 24, 2016 |publisher=Shfao.gov.cn}}
• {{flagdeco|Taipei}} Taipei, Taiwan{{Cite web |title=International Sister Cities |url=http://www.tcc.gov.tw/en/cp.aspx?n=81569D74DD82C7DB |access-date=June 3, 2015 |publisher=Taipei City Council |archive-date=October 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023112126/http://www.tcc.gov.tw/en/cp.aspx?n=81569D74DD82C7DB |url-status=dead }}
• {{flagdeco|Takatsuki}} Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan{{Cite web |title=Manila-Takatsuki sisterpact |url=http://manila.gov.ph/manila-takatsuki-sisterhood-pact/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108140843/http://manila.gov.ph/manila-takatsuki-sisterhood-pact/ |archive-date=January 8, 2015 |access-date=January 8, 2015 |publisher=City of Manila}}{{Cite web |date=February 29, 2012 |title=List of Sister City Affiliations with Japan (by country): Philippines |url=http://www.clair.org.sg/exchange/index.html |access-date=February 4, 2015 |publisher=Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR, Singapore) |location=Singapore |archive-date=October 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023112337/http://www.clair.org.sg/exchange/index.html |url-status=dead }}
• {{flagdeco|Yokohama}} Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan{{Cite news |title=How the Filipino hero found his samurai wife in Yokohama |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/30849/how-the-filipino-hero-found-his-samurai-wife-in-yokohama |access-date=January 8, 2015}}

{{div col end}}

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

• {{flagicon image|ROU Bucharest Flag.svg}} Bucharest, Romania
• {{flagdeco|Lisbon}} Lisbon, Portugal{{Cite news |title=Twin Cities plan will boost Malacca |work=New Straits Times |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1295&dat=20020425&id=S10uAAAAIBAJ&pg=1392,2075248 |access-date=July 9, 2013}}
• {{flagdeco|Warsaw}} Warsaw, Poland
• {{flagicon image|Bandera de la ciudad de Madrid.svg}} Madrid, Spain{{Cite web |title=Hermanamientos y Acuerdos con ciudades |url=http://www.madrid.es/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=76957c275129a310VgnVCM2000000c205a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=ce069e242ab26010VgnVCM100000dc0ca8c0RCRD&vgnextfmt=default&idCapitulo=7182437 |access-date=November 24, 2016 |publisher=Ayuntamiento de Madrid |archive-date=March 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160315202452/http://www.madrid.es/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=76957c275129a310VgnVCM2000000c205a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=ce069e242ab26010VgnVCM100000dc0ca8c0RCRD&vgnextfmt=default&idCapitulo=7182437 |url-status=dead }}
• {{flagicon image|Flag of Málaga, Spain.svg}} Málaga, Spain
• {{flagdeco|Moscow}} Moscow, Russia
• {{flagicon image|Bandièra de Niça.svg}} Nice, France{{Cite web |title=Villes jumelées avec la Ville de Nice |url=http://www.nice.fr/Collectivites/La-municipalite/Villes-jumelees-avec-la-Ville-de-Nice |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029114949/http://nice.fr/Collectivites/La-municipalite/Villes-jumelees-avec-la-Ville-de-Nice |archive-date=October 29, 2012 |access-date=June 24, 2013 |publisher=Ville de Nice |language=fr}}

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{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

• {{flagdeco|Guerrero}} Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico{{Cite web |title=Sister Cities |url=http://www.lajornadaguerrero.com.mx/2009/04/02/index.php?section=sociedad&article=010n2soc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307100738/http://www.lajornadaguerrero.com.mx/2009/04/02/index.php?section=sociedad&article=010n2soc |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |access-date=October 25, 2017 |language=es}}
• {{flagdeco|Buenos Aires}} Buenos Aires, Argentina{{cite news|url = https://metromanila.politics.com.ph/2022/10/06/manila-eyes-sister-city-agreement-with-buenos-aires/ |title = Manila eyes sister city agreement with Buenos Aires | newspaper = MetroManilaPolitics.com.ph | date = October 4, 2022}}
• {{flagdeco|Cali}} Cali, Colombia
• {{flagdeco|Cartagena}} Cartagena, Colombia
• {{flagdeco|Havana}} Havana, Cuba
• {{flagdeco|Lima}} Lima, Peru
• {{flagdeco|Mexico City}} Mexico City, Mexico
• {{flagdeco|URU}} Montevideo, Uruguay{{Cite web |title=Relaciones internacionales |url=http://www.montevideo.gub.uy/institucional/relaciones-internacionales/integracion-regional |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108082107/http://www.montevideo.gub.uy/institucional/relaciones-internacionales/integracion-regional |archive-date=November 8, 2011 |access-date=December 12, 2011 |publisher=Intendencia Municipal de Montevideo |language=es}}
• {{flagdeco|Montreal}} Montreal, Quebec, Canada{{Cite web |last=Foreign Relations |date=June 24, 2005 |title=Manila-Montreal Sister City Agreement Holds Potential for Better Cooperation |url=http://www.gov.ph/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=23170 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5lnDvv2sF?url=http://www.gov.ph/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=23170 |archive-date=December 5, 2009 |access-date=October 2, 2009 |publisher=The Republic of the Philippines}}
• {{flagdeco|New York City}} New York City, New York, United States (global partner){{Cite web |title=NYC's Partner Cities |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/ia/gp/html/partner/partner.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814165415/http://www.nyc.gov/html/ia/gp/html/partner/partner.shtml |archive-date=August 14, 2013 |access-date=January 19, 2015 |publisher=New York City Global Partners}}
• {{flagdeco|Panama City}} Panama City, Panama{{Cite web |date=October 12, 1982 |title=Declaración de Hermanamiento múltiple y solidario de todas las Capitales de Iberoamérica (12–10–82) |url=http://www.munimadrid.es/UnidadWeb/Contenidos/EspecialInformativo/RelacInternac/RRII/HermanamientosyAcuerdos/Files/hermanamiento_UCCI.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510114810/http://www.munimadrid.es/UnidadWeb/Contenidos/EspecialInformativo/RelacInternac/RRII/HermanamientosyAcuerdos/Files/hermanamiento_UCCI.pdf |archive-date=May 10, 2013 |access-date=March 12, 2015}}
• {{flagdeco|Sacramento}} Sacramento, California, United States
• {{flagdeco|San Francisco}} San Francisco, California, United States{{cite news |title=SF Mayor London Breed Fetes San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee on 60th Anniversary |url=https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/sf-mayor-london-breed-fetes-san-francisco-manila-sister-city-committee-on-60th-anniversary/ |work=Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco |access-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812145603/https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/sf-mayor-london-breed-fetes-san-francisco-manila-sister-city-committee-on-60th-anniversary/ |archive-date=August 12, 2022 |date=May 5, 2021}}
• {{flagicon image|Flag of Santiago, Chile.svg}} Santiago, Chile
• {{flagicon image|Flag of Winnipeg.svg}} Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada{{Cite web |title=Winnipeg's Sister Cities: Manila (Maynila), Philippines (Republika ng Pilipinas) |url=http://grantnordman.com/site/?p=2631 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604015814/http://grantnordman.com/site/?p=2631 |archive-date=June 4, 2015 |access-date=June 2, 2015}}

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• {{flagdeco|Honolulu}} Honolulu, Hawaii, United States{{Cite web |title=Manila, Philippines |url=http://www.sister-cities.org/interactive-map/Manila,%20Philippines |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027163640/http://www.sister-cities.org/interactive-map/Manila,%20Philippines |archive-date=October 27, 2014 |access-date=October 27, 2014 |publisher=Sister Cities International}}
• {{flagdeco|Maui County}} Maui County, Hawaii, United States{{cite web |title=Sister Cities |url=https://www.mauicounty.gov/857/Sister-Cities |website=Maui County, HI - Official Website |access-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517230949/https://www.mauicounty.gov/857/Sister-Cities |archive-date=May 17, 2016}}

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Manila hosts the foreign embassies of the United States{{cite web |title=Contact us |url=https://ph.usembassy.gov/contact/ |website=U.S. Embassy in the Philippines |access-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409031336/https://ph.usembassy.gov/contact/ |archive-date=April 9, 2022}} and Vietnam.{{cite web |title=Vietnam Visa For Filipino; Vietnam Embassy in Philippines |url=https://www.vietnam-immigration.org.vn/vietnam-embassies/view/philippines.html |website=Vietnam-Immigration.Org.Vn |access-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220812140808/https://www.vietnam-immigration.org.vn/vietnam-embassies/view/philippines.html |archive-date=August 12, 2022 |url-status=live }} Honorary consulates of Belize, Burkina Faso, Jordan, Nepal, Poland, Iceland, Paraguay, Thailand, and Tunisia are based in the city.{{cite web |title=Foreign Consulates |url=https://dfa.gov.ph/office-of-protocol/foreign-consulates |website=Department of Foreign Affairs |access-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811022537/https://dfa.gov.ph/office-of-protocol/foreign-consulates |archive-date=August 11, 2022}}

{{main|List of people from Manila|List of people from Metro Manila}}

• Greater Manila Area
• Province of Manila

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|group=note|refs=

The city limits was at Vicente Sotto Street. The rest of the place south of the street belongs to Pasay. Buildings and structures in CCP that falls under the jurisdiction of Manila includes the National Theater.

}}

{{Reflist|refs=

Rolfe, R.A. (1886) On the flora of Philippine Islands and its probable derivation. [https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QacI71mt_EoXKTo6hqZy18tFfIPj1o_TgmmrtgsqWr7j6DpWOgxOT9LTw0NxQt1mHWMh3agvkguqMaqyBThP9gC9IDKgvIEGMYl1BB6FB_WrQ102ahtPSLsN-gXh-biwM_obsuWI4ucnyFMRyI8gyH8G98iPlEJA-hVG_pX_lhl1PUubpFVfEjV2g8Obhoaqn8aNV33BkWiFut-CgccEKYY_CMlZnr07eRZB6klbXQK42aA-5KkyR9yD4xeFXu1ou0cxK0a7vcy34FWfZlBAnpAKb8horQ The Journal of the Linnean Society - Botany 21: 285].

{{Cite book |last1=Ray |first1=John |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/126270 |title=Historia plantarum : species hactenus editas aliasque insuper multas noviter inventas & descriptas complectens |last2=Camel |first2=Georg Joseph |last3=Tournefort |first3=Joseph Pitton de |date=1686 |publisher=Typis Mariæ Clark, prostant apud Henricum Faithorne [etc.] |edition=[Large paper issue] |volume= 3|page=86 |location=Londini}}

}}

• {{Cite news |last=Hancock |first=Rose |date=April 2000 |title=April Was a Cruel Month for the Greatest Manila Mayor Ever Had |periodical=1898:The Shaping of Philippine History |volume=II |series=35 |publication-place=Manila |publisher=Asia Pacific Communications Network, Inc. |pages=15–20}}
• Moore, Charles (1921). [https://books.google.com/books?id=aR7iAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA162 "Daniel H. Burnham: Planner of Cities"]. Houghton Mifflin and Co., Boston and New York.

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Wikisource author}}

• {{official website|http://manila.gov.ph/}}
• [{{NSCB detail}} Philippine Standard Geographic Code]
• {{OSM relation|103703}}

{{S-start}}

{{Succession box

| title = Capital of the Spanish East Indies

| before = Iloilo City

| after = Bacolor

| years = 1571–1762

}}

{{Succession box

| title = Capital of the Spanish East Indies

| before = Bacolor

| after = Iloilo City

| years = 1764–1896

}}

{{s-non

| reason = Independence declared

| rows = 2

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Capital of the Philippines

| years = 1898–1941

| rows = 2

}}

{{s-aft

| after = Corregidor Island

| as = Capital of the Commonwealth of the Philippines

}}

|-

{{s-aft

| after = City of Greater Manila

| as = Capital of the Second Philippine Republic

}}

|-

{{s-bef

| before = Baguio
{{flagicon|JPN|1944}}Nara/Tokyo

| as = Capital of the Second Philippine Republic

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Capital of the Philippines

| years = 1945–1948

}}

{{s-aft

| after = Quezon City

}}

{{s-bef

| before = Quezon City

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Capital of the Philippines

| years = 1976–present

}}

{{s-inc}}

|-

{{s-non

| reason = Province established

}}

{{S-ttl

| title = Capital of Manila

| years = 1571–1898

}}

{{s-aft

| after = Mariquina

}}

|-

{{s-bef

| before = Mariquina

}}

{{S-ttl

| title = Capital of Manila

| years = 1899–1901

}}

{{s-non

| reason = Province abolished

}}

{{S-end}}

{{Geographic location

|Center=Manila

|Northwest=Navotas

|North=Caloocan (South)

|Northeast=Quezon City

|East=San Juan
Mandaluyong

|Southeast=Makati

|South=Pasay

|West=Manila Bay

}}

{{Manila}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Articles related to Manila

|list =

{{Navboxes

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|list =

Lat. and Long. {{Coord|14|35|45|N|120|58|38|E|display=inline}} Manila}}

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{{Most populous cities in Philippines}}

{{Philippines political divisions}}

{{List of Asian capitals by region}}

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}}

{{subject bar|portal1=Geography|portal2=Asia|portal3=Philippines|commons=y |commons-search= Category:Manila |voy=y |n=y |n-search= Category:Manila}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Capitals in Asia

Category:Cities in Metro Manila

Category:1574 establishments in the Philippines

Category:Planned communities in the Philippines

Category:Populated places established in 1574

Category:Populated places on Manila Bay

Category:Populated places on the Pasig River

Category:Port cities and towns in the Philippines

Category:Highly urbanized cities in the Philippines