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Muntinlupa City: Something for Everybody
While Muntinlupa City is best known for its exclusive gated communities, it actually started out as a fishing town and as a ranching estate. Located in the southern outskirts of Metro Manila, it is in the heart of a rising industrial zone that encompasses the provinces of Laguna and Cavite, and serves as a vital route for trade between the two provinces and the rest of the metropolis. With the presence of excellent schools, Muntinlupa City is also recognized as Southern Metro Manila's educational center.
From Ranches to Villages
When the Spaniards first came to Muntinlupa in the 1600s, they found that the thin topsoil and rugged terrain of the hinterlands were not ideal for agriculture. For centuries, most of Muntinlupa's interior served as ranchland, where cattle grazed on the grass that grew abundantly in the area. In the early 1900s, the Americans built the Biological Protection Service building in what is now known as Filinvest Corporate City. The Art Deco building, which housed laboratories for the production of vaccines and antivenom, is being integrated into an existing mall and will house a museum dedicated to the history of the city.
As the cattle ranchers decided to move farther from the city, real estate developers such as Ayala Corporation decided to take advantage of the growing demand for residential lots. One of the first villages in the area, Ayala Alabang Village, was built in the late 1970s and has become home to some of the country's wealthiest families and individuals. Other villages, such as Alabang Hills, followed suit. Alabang then became the center of a busy shopping district that included Festival Mall and Alabang Town Center, both of which have gone through aggressive expansion and continue to serve thousands of shoppers daily.
Many families consider Muntinlupa the ideal place for starting a family due to the presence of both jobs and schools in the area. While established banks and insurance companies have already built sites in the area, outsourcing and offshoring companies are also recruiting heavily from the city's well-educated workforce. As a result of these high-paying jobs, more parents are able to send their children to Muntinlupa's exclusive schools, such as San Beda College-Alabang, Woodrose School, Southridge School, and De La Salle Santiago Zobel School.
Buying a House in Muntinlupa City
With most of its land area being residential in nature, it is actually easy to find a house for sale in Muntinlupa City. These houses in located in areas such as Tunasan and Susana Heights, closer to the old town, to Ayala Alabang Village and Portofino, two of the most affluent in the country. House prices in Alabang range from P2 million to P540 million, and many come with a range of amenities, including multiple-car garages and swimming pools.
