1.
Central business district
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A central business district is the commercial and business centre of a city. In larger cities, it is synonymous with the citys financial district. Both the CBD and the city centre or downtown may also coincide with the central activities district, a citys CBD is usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings. The CBD usually has a density higher than the surrounding districts of the city. The CBD is often also the city centre or downtown, Mexico City also has a historic city centre, the colonial-era Centro Histórico, along with two CBDs, the mid-late 20th century Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco, and the new Santa Fe. The shape and type of a CBD almost always reflect the citys history. Cities with maximum building height restrictions often have a historic section quite apart from the financial. It has been said that downtowns are therefore distinct from both CBDs and city centres. CBDs usually have very small resident populations, for example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in the year 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however, CBD populations are increasing as younger professional, the Buenos Aires Central Business District, is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The actual area was the point of first European settlement and its north-south axis runs from Monserrat in the south to Retiro railway station in the north. Its east-west axis runs from Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve and Puerto Madero, the district is the financial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. Its port is one of the busiest in South America, navigable rivers by way of the Río de la Plata connect the port to northeast Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. As a result, it serves as the hub for a vast area of the southeastern region of the South American continent. Tax collection related to the port has caused political problems in the past. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index is likewise high by international standards, the term is used to refer to the business and financial area of a state capital city such as the Sydney CBD, Melbourne CBD, Brisbane CBD, Perth CBD and Adelaide CBD. The city centres of some cities, such as Townsville, Bendigo. More recently, in cities the city centre, which may or may not be distinct from the CBD, is increasingly separately identified
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Philippines
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The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos
4.
Metro Manila
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These 5 provinces, plus Metro Manila and Pampanga, sum to 30.7 million residents as of the newly counted census of 2015. The region is the center of culture, economy, education, NCR is one of the 12 defined metropolitan areas in the Philippines according to the National Economic and Development Authority. Designated as a global city, NCR exerts a significant impact on commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education. It is the home to all the consulates and embassies in the Philippines and its economic power makes the region the countrys premier center for finance and commerce. NCR accounts for 37. 2% of the domestic product of the Philippines. The Province of Manila, the progenitor to the present-day Metro Manila, is one of the eight provinces that revolted against the Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. The province was honored as one of the sun rays in the Flag of the Philippines, a historical province known as Manila encompasses the former pre-Hispanic kingdoms of Tondo and Maynila. It became the capital of the colonial Philippines, with Manila serving as the center of colonial power, in 1898, it included the City of Manila and 23 other municipalities. Mariquina also served as the capital from 1898-1899, just as when the sovereignty of the Philippines was transferred to the United States, the province was dissolved and most of it was incorporated to the newly created province of Rizal in 1901. Since the Spanish colonial period, Manila was considered as one of the global cities. Pasig serves as its provincial capital, in 1939, President Quezon established Quezon City with a goal to replace Manila as the capital city of the country. A masterplan for Quezon City was completed, the establishment of Quezon City meant demise of the grand Burnham Plan of Manila, with funds being diverted for the establishment of the new capital. World War II further resulted in the loss most of the developments in the Burnham Plan, but more importantly, later on, Quezon City eventually declared as the national capital from 1948-1976. The tile was re-designated back to Manila through Presidential Decree No.940 owing to its significance as the seat of government of the Philippines since the Spanish colonial period. During the war, President Manuel L. Jorge Vargas was appointed as its mayor, Mayors in the cities and municipalities included in the City of Greater Manila served as vice mayors in their town. This was in order to ensure Vargas, who was Quezons principal lieutenant for administrative matters, the City of Greater Manila was abolished by the Japanese with the formation of the Philippine Executive Commission to govern the occupied regions of the country. The City of Greater Manila served as a model for the present-day Metro Manila, on November 7,1975, Metro Manila was formally established through Presidential Decree No.824. The Metropolitan Manila Commission was also created to manage the region, on June 2,1978, through Presidential Decree No
5.
Mandaluyong
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Mandaluyong is a city in the Philippines located directly east of Manila. It is one of the sixteen cities which, along with the Municipality of Pateros, make up Metro Manila and it is known for the Ortigas Center, a commercial and business center that is also shared with Pasig. The city is bordered by Manila to the west, San Juan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, Pasig to the east, according to the 2015 census, it has a population of 386,276. It is also the 6th-smallest city in the Philippines with an area of 11.06 km2. There are different stories on the origin of the name Mandaluyong, one tells of how the place was abundant with a kind of person called luyongwas in love with manda since they were adults, from which beautiful canes and furniture were made. Another claims that the Spaniards named the place based on the report of a navigator named Acapulco and this seems to confirm traditional pre-Hispanic stories that giant waves from the sea would meet the adjoining hills of the vast lowland, referred to as salpukan ng alon. Felix dela Huerta, a Franciscan historian, observed that the topography of this land resembled giant waves of the sea. Romantic residents, however, peddle the similarly formulaic legend of a Maharlika named Luyong who fell in love with Manda, the chieftain had no personal liking for Luyong and forbade him Mandas hand. Luyong overcame this objection by winning a series of tribal contests which was the custom at the time, the couple settled thereafter in a place which was later called “Mandaluyong by means of joining their names. Residents of Mandaluyong have always known for their industry. Men did the laundry to the amusement of non-residents until shortly after the war and these industrious people trace their roots to Emperor Soledan and Empress Sasaban of the Kingdom of Sapa whose son Prince Balagtas ruled as sovereign of the kingdom in about the year 1300. More than a later, in about the year 1470. The vast Kingdom comprised what are now Quiapo, San Miguel, Sta, Mesa, Paco, Pandacan, Malate, Malate and Sta. Ana in Manila, and Mandaluyong, San Juan, Makati, Pasay, Pateros, Taguig, Parañaque, Mandaluyong was first known as a barrio of Sta. Ana de Sapa which was part of the District of Paco, named San Felipe Neri by the Spaniards in honor of the Patron Saint of Rome, it was separated civilly from Sta. On September 15,1863 San Felipe Neri established its own parish and under the administration of the Congregation “Dulcisimo Nombre de Jesus”, it constructed its own church, convent and school. The Parish of San Felipe Neri played a significant role as a station for propagating the Katipunan during the 1896-1898 Revolution. Mandaluyong shows significance in the historic Philippine Revolution of 1896 as the baluarte of Katipunan or Makabuhay group with seventeen branches, in this site, Bonifacio read the last manifestation of the Katipunan before they transferred in Hagdan Bato, in the house of Felix Sanchez
6.
Pasig
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The city is also the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pasig, making its cathedral a landmark built around the same time as the towns foundation in 1573. The citys name Pasig was believed to have come from the old Sanskrit word pasega, or sand and it was pronounced mapaksik by the Pre-Hispanic Chinese inhabitants of Binondo, Manila. Mapaksik later became Pah-sik, and was changed to what is now Pasig. It may have come from the Tagalog word dalampasigan, which means riverbank. Here lies a nearly-extinct creek that played an important role amidst the days of the Philippine Revolution, the creek was given the name Bitukang Manok, due to the serpentine shape of its waterway. Among its early dwellers were Ethnic Malays, the Chinese from Southern China, the Bitukang Manok was once a principal tributary of the Marikina River. The Spanish colonizers called the creek Rio de Pasig, however, the Bitukang Manok, also known as the Parian Creek, had once linked the Marikina River with the Antipolo River. Dela Paz, thus being the detached and long-abandoned Antipolo River, even the marian processions of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage passed this route back and forth eleven times. The Sepoys backstabbed their abusive British lieutenants and sided with the forces of the Spanish Conquistadors, local rice farmers, fisherfolk. After the British Invasion, the Sepoys remained and intermarried with Filipina women, in 1742, an Augustinian friar named Fray Domingo Diaz, together with a group of wealthy Mestizos de Sangley from Brgy. Sagad, ordered a construction of a marble, roof tile-covered bridge across the creek in the style of an oriental pagoda. It was named Puente del Pariancillo, and a few later, it changed to Puente de Fray Felix Trillo. Edmund Roberts visited Pasig in 1832, on the night of May 2,1896, more than 300 revolutionary Katipuneros, led by the Supremo Gat. Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and Pio Valenzuela, secretly gained access in this very creek aboard a fleet of seventeen Bangkas to the old residence of a notable Valentin Cruz at Brgy, San Nicolas, and formed the Asamblea Magna. That was the first and victorious rebellion ever accomplished by the Katipunan, after World War II, the Bitukang Manok was slowly exposing its ecological downfall. It resulted in water due to rational ignorance. On June 11,1901, During the Philippine-American War, the province of Rizal was created through Act No.137 of Philippine Commission, Pasig was incorporated into the province of Rizal, and was designated as the capital of the new province. In 1975, Pasig was carved out of Rizal province and became part of Metro Manila when the Metro Manila Commission was created by Pres, ferdinand Marcos through Presidential Decree 824
7.
Quezon City
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Quezon City is the most populous city in the Philippines. It is one of the cities that make up Metro Manila, Quezon City was named after Manuel L. Quezon, second President of the Philippines, who founded the city and developed it with the intention to replace Manila as the national capital. The city actually held title for 28 years starting 1948 up to 1976. Quezon City is not located in and should not be confused with Quezon Province and it is the largest city in Metro Manila in terms of land area. Quezon City also hosts the University of the Philippines Diliman–the national university–and Ateneo de Manila University, the Quezon Memorial Circle is a national park and shrine located in Quezon City. The park is an ellipse bounded by the Elliptical Road and its main feature is a mausoleum containing the remains of Manuel L. Quezon, the second President of the Philippines, and his wife, First Lady Aurora Quezon. Before Quezon City was created, its land was settled by the individual towns of San Francisco del Monte, Novaliches. On August 23,1896, the Katipunan led by its Supremo Andrés Bonifacio, in the early 20th century, President Manuel L. Quezon dreamt of a city that would become the future capital of the country to replace Manila. It is believed that his trip to Mexico influenced his vision. In 1938, President Quezon created the Peoples Homesite Corporation and purchased 15.29 km2 from the vast Diliman Estate of the Tuason family, successfully lobbied the assembly to name the city after the incumbent president. President Quezon allowed the bill to lapse into law without his signature on October 12,1939, instead of opposing it, Caloocan residents willingly gave land to Quezon City in the belief it will benefit the countrys new capital. During the Second World War, Imperial Japanese forces occupied Quezon City in 1942 and this caused the territorial division of Caloocan into two non-contiguous parts, the South section being the more urbanized part, and the North half being sub-rural. On June 16,1950, the Quezon City Charter was revised by Republic Act No,537, changing the citys boundaries to an area of 153.59 km2. Exactly six years after on June 16,1956, more revisions to the land area were made by Republic Act No. 1575, which defined its area as 151.06 km2.33 km2, on October 1,1975, Quezon City was the actual site of the Thrilla in Manila boxing fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. On November 7,1975 the promulgation of Presidential Decree No.824 of President Ferdinand Marcos established Metro Manila, Quezon City became one of Metro Manilas 17 cities and municipalities. The next year, Presidential Decree No.940 transferred the capital back to Manila on June 24,1976, on March 31,1978, President Marcos ordered the transfer of the remains of President Quezon from Manila North Cemetery to the completed Quezon Memorial Monument within Elliptical Road. On February 22,1986, the Quezon City portion of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue became the venue of the bloodless People Power Revolution that overthrew Marcos, on February 23,1998, Republic Act
8.
Philippine Standard Time
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Philippine Standard Time, also known as Philippine Time and informally Juan Time, is the official name for the time in the Philippines. The country only uses one time zone, and for a short period, geographically, the Philippines lies within 116°40′ and 126°34′ east of the Prime Meridian, and is physically located within the UTC+08,00 time zone. Philippine Standard Time is maintained by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the Philippines shares the same time zone with Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, most parts of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, central Indonesia, and Western Australia. Philippine Standard Time was instituted through Batas Pambansa Blg,8, approved on 2 December 1978 and implemented on 1 January 1983. The Philippines is one of the few countries to officially and almost exclusively use the 12-hour clock in non-military situations. From 1521 to 1844, the Philippines had the date as Mexico. Monday,30 December 1844 was immediately followed by Wednesday,1 January 1845 and this meant that International Date Line moved from going west of the Philippines to go on the east side of the country. At the time, local time was used to set clocks, meaning that every place used its own local time based on its longitude. Television and radio stations in the Philippines display the time, in September 2011, the Department of Science and Technology proposed to synchronise time nationwide in an effort to discourage tardiness. On May 15,2013, President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act No,10535, better known as the The Philippine Standard Time Act of 2013 as a last step to finally implement the Juan Time. Effective June 1,2013, all government offices and media networks will be required to use Philippine Standard Time as a basis to set their timepieces, in addition, the first week of January will be regularly observed as the National Time Consciousness Week. The IANA time zone database contains one zone for the Philippines in the file zone. tab, hapon starts at 1,00 PM and ends 5,59 PM. Gabí starts at 6,00 PM and ends 12,00 AM which is Hatinggabi, madalíng Araw starts at 12,01 AM and ends 4,59 AM. Except in very formal situations, Filipinos rarely use the numbers in telling time. - Alas otso kwarenta y uno ng gabí or Apatnapút-isá makalipas ng ikawaló ng gabí5,30 A. M, - Alas singko y medya ng umaga or Tatlumpûng minuto makalipas ng ikalimá ng umaga or ikalimá at kalaháti ng umaga 3,00 P. M. - Alas tres ng hapon o Ikatló ng hapon 12,00 P. M, - Alas dose ng tanghalì o Ikalabíndalawá ng tanghalì12,00 A. M. - Alas dose ng hatinggabi o Ikalabíndalawá ng hatinggabí2,00 A. M
9.
Regions of the Philippines
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In the Philippines, regions, ISO 3166-2, PH) are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. Currently, the republic of the Philippines is divided into 18 regions. Most government offices are established by region instead of individual provincial offices, the regions themselves do not possess a separate local government, with the exception of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which has an elected regional assembly and governor. The Cordillera Administrative Region was originally intended to be autonomous, since that time, other regions have been created and some provinces have been transferred from one region to another. June 22,1973, Pangasinan was transferred from Region III to Region I, july 7,1975, Region XII created and minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions. July 25,1975, Regions IX and XII declared as Autonomous Regions in Western, august 21,1975, Region IX divided into Sub-Region IX-A and Sub-Region IX-B. Minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions, november 7,1975, Metropolitan Manila created. June 2,1978, Metropolitan Manila declared as the National Capital Region, july 15,1987, Cordillera Administrative Region created. August 1,1989, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao created, Region XII reverted to an administrative region. October 23,1989, First creation of Cordillera Autonomous Region, ratification rejected by residents in a plebiscite. October 12,1990, Executive Order 429 issued by President Corazon Aquino to reorganize the Mindanao regions, february 23,1995, Region XIII created and minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions. Sultan Kudarat transferred to Region XI,1997, Minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions. December 22,1997, Second creation of Cordillera Autonomous Region, ratification rejected by residents in a plebiscite. December 18,1998, Sultan Kudarat returned to Region XII, september 19,2001, Most Mindanao regions reorganized and some renamed. May 17,2002, Region IV-A and Region IV-B created from the former Region IV region, may 23,2005, Palawan transferred from Region IV-B to Region VI, Mimaropa renamed to Mimaro. August 19,2005, Transfer of Palawan to Region VI held in abeyance, may 29,2015, Negros Island Region created. Negros Occidental and Bacolod from Region VI and Negros Oriental from Region VII transferred to form new region, july 17,2016, Republic Act No.10879 established the Southwestern Tagalog Region from the former Region IV-B. As of May 2015, the Philippines comprises 18 administrative regions and these regions are geographically organized into the three island groups of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
10.
Makati Central Business District
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The Makati Central Business District, also known as the Makati CBD, is the leading financial and central business district in the Philippines located at the heart of Makati in Metro Manila. It is politically known аs Central Cluster in the West District of Makati and it is different from the civic center of Makati known as Makati Poblacion which is situated at the north-east portion of the district. It is bounded by EDSA, Gil Puyat Avenue, Arnaiz Avenue, the whole district occupies barangays of San Antonio, San Lorenzo, Bel-Air, and Urdaneta. Many of the skyscrapers in Metro Manila are in this area, PBCom Tower along Ayala Avenue is the countrys tallest building and reaches up 259 meters. It is the headquarters of the Philippine Bank of Communications, or PBCom, the business district is also considered as one of the most vibrant commеrcial districts in Southeast Asia. It contains the Ayala Center, one of the major shopping centers. The financial district is managed by two groups - the Makati Commercial Estates Association and the Ayala Property Management Corporation. Downtown Makati started out as part of the municipality of Santa Ana de Sapa and became a town of its own in 1670, then as San Pedro de Macati in honor of its patron. In 1851, Don José Bonifacio Roxas purchased the estate of Hacienda San Pedro de Macati from the Jesuits for 52,800 pesos. The western portion of the estate is now what is called the downtown, since then, Makati and its development remain close to the Zobel de Ayala family. That same year, the town, with a population of 25,000, was incorporated from Manila to the province of Rizal with Marcelino Magsaysay serving as the town president. In the 1930s, the first airport in Luzon island, Nielson Field, the airport was officially inaugurated in 1938, and Philippine Airlines began its operations there in 1941. After the destruction of World War II that brought upon Makati, the town grew rapidly, as Nieslon Field closed down in 1948 the plan was set for the building of the central business district. The first centrally planned communities from the Ayalas farm estate were established in the 1950s, and some of the gated communities that were developed grew into commercial areas and office parks. The multiple-lane Ayala Avenue was completed in 1958, which part of the runway of the first commercial airport in the country. The downtown was developed into high density residential and commercial areas according to specific zoning regulations, in the early 1960s, Ayala Corporation commissioned some of the first high-rise buildings to rise along Ayala Avenue from one of the countrys best known architects, Leandro V. Locsin. The Makati Stock Exchange was established on May 27,1963 with its trading area located along Ayala Avenue in downtown, in the late 1960s, Downtown Makati has been the financial capital of the Philippines due to urban decay of the City of Manila. Bañolas mayorship saw the building of the Ayala Center complex in the mid 1960s, in 1972, Ferdinand Marcos imposed Martial law in the Philippines
11.
Shopping mall
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A shopping arcade is a specific form serving the same purpose. Many early shopping arcades such as the Burlington Arcade in London, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, however, many smaller arcades have been demolished, replaced with large centers or malls, often accessible by vehicle. Technical innovations such as lighting and escalators were introduced from the late 19th century. From the late 20th century, entertainment venues such as movie theaters, as a single built structure, early shopping centers were often architecturally significant constructions, enabling wealthier patrons to buy goods in spaces protected from the weather. In places around the world, the shopping centre is used, especially in Europe, Australia. Mall is a term used predominantly in North America, outside of North America, shopping precinct and shopping arcade are also used. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, malls are commonly referred to as shopping centres, the majority of British shopping centres are located in city centres, usually found in old and historic shopping districts and surrounded by subsidiary open air shopping streets. Large examples include West Quay in Southampton, Manchester Arndale, Bullring Birmingham, Liverpool One, Trinity Leeds, Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow and these centres were built in the 1980s and 1990s, but planning regulations prohibit the construction of any more. Out-of-town shopping developments in the UK are now focused on retail parks, planning policy prioritizes the development of existing town centres, although with patchy success. Bullring, Birmingham is the busiest shopping centre in the UK welcoming over 36.5 million shoppers in its opening year, there are a reported 222 malls in Europe. In 2014, these malls had combined sales of $12.47 billion and this represented a 10% bump in revenues from the prior year. One of the earliest examples of public shopping areas comes from ancient Rome, One of the earliest public shopping centers is Trajans Market in Rome located in Trajans Forum. Trajans Market was probably built around 100-110 CE by Apollodorus of Damascus, the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul was built in the 15th century and is still one of the largest covered shopping centers in the world, with more than 58 streets and 4,000 shops. Numerous other covered shopping arcades, such as the 19th-century Al-Hamidiyah Souq in Damascus, Syria, isfahans Grand Bazaar, which is largely covered, dates from the 10th century. The 10-kilometer-long, covered Tehrans Grand Bazaar also has a lengthy history, the oldest continuously occupied shopping mall in the world is likely to be the Chester Rows. Dating back at least to the 13th century, these covered walkways housed shops, with storage, different rows specialized in different goods, such as Bakers Row or Fleshmongers Row. The Marché des Enfants Rouges in Paris opened in 1628 and still runs today, the Oxford Covered Market in Oxford, England opened in 1774 and still runs today. The Passage du Caire was opened in Paris in 1798, the Burlington Arcade in London was opened in 1819
12.
Skyscraper
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A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building having multiple floors. When the term was used in the 1880s it described a building of 10 to 20 floors. Mostly designed for office, commercial and residential uses, a skyscraper can also be called a high-rise, for buildings above a height of 300 m, the term supertall can be used, while skyscrapers reaching beyond 600 m are classified as megatall. One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel framework that supports curtain walls and these curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete. Modern skyscrapers walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure, and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, a relatively big building may be considered a skyscraper if it protrudes well above its built environment and changes the overall skyline. The maximum height of structures has progressed historically with building methods and technologies, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world. High-rise buildings are considered shorter than skyscrapers, the first steel-frame skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Even the scholars making the argument find it to be purely academic and this definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicagos Monadnock Building. What is the characteristic of the tall office building. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and it must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line. Some structural engineers define a highrise as any vertical construction for which wind is a significant load factor than earthquake or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, the word skyscraper often carries a connotation of pride and achievement. A loose convention of some in the United States and Europe draws the limit of a skyscraper at 150 m or 490 ft. The tallest building in ancient times was the 146 m Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt and it was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 14th century AD Lincoln Cathedral being conjectured by many to have exceeded it
13.
Restaurant
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A restaurant, or an eatery, is a business which prepares and serves food and drinks to customers in exchange for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many also offer take-out and food delivery services. In Western countries, most mid- to high-range restaurants serve alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, some restaurants serve all the major meals, such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other restaurants may serve a single meal or they may serve two meals or even a kids meal. Restaurants may be classified or distinguished in different ways. The primary factors are usually the food itself, the cuisine and/or the style of offering, beyond this, restaurants may differentiate themselves on factors including speed, formality, location, cost, service, or novelty themes. In the former case, customers usually wear casual clothing, in the latter case, depending on culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual, semi-formal or formal wear. Typically, at mid- to high-priced restaurants, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, after eating, the customers then pay the bill. Another restaurant approach which uses few waiters is the buffet restaurant, customers serve food onto their own plates and then pay at the end of the meal. Buffet restaurants typically still have waiters to serve drinks and alcoholic beverages, fast food restaurants are also considered a restaurant. The travelling public has long been catered for with ships messes and railway restaurant cars which are, in effect, many railways, the world over, also cater for the needs of travellers by providing railway refreshment rooms, a form of restaurant, at railway stations. In the 2000s, a number of travelling restaurants, specifically designed for tourists, have been created and these can be found on trams, boats, buses, etc. A restaurants proprietor is called a restaurateur /ˌrɛstərəˈtɜːr/, like restaurant, professional cooks are called chefs, with there being various finer distinctions. Most restaurant will have various waiting staff to serve food, beverages and alcoholic drinks, including busboys who remove used dishes and cutlery. In finer restaurants, this may include a host or hostess, a maître dhôtel to welcome customers and to them. A new route to becoming a restauranter, rather than working ones way up through the stages, is to operate a food truck, once a sufficient following has been obtained, a permanent restaurant site can be opened. This trend has become common in the UK and the US, a chefs table is a table located in the kitchen of a restaurant, reserved for VIPs and special guests. Patrons may be served a themed tasting menu prepared and served by the head chef, Restaurants can require a minimum party and charge a higher flat fee
14.
St. Francis Square
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The St. Francis Square is a complex of three buildings located in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Philippines. Groundbreaking and construction began in 1998 and was completed in 2000, due to some controversies regarding the St. Francis Square Group of Companies, construction and the finishing of interiors were halted. Construction resumed in 2009 and the building was finished in 2011, There are three buildings situated within the complex, but the most notable are the main two towers. Each stands 221 metres high, occupying an area of 3,037.32 square metres of the sites land. When completed in 2000, the two became the 4th tallest buildings in the country. The two towers are supposedly to have an observation deck or a sky garden on its pyramid roof. It is also serves as a transmitter of the FM radio stations 90.7 Love Radio,101.1 Yes The Best and 96.3 Easy Rock. At Night, There is a Light Animation Display At the building, giving it a look at the Ortigas Skyline. The St. Francis Square Mall is one of the buildings in the St. Francis Square complex and it stays at 4-storey and is a direct competitor of nearby malls. The mall and the Twin Towers are separated by a parking lot for the customers of the mall. List of tallest buildings in the Philippines St. Francis Square - Official website BSA Twin Towers - Official website
15.
Asian Development Bank
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The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The company also maintains 31 field offices around the world to promote social, the bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and non-regional developed countries. From 31 members at its establishment, ADB now has 67 members, of which 48 are from within Asia, the ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members capital subscriptions. ADB releases a report that summarizes its operations, budget. At the end of 2014, Japan holds the largest proportion of shares at 15. 7%, the United States holds 15. 6%, China holds 6. 5%, India holds 6. 4%, and Australia holds 5. 8%. The highest policy-making body of the bank is the Board of Governors, the Board of Governors, in turn, elect among themselves the twelve members of the Board of Directors and their deputies. Eight of the members come from regional members while the others come from non-regional members. The Board of Governors also elect the president, who is the chairperson of the Board of Directors. The president has a term of office lasting five years, traditionally, and because Japan is one of the largest shareholders of the bank, the president has always been Japanese. The current president was Takehiko Nakao, who succeeded Haruhiko Kuroda in 2013, the bank employs about 3,000 people, representing 60 of its 67 members. The United States was initially opposed to the creation of regional development bank following the establishment of the Inter-American Development Bank in 1959. President Johnson pressed retired World Bank President Eugene R. Black, in the process, U. S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk urged that Japan play an important role in the ADB. He argued that the biggest danger to American foreign policy in Asia was Japans inability to integrate into the Asian society of nations following the animosities of World War II, indeed, there was sharp Asian opposition to Japans participation in the institution. After considerable diplomatic effort, Japan was eventually accepted into the organization by the majority of the participating nations, the Presidency was to rotate between the various countries of Asia. He threatened to travel to every Asian capital and scuttle the project. Eugene Black, with the assistance of President Johnson, was able to mollify President Marcos with the promise to locate the ADB in Manila. As a concession to the Japanese, they were given the inaugural Presidency of the institution - a position they have held onto ever since. By the end of 1972, Japan had contributed $173.7 million to the capital resources
16.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
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Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is a Hong Kong-based multinational hospitality company. Founded by Robert Kuok in 1971, the company has 99 hotels and resorts with over 38,000 rooms in Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America and Australia. Shangri-La has 5 brands across different market segments including Shangri-La Hotels, Shangri-La Resorts, Traders Hotels, Kerry Hotels, the five-star luxury lodgings of the chain can be found across Asia, the Middle East, Canada, Oceania and Europe. The first hotel of the luxury Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts Group was the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore, the name derives from the mythical place Shangri-La, described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Shangri-La Asia Limited is incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability and it is primarily listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited with a secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited and with American Depositary Receipt traded as SHALY. Shangri-La Hotels Berhad is incorporated in Malaysia with limited liability and is traded on the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad, Shangri-La Hotel Public Company Limited is incorporated in Thailand with limited liability and is traded on the Stock Exchange of Thailand
17.
San Miguel Corporation
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San Miguel Corporation is a Filipino multinational publicly listed conglomerate holding company. Its flagship product, San Miguel Beer, is one of the largest selling beers, since 2008, SMC has ventured beyond its core businesses, becoming involved in fuel & oil, power generation and infrastructure. It was briefly involved in Philippine Airlines from April 2012 to September 2014, in 1889, a well-known Manila businessman, Don Enrique María Barretto de Ycaza y Esteban, applied for a royal grant from Spain to establish a brewery in the Philippines. He was awarded the grant for a period of twenty years, on September 29,1890, La Fábrica de Cerveza de San Miguel was declared open for business. Located at 6 Calzada de Malacañang, the brewery took its name from its neighbourhood, the facility had two sections, one devoted to the production of ice with a daily capacity of 5 tonnes, and the other to beer production. The brewery was the first in Southeast Asia using the most modern equipment, with 70 employees, the plant produced 3,600 hectolitres of lager beer during the first year and subsequently produced other types of beer, notably Cerveza Negra, Eagle Extra Stout and Doble Bock. Early success led to the expansion of the business and Barretto decided to incorporate his brewery, on 6 June 1893, the company was incorporated and registered with a capital of P180,000. Róxas was soon appointed manager, playing a prominent role in the development of the firm and he was the active member of the firm until 1896, when he left for Europe. Prior to his departure, he acquired Barrettos shares in the company worth P42,000, after Barretto retired in May of the same year, Róxas, through his attorneys, acquired the rest of Barretto’s stake in the business. In 1895, San Miguel Beer won its first of many awards as a product of the highest quality at the Exposición Regional de Filipinas, by 1896, San Miguel Beer was outselling by more than five-to-one all imported beers in the country. The 1900s ushered in a period of prosperity after the Philippine Revolution, by 1913, imported beer represented only 12% of the total consumption in the Philippines, San Miguel held an 88% share of the industry. Róxas died in Paris, France in 1913 and he had died soon after Don Benito Legarda and Don Gonzalo Tuasón made it advisable to change the form of the company from a firm of co-participants to a corporation. Róxass son, Don Antonio Róxas y de Ayala, was appointed president, with Don Enrique Brías y de Coya and Don Ramón J. Fernández as managers. By 1914, San Miguel had branched out into the business and its products had found ready markets in such neighbouring ports as Hong Kong, Shanghai. When the First World War broke out, exports came to a halt due to difficulties such as shortage of raw materials. It was not until Prohibition was repealed in the United States that San Miguel was able to resume exports to Guam and later to Honolulu, in 1918, Don Antonio Róxas y de Ayala resigned from his position as president. Andrés Soriano y Róxas first joined San Miguel as a clerk in the accounting department, in 1918, after the resignation of Don Antonio Roxas y de Ayala, Don Ramón J. Fernández assumed the presidency and Soriano was made acting manager. In 1923, Soriano was appointed manager and together with Don Antonio Brías y Roxas managed the house of San Miguel with constantly increasing success, diversification into new lines of business began in the 1920s
18.
Jollibee
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Jollibee Foods Corporation is a Filipino multinational chain of fast food restaurants based in Pasig, Philippines. JFC is the owner of the popular fast food brand Jollibee, as of January 2015, JFC had a total of more than 3,000 stores worldwide, with system-wide retail sales totaling 82.1 billion pesos for the 2011 fiscal year. In 1975, Tony Tan Caktiong and his family opened a Magnolia Ice Cream parlor in Cubao, in 1978, he and his siblings engaged the services of a management consultant, Manuel C. Lumba, who shifted the focus from ice cream to hot dogs after his studies showed a much larger market waiting to be served. Lumba was Tans last business and management mentor and it was able to withstand the entry of McDonalds in the Philippines in 1981 by focusing on the specific tastes of the Filipino market, which differed from the American fast food company. The company acquired 80% of Greenwich Pizza in 1994, from a 50-branch operation, Greenwich gradually established a strong presence in the food service industry. In early 2006, Jollibee Foods Corp. bought out the shares of its partners in Greenwich Pizza Corp. equivalent to a 20% stake. In 1996, Jollibee became the franchisee of Délifrance for Philippines. In 2000, the company acquired Chowking, a Chinese fast food restaurant, in 2004, Jollibee acquired Chinese fast food chain Yonghe Dawang for $22.5 million. Jollibee entered into a contract with US-based Chow Fun Holdings LLC. In 2005, Jollibee acquired Red Ribbon, a business in the Philippines. In less than 5 years, Jollibee managed to nurture the business and transform it into a popular, in 2006, Jollibee purchased 70% of Taipei restaurant Lao Dong in June and Chun Shui Tang tea house. In 2007, Jollibee acquired the Chinese fast-food chain Hongzhuangyuan for $50.5 million, on August 26,2008, Jollibee formally signed a P2.5 billion deal with Beijing-based Hong Zhuang Yuan through its wholly owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. The sale is subject to the approval of Chinas Ministry of Commerce, on October 19,2010, Jollibee acquired 70% share of Mang Inasal, a Filipino food chain specializing in barbecued chicken, for P3 billion. On October 2011, Jollibee acquired a 54% stake in BK Titans, in 2011, Jollibee opened 260 new stores, of which 167 were in the Philippines led by Mang Inasal and Jollibee. This brought the total number of stores to 2,001 as of the end of December 2011. The same year, Jollibee closed Manong Pepe foodchain in favor of Mang Inasal, overseas, Jollibee opened 93 stores, led by Yonghe King in China and Jollibee Vietnam. In 2013, Jollibee opened its first store in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as well as in Houston, both locations were chosen for their strong Filipino presence
19.
HSBC
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HSBC Holdings PLC is a British multinational banking and financial services holding company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the sixth largest bank by total assets and the largest in Europe with total assets of US$2.374 trillion. It was established in its present form in London in 1991 by The Hongkong, the origins of the bank lie mainly in Hong Kong and to a lesser extent in Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. The HSBC name is derived from the initials of the Hongkong, the company was first formally incorporated in 1866. The company continues to see both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong as its home markets, HSBC has around 4,000 offices in 70 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America and South America, and around 37 million customers. As of 2014, it was the worlds sixth-largest public company, HSBC is organised within four business groups, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, and Global Private Banking. HSBC has a primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. As of 6 July 2012 it had a capitalisation of £102.7 billion. It has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris, in February 2015 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released information about the business conduct of HSBC under the title Swiss Leaks. The ICIJ alleges that the bank profited from doing business with tax evaders, in 2016, HSBC was sued by Mexican families involved in deaths by organised-crime gangs for processing funds for the Sinaloa Cartel. It was formally incorporated as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation by an Ordinance of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong on 14 August 1866, in 1980, HSBC acquired a 51% shareholding in US-based Marine Midland Bank, which it extended to full ownership in 1987. HSBC Holdings acquisition of Midland Bank was completed in 1992 and gave HSBC a substantial presence in the United Kingdom. As part of the conditions for the acquisition, HSBC Holdings plc was required to relocate its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993. In May 1999, HSBC expanded its presence in the United States with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10. 3bn. Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, in July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank, an insolvent Turkish bank. In July 2002, Arthur Andersen announced that HSBC USA, Inc. through a new subsidiary, Wealth, the new HSBC Private Client Services Group would serve the wealth and tax advisory needs of high-net-worth individuals. Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, in November 2002, HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of Sir John Bond, it spent £9 billion to acquire Household Finance Corporation, in a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted when banking historians look back, they may conclude that was the deal of the first decade of the 21st century
20.
Robinsons Galleria
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Robinsons Galleria is a mixed-use complex and shopping mall located at EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, Quezon City just near SM Megamall. The mall is owned by Robinsons Malls and it was built in 1990 with a total gross floor area of approximately 216,000 m2. Robinsons Galleria Mall is a 5-level shopping mall and a landmark along, EDSA and Ortigas Avenue with more than 400 shops, dining outlets, entertainment facilities, before Robinsons Galleria, This mall used to be an open land owned by SSS at Ortigas CBD. In 1986, the portion of the land facing EDSA became part of the People Power Revolution in where the going to Camp Aguinaldo. In 1987, John Gokongwei bought the portion of the land from SSS. Construction began in mid-1988 and finished in late-1989, the Mall opened in 1990 being the first mall of Robinsons Malls. In 1997, the mall expanded with opening of the North Section of the mall, in 2005, The mall began its 1st Renovation. In 2010 Gallerias 20th Year, The mall began renovating the exteriors and interiors with new elevators and the addition of The Veranda, the fire which started at that 11pm that night raged for about six hours. The fire was put out and under control by early in the morning of October 31, the mall reopened at 12nn on November 1,2013. A new redevelopment of the mall will take place on 2016-2017 and it will be done in 2 phases, the first phase will be done from May to October 2016 while the second phase will start on May 2017. Aside from the major renovations within the mall, the mall veranda will host more service stores related to health, there will be an upper veranda at the 3rd floor, formerly occupying the sports loop, which will accommodate more dining choices. The malls renovation will add wooden elements into the mall, a similar to Robinsons Galleria Cebu. The lower and upper verandas were completed in March 2017 and will feature new restaurants opening soon such as Chilis and etc
21.
Parsons Brinckerhoff
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Parsons Brinckerhoff is a multinational engineering and design firm with approximately 14,000 employees. The firm operates in the fields of consulting, planning, engineering, construction management, infrastructure. In 2013, the company was named the tenth largest U. S. -based engineering/design firm by Engineering News Record, on October 31,2014 Parsons Brinckerhoff became a wholly owned independent subsidiary of WSP Global, a Canadian-based professional services firm. Together, WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff is one of the largest professional services firms in the world with approximately 31,500 employees in 500 offices serving 39 countries. Parsons Brinckerhoff also designed the Cape Cod Canal, which opened in 1914 and charted the course of a railway in China from Hankow to Canton, in 1906, Henry M. Brinckerhoff, a highway engineer, brought his expertise in electric railways to the firm. He is known for his co-invention of the third rail, Parsons Brinckerhoff was acquired by Balfour Beatty in October 2009 and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Balfour Beatty plc. In October 2010 Balfour Beatty acquired Halsall Associates, which became a subsidiary of Parsons Brinckerhoff, on October 31,2014 Balfour Beatty sold Parsons Brinckerhoff to WSP Global. C. An extension of the East London Line of the London Overground, Parsons Brinckerhoff partnered with rival engineering firm Bechtel to build the troubled Big Dig in Boston, Massachusetts. The Big Dig, or Central Artery / Tunnel project, as it was known was intended to replace an elevated Interstate freeway. The Big Dig was years over schedule and engineering costs to several times of Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoffs original estimates, due to the poor construction, it has been estimated that the Big Digs life span will be far short of the original specification that taxpayers paid for. The tunnels still have thousands of leaks and substandard materials, subsequent to the fatal tunnel ceiling collapse, light fixtures have been found to have been incorrectly installed and corroding, posing a risk of failure and falling to the tunnel roadway. Parsons Brinckerhoff was also the engineering firm to build the Silver Spring. Despite a ballooning budget and a project that has run far behind schedule, Parsons Brinckerhoff were in a lawsuit for Lane Cove Tunnel, Sydney, Australia. The claim by AMP Capital Investors for $144M was settled in September 2014, the basis of the claim was Misleading and defective conduct but the settlement is on confidential terms with no admission of liability. On 3 September 2014, it was announced that WSP Global had made an offer to purchase Parsons Brinckerhoff from Balfour Beatty plc for USD$1.24 billion, the transaction closed on October 31,2014 and Parsons Brinckerhoff is now a wholly owned subsidiary of WSP Global. On 10 January 2017, it was announced that the brand Parsons Brinckerhoff would be retired and combined into the parent company, WSP Global
22.
WSP Global
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WSP Global Inc. is a Canadian-based business providing management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, ltd and Les Consultants Dupuis, Côté Inc. began operating in Quebec City in 1959. In 1969 in England, WSP was established by Chris Cole, in 1976, it was a founder member of the Building Services Research and Information Association. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1987, after acquiring three firms and geographical expansion in 1993, the name of the Canadian firm GBGM was changed to GENIVAR. On 7 June 2012, Genivar Inc. announced that it made a friendly takeover offer of £278 million for WSP Group plc. The offer was backed by WSPs board of directors as well as investors holding 37% of the companys shares and this merger created a professional services firm with approximately 15,000 employees, working in over 300 offices worldwide. The company reorganised its structure on 1 January 2014, to create a parent company named WSP Global Inc. On 31 October 2014, WSP Global announced that it had completed the purchase of New York-headquartered professional services firm Parsons Brinckerhoff from Balfour Beatty plc for USD$1.24 billion. The company has a network of approximately 170 offices and nearly 13,500 employees on five continents, together, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is one the largest professional services firms in the world with approximately 32,000 employees in 500 offices serving 39 countries. In early 2015, WSP Global announced the engineering consultancy firms plans to expand to 45,000 employees by 2020, in October 2016, WSP purchased Mouchel Consulting from Kier for approximately £75 million. In January 2017, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff announced that it will assume the name WSP, the company is organised into the following main service areas, Buildings, Energy, Environment, Industry, Mining, and Transport and Infrastructure. Notable projects in progress Centre hospitalier de lUniversité de Montréal, WSP is providing management services. Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, WSP CBP is providing management services. The City Line in Sweden, WSP is providing management services. MGM MIRAGE CityCenter in Las Vegas, Nevada Notable completed projects One World Trade Center in New York, NY. The Shard in London, UK.7 World Trade Center in New York, NY.8 Spruce Street in New York, NY.30 The Bond in Sydney, Australia. 60 Wall Street in New York, NY.277 Park Avenue in New York, NY.383 Madison Avenue in New York, NY.1585 Broadway in New York, arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, NY. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Headquarters, in Melbourne, Australia, the largest single-tenanted commercial office building in the Southern Hemisphere
23.
Banco de Oro
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BDO Unibank, Inc. is a Philippine banking company based in Makati. In terms of assets, the firm is the largest bank in the Philippines, the 116th largest bank in Asia. BDO Unibank is also a member of SM Group owned by Henry Sy The firm is a universal bank. Through its subsidiaries, the Bank offers Leasing and Financing, Investment Banking, Private Banking, Bancassurance, Insurance Brokerage, BDO Unibank, Inc. had its humble beginnings on January 2,1968, when it started off as a thrift bank called Acme Savings Bank. With two branches in Metro Manila, Acme was one of the smallest banks in the Philippines at the time. In November 1976, Acme was acquired by the Sy Group, the group of companies owned by retail magnate Henry Sy. In December 1994, BDO became a commercial bank and it is one of the many banks owned by a Chinese-Filipino in the Philippines. BDO Unibank, Inc. eventually became involved in services in 1997 by establishing a subsidiary called BDO Insurance Brokers. Later, BDO Unibank, Inc. partnered up with its insurance affiliates, BDO Unibank, Inc. is now the largest bank in the Philippines in terms of assets, loans and deposits. The bank is the product of the Banco de Oro-Equitable PCI Bank merger after the boards of both Banco de Oro Universal Bank and Equitable PCI Bank agreed to merge on December 27,2006. For a while, the entity was known as Banco de Oro-EPCI, Inc. but announced that it would go by the name Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. starting February 2007. Finally in 2010 Banco de Oro changed its name to BDO Unibank, Inc. other possible names are Banco De Oro Unibank, Banco De Oro, BDO Unibank, Banco De Oro BDO, BDO Unibank is still the countrys largest bank in terms of assets. BDO Unibank, Incs main competitors are major Philippine banks like Metrobank, BDO had total deposits of P1.601 trillion last year, followed by Metrobank at the second spot with P1.106 trillion, and Landbank with P1.046 trillion. As of 2016, BDO has one of the largest distribution networks, with more than 1,000 operating branches and it has a branch in Hong Kong as well as 27 overseas remittance and representative offices in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. BDO Private Bank BDO Realty Corporation BDO Securities Corporation BDO Strategic Holdings BDO Technology Center BDO Life Assurance Company, equimark-NFC Development Corporation One Network Bank PCIBank Europe SpA PCIBank Securities Inc. Zamora Trust Services North Pine Land Inc, on June 15,2001, BDO Unibank, Inc. merged with Dao Heng Banks Philippine subsidiary, with BDO Unibank, Inc. as the surviving entity. The merger boosted the number of BDO Unibank, Inc. branches from 108 branches before the merger to 120 after the merger, the main goal the BDO Private Bank is to create market share in the Private Banking/Modern Affluent Market segment by penetrating key areas in BDO Unibanks network. This is to complement and explore how the BDO Unibank, Inc, Group can service all the financial and investment needs of the client
24.
Henry Sy, Sr.
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Henry T. Sy, Sr. is a Chinese-Filipino business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is involved in the industries of real estate, hospitality, banking, mining, education and he is responsible for the establishment of SM Malls, anchored by Shoemart Department Store and Supermarket. He is the chairman of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. the holding corporation for all his business interests in his vast business empire, in 2015, Forbes Magazine listed him as the richest man in the Philippines, ahead of 11 other billionaires including John Gokongwei and Lucio Tan. Henry Sy was born to a family in Jinjiang, China on December 25,1924. He is the son of Henry H. Sy and Tan O Sia and he completed his secondary education in a school now known as Chiang Kai Shek College and earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950. In 1958, Sy established a shoe store in Quiapo. In November 1972, the shoe store became SM Quiapo. On November 8,1985, he established his first SM Supermalls and he is the Philippines richest man, gaining $5 billion in 2010, amid the global financial crisis. The huge gain was due to his company, SM Investments Corporation. Forbes magazines 2008 list of 40 wealthiest Filipinos, revealed the Sy familys net worth was $6.2 billion, earlier, he was the second wealthiest individual in the Philippines, next to Lucio Tan, and 201st in the world. The Sy group is the operator of Banco de Oro and owner of Chinabank. In 2006, he bought the remaining 66% of Equitable PCI Bank, the Philippines third largest lender, in which he already had a 34% stake, the merger created the Philippines second largest financial institution with resources of close to $17 billion. In August 2005, Sys stake in the San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asias largest food and beverage conglomerate and he sold that stake in October 2007 for $680 million. Henry Sy, Sr. was named Management Man of the Year by the Makati Business Club in 1999 and was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Business Management by De La Salle University in January of that year. He organized the SM Foundation Inc. which helps underprivileged and promising young Filipinos, Sys holding company, SM Investments Corporation, has consistently been cited as one of the Philippines best-managed companies. On May 20,2006, the SM Mall of Asia and it is the third-largest mall in the world as of 2012
25.
SM Megamall
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SM Megamall is a shopping mall located in the Ortigas business district of Metro Manila, Philippines. It is currently the second largest SM Supermall, the mall was developed and is operated by SM Prime Holdings. The mall has a capacity of 4 million people. The SM Megamall was constructed in 1989 and opened its doors on June 281991 and it is the third SM Supermall ever built by Henry Sy Sr after the SM City Sta. Mesa and SM City North EDSA, the mall is located in the Ortigas Center, at the portion encompassed by Mandaluyong City. It stands along the main EDSA thoroughfare and is almost adjacent to the Ortigas MRT Station and it also boasted the first ice skating rink as well as one of the first trade halls in the country. The mall has two main buildings, Building A features the SM Cinemas, Food Court, Toy Kingdom and other anchor tenants. Building B features the SM Department Store, Cyberzone, and other tenants, and has been expanded with the Mega Fashion Hall. The SM Supermarket is featured on both buildings, the Bridgeway connecting the two main buildings of the mall contains several eateries. This section of the mall was completed in 2009, the 16,000 m2 Mega Atrium is an addition to the existing two buildings. The Atrium bridges the gap between Buildings A and B, and was completed in 2008, the Atrium features various shops and restaurants, and can also be rented out as an event venue. Building C is a recent addition to SM Megamall, opening on October 11,2011. Located near EDSA to the west of Building A, it was formerly the Building A parking facility, the building also contains a transport terminal and offices for the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Mega Fashion Hall is the latest expansion of SM Megamall, aside from clothing stores, the expansion includes dining establishments, houseware stores, service shops, and a Bingo area on the 5th level. The Mega Fashion Hall also houses an IMAX theater, a 56-seat Directors Club Cinemas with butler service, an Olympic-sized ice skating rink, a food court. After the soft opening of the newly constructed Building C Carpark, with the opening of the Mega Fashion Hall, the current gross leasable area is 500,000 m², allowing the mall to reclaim the title of the largest mall in the Philippines. The addition of the Mega Fashion Hall building added 125 new retail stores, 90% of which are global brands, a 50-storey office tower, named as The Mega Tower, will be built next to the Mega Fashion Hall formerly occupied as an open carpark. The S-shaped tower will be connected to the Mega Fashion Hall and will feature three levels of basement parking and multilevel parking
26.
The Medical City
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The Medical City is a tertiary care hospital in the Philippines where its health care complex serves some 40,000 in-patients and 400,000 out-patients annually. TMC has a staff of over 1,000 physicians complemented by 2,200 workers engaged in allied medical, administrative. The hospitals main facility is located on a 1. 5-hectare property along Ortigas Avenue, almost within the district of Ortigas Center in Pasig City. Composed of 115,000 square meters of space, it includes two Nursing Towers which can be fitted for up to 800 beds. The two towers are joined by a Podium, bridgeways, and a Medical Arts Tower, the hospital also has a three-level basement parking accommodation for over a thousand vehicles. The complex is equipped with a broad range of security features, an advanced building management system. TMC also serves as the hub for a network of clinics and hospitals that delivers a range of diagnostic and therapeutic services to patients in Manila. Wellness and Aesthetics, Cardiovascular, Cancer and Regenerative Medicine, retrieved October 5,2010 from http, //www. patientpartnerships. org/history. php Lombard Investments, Inc. Lombard Backs The Medical Citys Philippines Expansion, retrieved October 5,2010, from http, //www. prnewswire. com/news-releases/lombard-backs-the-medical-citys-philippines-expansion-97886814. html Floresca R. The Medical City undertakes aggressive expansion binge, The Philippine Star, retrieved October 5,2010, from http, //www. abs-cbnnews. com/node/96876 Nortel. Retrieved October 5,2010, from http, //www2. nortel. com/go/news_detail. jsp. cat_id=-9252&oid=100203350&locale=en-us Villalon K, the Medical City acquires GSIH, The News Today. Retrieved October 5,2010 from http, //www. thenewstoday. info/2010/04/19/the. medical. city. acquires. gsih. html Valisno J. O. Hospital highlights importance of dialogue, Vol XXXIII. Retrieved October 5,2010 from, http, //www. bworldonline. com/Weekender092509/main. php. id=health2 Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, patient Partnership and Public Involvement Strategy and Action plan. Retrieved October 5,2010 from http, //www. oxfordradcliffe. nhs. uk/getinvolved/get_involved_docs/pp%20strategy%2005. pdf The Medical City
27.
Street
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A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact. A street can be as simple as a patch of dirt. Portions may also be smoothed with asphalt, embedded with rails, originally the word street simply meant a paved road. Examples of streets include pedestrian streets, alleys, and city-centre streets too crowded for road vehicles to pass, conversely, highways and motorways are types of roads, but few would refer to them as streets. The word street has its origins in the Latin strata, it is related to stratum. Ancient Greek stratos means army, Greeks originally built roads to move their armies, old English applied the word to Roman roads in Britain such as Ermine Street, Watling Street, etc. Later it acquired a meaning of straggling village, which were often laid out on the verges of Roman roads. In the Middle Ages, a road was a way people travelled, the street is a public easement, one of the few shared between all sorts of people. As a component of the environment as ancient as human habitation. Its roles are as numerous and diverse as its ever-changing cast of characters, streets can be loosely categorized as main streets and side streets. Main streets are usually broad with a high level of activity. Commerce and public interaction are more visible on main streets, side streets are quieter, often residential in use and character, and may be used for vehicular parking. Circulation, or less broadly, transportation, is perhaps a streets most visible use, the unrestricted movement of people and goods within a city is essential to its commerce and vitality, and streets provide the physical space for this activity. In the interest of order and efficiency, an effort may be made to different types of traffic. Le Corbusier, for one, perceived an ever-stricter segregation of traffic as an affirmation of social order—a desirable. To this end, proposals were advanced to build vertical streets where vehicles, pedestrians. Such an arrangement, it was said, would allow for denser development in the future
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Ortigas Avenue
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The Ortigas Avenue is a 15. 5-kilometre highway traversing through the eastern part of Metro Manila and the western part of Rizal province. It is one of the busiest highways in Metro Manila, with more traffic than Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, the western terminus of the highway is at San Juan City. The highway then traverses through Ortigas Center and along the cities of Mandaluyong, Quezon City and Pasig, followed by the municipalities of Cainta and Taytay, ending in the city of Antipolo. The portion of Ortigas Avenue from Eulogio Rodriguez Jr. Avenue in Ugong to Taytay Diversion Road in Taytay is designated as a component of Radial Road 5, Ortigas Avenue starts as a physical continuation of Granada Street past Bonny Serrano Avenue in Quezon City. It then passes Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan and the back of Wack Wack Golf and it crosses EDSA at the EDSA-Ortigas Interchange and runs through Ortigas Center, making a slight curve on Meralco Avenue. The avenue soon cuts through Ugong enters Pasig and crosses Circumferential Road 5 at the C5-Ortigas Interchange, past C-5-Ortigas Interchange, it is called Ortigas Avenue Extension. It soon crosses Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway, partially becomes a single carriageway and changing back into a dual carriageway and it crosses A. Bonifacio and Imelda Avenue at Cainta Junction, the original starting point of Manila East Road. Then it continues to Antipolo and passes over the Kaytikling Junction with Taytay Diversion Road to Manila East Road, past Kaytikling, it follows a winding route to Antipolo, passing through some residential subdivisions before it ends at L. Sumulong Memorial Circle near Rizal Provincial Capitol. It then continues to downtown Antipolo as P. Oliveros Street, list of roads in Metro Manila
29.
EDSA (road)
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Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA, is a limited-access circumferential highway around Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is the longest and the most congested highway in the metropolis, the entire road itself is a part of the Circumferential Road 4 system, a network of roads and bridges that acts as the fourth beltway for the City of Manila. It is also a component of N1 of the Philippine highway network. The decent economic growth of the areas around the avenue adds a significant volume of traffic on the avenue, and in recent estimates, and an average of 2.34 million vehicles go through it every day. EDSA is a carriageway, often consisting of 12 lanes,6 in either direction. EDSA is not an expressway, but traffic rules and speed limits are implemented to the vehicles that pass along it. It is operated by the Metro Manila Development Authority and is maintained and constantly being repaired by the Department of Public Works, EDSA starts from the Bonifacio Monument Roundabout in Gracepark, Caloocan, adjacent to the Apolonio Samson Road, the western side of the C-4 Road. The roundabout is also the marker of the 1896 Revolution by Andres Bonifacio, the 1.7 kilometers of the road are in Caloocan. The Avenue will then enter Quezon City through the Balintawak District, EDSA crosses much of the northern part of Quezon City, passing through the Project 6 and Muñoz districts. It sharply curves southwards after crossing the North Avenue-West Avenue Intersection in the Triangle Business Park, on the north side of EDSA is the SM City North EDSA. In front of it is the TriNoma mall and the Eton Centris or Centris Walk and it continues through the district of Cubao, entering the Araneta Center after crossing the Aurora Boulevard Tunnel. In Cubao, several malls, infrastructure and offices are located, most notably the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Avenue curves southwards and enters the Santolan and Socorro districts, where the twin military bases of Camp Rafael Crame and Camp Aguinaldo, are located. The Greenhills Shopping Center and the Eastwood City are also located nearby, EDSA then continues on its route and serves as the boundary of the cities of San Juan and Quezon City. The People Power Monument can be seen on the side of EDSA in the White Plains Avenue junction. After the 11 kilometers of EDSA in Quezon City, the Avenue will eventually leave the city, EDSA enters Mandaluyong after crossing the borders of the Ortigas Center. It then curves smoothly westwards after it crosses the Pioneer Street and it enters the city of Makati after crossing the Pasig River, passing through the districts of Guadalupe, Comembo and Magallanes. In Guadalupe, EDSA provides access to the Rockwell Center, a major business park in Makati. The highway also provides access to the city of Taguig
30.
Meralco Avenue
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Meralco Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare located in Ortigas Center in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines. It links Ortigas Avenue in the north and Shaw Boulevard in the south and it is named for the Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco, which is headquartered on the avenues junction with Ortigas Avenue. Spanning 1.6 kilometers, the avenue begins at Shaw Boulevard near the rotunda and PhilSports Complex in barangays Oranbo. It runs between the Capitol Commons development on the east side and a village and townhouses of San Antonio to the west. It curves slightly north and intersects with Capt. Henry Javier Street towards the Department of Education complex, the avenue ends at Ortigas Avenue with the Meralco Building as a terminating vista
31.
Shaw Boulevard
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Shaw Boulevard, formerly known as Jose Rizal Boulevard, is a 6-10 lane highway connecting the cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig in the Philippines. The Boulevard is named after William James Shaw, the founder of the Wack Wack Golf, the road is one of the major thoroughfares of the Ortigas Center in Mandaluyong and Pasig, housing many shopping malls like the Starmall on EDSA-Shaw, The Marketplace and the posh Shangri-La Plaza. It is served by the Shaw Boulevard Station of the MRT-3 along EDSA, Shaw Boulevard starts at an intersection past Kalentong Street. It follows a curved route over Mandaluyong before crossing EDSA. A flyover carries the road over Shaw MRT station and descends near EDSA Shangri-la, the road becomes a dual carriageway east of EDSA, and soon enters Pasig. Shaw Boulevard extends to C-5 as Pasig Boulevard
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Augustinians
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The term Augustinians, named after Augustine of Hippo, applies to two distinct types of Catholic religious orders and some Anglican religious orders. Within Anglicanism the Rule of St Augustine is followed only by women, Augustine, a brief document providing guidelines for living in a religious community. The largest and most familiar, originally known as the Hermits of Saint Augustine, two other Orders, the Order of Augustinian Recollects and the Discalced Augustinians, were once part of the Augustinian Order under a single Prior General. The Recollect friars, founded in 1588 as a movement of the Augustinian friars in Spain, became autonomous in 1612 with their first Prior General. The Discalced friars became an independent congregation with their own Prior General in 1592 and they generally form one large community, which might serve parishes in the vicinity, and are organized into autonomous congregation, which normally are distinct by region. In a religious community, charism is the contribution that each religious order, congregation or family. The teaching and writing of Augustine, the Augustinian Rule, and it does not unduly single out the exceptional, especially favour the gifted, nor exclude the poor or marginalised. Love is not earned through human merit, but received and given freely by Gods free gift of grace and these same imperatives of affection and fairness have driven the order in its international missionary outreach. This balanced pursuit of love and learning has energised the various branches of the order into building communities founded on mutual affection, Augustine spoke passionately of Gods beauty so ancient and so new, and his fascination with beauty extended to music. He taught that to sing once is to pray twice and music is also a key part of the Augustinian ethos, the Canons Regular follow the more ancient form of religious life which developed toward the end of the first millennium and thus predates the founding of the friars. They represent a clerical adaptation of life, as it grew out of an attempt to organize communities of clerics to a more dedicated way of life. Historically it paralleled the lay movement of monasticism or the life from which the friars were later to develop. In their tradition, the added the commitment of religious vows to their primary vocation of pastoral care. As the canons became independent of the structures, they came to form their own monastic communities. The official name of the Order is the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, like the Order of Saint Benedict, it is not one legal body, but a union of various independent congregations. Though they also follow the Rule of St. Augustine, they differ from the friars in not committing themselves to corporate poverty, which is a defining element of the mendicant orders. Unlike the friars and like monks, the canon are generally organized as one community to which they are attached for life with a vow of stability. Their houses are given the title of an abbey, from which the canons then serve various surrounding towns, the religious superior of their major houses is titled an abbot
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Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
34.
Antipolo
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Antipolo, or the City of Antipolo is a city in the province of Rizal, Philippines located 26 kilometres east of Manila. It is the capital of Rizal, the most-populous city in the CALABARZON region. Antipolo was converted from a municipality into a component city of Rizal Province on April 4,1998, with the transfer of the provincial government to Antipolo, it is highly favored to be officially designated as the new capital of the province. On March 14,2011, Antipolo was declared a city by President Benigno Aquino. The city is popular for being a pilgrimage site and it prides itself as the Pilgrimage Capital of the Philippines. A popular custom of pilgrims to the Virgin of Antipolo is the going to its shrine on the eves of Good Friday and May 1, from various locations in Rizal Province. The most notable of these pilgrims would begin the trek from the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, in Quiapo, there is also an existing custom to have new cars blessed at the church in the belief that this will ensure the safety of the car and its passengers. Its higher elevation than that of Metro Manila affords it a view of the metropolis. Its locally grown mangoes and cashews are popular among tourists, as well as suman – a local delicacy made out of glutinous rice, the Hinulugang Taktak National Park, which was once a popular summer get-away is being restored to become again one of the citys primary attractions. Antipolo is in the half of Rizal Province, close to its meridional center. It is found on the slopes of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, much of the city sits on a plateau averaging 200 meters. It has the second largest area in the province with an area of 156.68 km², the northern and southern sections of the city are in the dense forest areas of the Sierra Madre. Antipolo is landlocked, bounded to the north by San Mateo and Rodriguez, to the east by Tanay, to the south by Angono, Taytay and Teresa, and to the west by Cainta and Marikina City in Metro Manila. The Bitukang Manok of Pasig, also known as the Parian Creek, had linked the Marikina River with the Antipolo River. Dela Paz, thus being the detached and long-abandoned Antipolo River, even the marian processions of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage passed this route back and forth eleven times. But ironically, the Sepoys backstabbed their abusive British lieutenants and sided with the forces of the Spanish Conquistadors, local rice farmers, fisherfolk. After the British Invasion, the Sepoys remained and intermarried with Filipina women, the city was named after the tipolo tree, which was in abundance in the area. Franciscan missionaries arrived in Antipolo in 1578, and built a church on what is now Boso-Boso Church
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Rizal
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Rizal, officially known as the Province of Rizal is a province in the Philippines located in the CALABARZON region, just 16 kilometres east of Manila. The province is named after José Rizal, one of the national heroes of the Philippines. Rizal is bordered by Metro Manila to the west, Bulacan to the north, Quezon to the east, the province also lies on the northern shores of Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the country. Rizal is a mountainous province perched on the slopes of the southern portion of the Sierra Madre mountain range. Antipolo offers a view of Metro Manila and is the location of the Hinulugang Taktak. Tagalog settlement arrived some time in the pre-Spaniard period, the provincial territory began with the organization of the Tondo province and Laguna province during the Spanish administration. Some of the towns like Pasig, Parañaque, Taytay and Cainta were already thriving. From the reports of the Encomiendas in 1582-1583, the Encomiendas of Moron was under the jurisdiction of La Laguna and, in 1853, a new political subdivision was formed. This district was changed to Distrito Politico-Militar de Morong after four years. In 1860, by virtue of Circular No,83, dated September 2,1859, the Province of Tondo became the Province of Manila. All its towns were placed under the administration, fiscal supervision, the town of Mariquina became the capital of the Province of Manila during the tenure of the revolutionary government of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. The Province of Morong had for its capital the town of Antipolo for the period 1898-1899, the first Philippine Commission, headed by William Howard Taft and composed of Commissioners Luke E. Wright, Henry C. Ide, Bernard Moses and Dean C, worcester, discussed with the Assembly the issue of whether or not to write the Province of Manila with Morong Province, was not self-sufficient to operate as a separate province. Although the delegates from Morong, Hilarion Raymundo and José Tupas, objected to the proposal, after much acrimonious debate and upon the suggestion of Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera the body agreed on the creation of a new province independent of the Province of Manila. The new province was named after Jose Rizal, the countrys national hero. The new province was composed of 29 municipalities,17 from the old Province of Manila, the City of Manila from the old Province of Manila was treated as a separate entity. The seat of the government was Pasig. In year 1939, Quezon City was established, which included parts of Caloocan, during World War II, Japanese fighter and bomber planes rained explosives on the province in December 1941
36.
Bonifacio Global City
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Bonifacio Global City is a financial district in Metro Manila, Philippines. It is located 11 km south-east of the center of Manila in Taguig, the district experienced commercial growth following the sale of military land by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority. The entire district used to be the part of the main Philippine Army camp, in 1995, Bonifacio Land Development Corporation started planning a major urban development—Bonifacio Global City. BLDC made a bid to become BCDAs partner in the development of the district. The Ayala Corporation through Ayala Land, Inc. and Evergreen Holdings, BCDA and the two companies now control Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation, which oversees the master planning of Bonifacio Global City. During the American colonial period, the US government acquired a 25.78 square kilometre property within what was then disputed area between Makati, Taguig and Pateros for military purposes. This area was turned into a camp known as Fort William McKinley after the 25th US president. On May 14,1949, Fort McKinley was turned over to the Philippine government by virtue of US Embassy Note No.0570. Under the AFP leadership of Gen. Fort Bonifacio, during the Spanish Era, Taguig was founded in the year 1587, ana Manila and Pateros in 1770, a bario and part of Pasig during the Spanish era. During the American Commonwealth, it was converted to a Military base and it was during the presidency of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos administration when Fort Mckinley was renamed Fort Bonifacio and transferred to Makati. Taguig got the jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio after winning the case against Makati in filed in the Pasig Regional Trial Court in 1993. Makati appealed the ruling, but the Pasig RTC in 2011 still sided with Taguig, Makati then asked the Court of Appeals to review the case. The Court of Appeals overturned the Pasig Regional Trial Courts decision, as of date, Taguig has filed a Motion of Reconsideration at the Court of Appeals seeking to revert the decision. Taguig currently has de facto control over the area, Ayala Land, Inc. and Evergreen Holdings, Inc. of the Campos Group purchased a controlling stake in BLDC from Metro Pacific in 2003. BCDA and the two companies control Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation, which oversees the planning of Bonifacio Global City. The Bonifacio Global City is a district with a high number of skyscrapers. Many skyscrapers are under construction and will be built in future, Bonifacio Global City is between EDSA and C-5 Road. Many Filipino and multinational corporations have acquired properties and have committed to relocate their global, regional or national headquarters in the business district, the grid approach ensures a city center that is easy to navigate
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EDSA Shrine
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The shrine is also called the Archdiocesan Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace or Mary, Queen of Peace Quasi-Parish, although these names are seldom used. Our Lady of Peace, Mother of Peace, Queen of Peace or Our Lady Queen of Peace is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church and she is represented in art holding a dove and an olive branch, symbols of peace. Her official memorial feast is celebrated on January 24 each year in Hawaii, elsewhere, the memorial feast is celebrated on July 9. The EDSA Shrine is part of the Ortigas Center, a complex of buildings and commercial centers that occupy large tracts of land in portions of Quezon City, Mandaluyong City. People Power Monument People Power Revolution Our Lady of Peace EDSA Shrine website
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Social Security System (Philippines)
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The Philippine Social Security System is a state-run, social insurance program in the Philippines to workers in the private, professional, and informal sectors. SSS is established by virtue of Republic Act No.1161 and this law was later amended by Republic Act No.8282 in 1997. Government employees, meanwhile, are covered under a separate state-pension fund managed by the Government Service Insurance System and it was former President Manuel A. Roxas who first proposed a bill in Congress, seeking the establishment of a social security system for wage earners and low-salaried employees. This he said on January 26,1948, during his State of the Nation Address, on July 7,1948, after the death of President Roxas, President Elpidio Quirino created a Social Security Commission, his first official act as president. This commission drafted the Social Security Act that was submitted to Congress and this draft was introduced by Rep. Floro Crisologo, Senators Cipriano Primicias and Manuel Briones to the House and was enacted as Republic Act 1161, or the Social Security Act 1954. However, its implementation was delayed by objections made by business and it was only in 1957, that amendatory bills were presented in Congress creating the RA1792, amending the original Social Security Act. In 1980, some groups of self-employed persons were required to contribute to the social security fund from which benefits are paid upon the occurrence of a contingency provided by law. In 1992, self-employed farmers and fisherfolks were also included in the program, on May 1,1997, President Fidel V. Ramos, signed RA8282, Social Security Act of 1997, an act which further strengthen the SSS. In 1995, upon the enactment of Republic Act No, in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the SSS pension increase of Php 1,000 for more than 2.2 million SSS pensioners. EC benefits are granted only to members with other than themselves. SSS members can make salary or calamity loans, salary loans are calculated based on a members particular monthly salary. Calamity loans are for instances when the government has declared a state of calamity in the area where an SSS member lives, following such as flooding. He/she must be at least 15 years old, in order for a member of SSS to claim lifetime monthly pension, he must be at least 60 years old and he must have at least 120 monthly contributions. The veto of President Benigno Aquino III on the bill that will increase the SSS pension was criticised by bishop Broderick Soncuaco Pabillo, Pabillo calls Aquino as an anti-Poor president
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Shangri-La Plaza
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Shangri-La Plaza is a large, upscale-luxury shopping mall located in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Philippines. It is owned and operated by the Kuok Group of Companies, Shangri-La Plaza opened on November 21,1991 and contains more than 300 shops and restaurants. Shangri-La Plaza is located along Shaw Boulevard, corner Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, Wack-Wack and it is adjacent and directly connected to other Shangri-La properties, Edsa Shangri-La, Manila, The St. Francis Shangri-La Place and One Shangri-La Place. It is also near other shopping centers namely, SM Megamall and Starmall, opened in 1991, the main mall has 6 floors and 1 basement level of shops and restaurants. The Food Forum is located in the basement level and it features fast food chains as well as a few other restaurant chains. Rustans Fresh Supermarket and the Technohub are also located within the basement level, the Ledge is a portion of the sixth floor of the main mall where various international and local restaurant chains can be found. Streetscape is an al fresco area with local and international restaurant chains as well. Another retail zone named The Fifth, located at the level, caters to a young retail market and beside it is the health. The Shang Cineplex, located on the sixth and seventh level, the main mall is directly connected to the MRT Shaw Boulevard Station, Edsa Shangri-La, Manila hotel and The St. Francis Shangri-La Place. Located at the Main Mall, Rustans is a 4-level upscale department store that features various upscale boutique brands, the East Wing was opened in 2013 and has 5 floors and 1 basement level of shops and restaurants. The East Wing also serves as the podium to the residential development One Shangri-La Place and it was built on what was the open parking area of the complex. It features some more upscale and international brands as well as various restaurants and it is connected to the Main Mall via bridgeways which also feature various restaurant and retail chains. Also known as the parking area, it has connections to the Main Mall. It also has bars and restaurants as well as a salon and a retail strip facing EDSA that is composed of service shops, banks. A new chapel was built at the 6th level of the mall and can be accessed from the 5th level via escalators and from a hallway on the same level Rustans Rustans Supermarket True Value
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Makati
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Makati, officially the City of Makati, in the Philippines, is one of the sixteen cities that make up Metro Manila. Makati is the center of the Philippines, it has the highest concentration of multinational and local corporations in the country. Major banks, corporations, department stores as well as foreign embassies are based in Makati, the biggest trading floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange is situated along the citys Ayala Avenue. Makati is also known for being a cultural and entertainment hub in Metro Manila. With a population of 582,602, Makati is the 17th-largest city in the country, tradition holds that a Tagalog at a swamp on the south of the Pasig River was asked by a visitor, who was Miguel López de Legazpi, for the name of the place. As a result of the barrier the question was misinterpreted, and the Tagalog pointed to the receding tide of the Pasig River. Parts of the city were subject to the pre-Hispanic Kingdom of Namayan. It became an independent municipality in 1670, and was christened San Pedro de Macati in honour of the towns patron, the town was also famous for its pottery industry since the 18th century, with skilled potters trained by Jesuit priests. Its strategic location made it a pitstop for pilgrims, travelling by foot or boat, towards the shrine of Our Lady of Peace. In 1851, Don José Bonifacio Roxas purchased the Jesuit estate of Hacienda de San Pedro de Macati for 52,800 pesos, since then, the development of Makati has remained linked with the Zóbel de Ayala family and their company, Ayala Corporation. Culi-Culi is now a barangay named in honour of Del Pilar, by 1898, Spain ceded the Philippines and other overseas possessions to the United States after the formers defeat in the Spanish–American War. That same year, the town, with a population of 25,000, was incorporated from Manila to the new province of Rizal. On February 28,1914, the The Philippine Legislature passed Act 2390, shortening the name, San Pedro de Macati, during that same period, Santa Ana Park, the nations second horse racing facility, opened to expectations from horse racing fans. After the destruction Second World War had brought upon Makati, and the subsequent closure of Nielson Field, the town grew rapidly, the first of the planned communities were established in the 1950s with the efforts of its landowner, Ayala y Compañía. The first office buildings were built on what is now the Makati Central Business District, since the late 1960s, Makati has transformed into the financial and commercial capital of the country. Makatis central location adjacent to the city of Manila also made it a hub for major national and international corporations. Partly as a result a new town hall just miles from the old one was built in 1962 just along J. P. Rizal Avenue. Mayor Bañolas term of office as town executive saw the building up of what is now the Ayala Center with the help of the Ayala firm, which would become the citys central shopping center of today
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