Malate is a district of Manila, Philippines. Together with the district of Ermita, it serves as Manila's center for commerce and tourism.

Etymology The name Malate is derived from a corruption of the Tagalog word maalat ("salty"). The name likely referred to the brackish waters, where the river estuary (today’s Malate Estero) meets Manila Bay.

Antonio de Morga, writing in his 1609 Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas: "Manila has two drives for recreation. One is by land, along the point called Nuestra Señora de Guia. It extends for about a legua along the shore and is very clean and level. Thence it passes through a native street and settlement, called Bagunbayan, to a chapel, much frequented by the devout, called Nuestra Señora de Guia, and continues for a goodly distance further to a monastery and mission-house of the Augustinians, called Mahalat."

José Rizal, who republished Morga's account and later annotated it: "Better, Maalat. The Spaniards pronounced this later as "Malate". There lived the chief Tagáls after they were deprived of their houses in Manila, among whom were the families of Raja Matanda and Raja Soliman. San Augustín says that even in his day many of the ancient nobility dwelt there, and that they were very urbane and cultured. 'The Men hold various positions in Manila, and certain occupations in some of the local public functions. The women make excellent lace, in which they are so skilful that the Dutch women cannot surpass them.' This is still true of the women."

History

Malate was thought of as the place where the kings or high chiefs of Manila settled after losing their fort of Maynila (now Intramuros) to the Spanish under Miguel López de Legazpi in 1571. During most of the Spanish colonial period, Malate was an open space with a small fishing village. During the Spanish period, the center of activity was Malate Church, built on the mixture of Mexican Baroque and Filipino Muslim Mudejar styles,Spanish Churches in the Philippines By Alice M. L. Coseteng UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, 1972. (Page 59) dedicated to Our Lady of Remedies. It was bordered by Pasay to the south, San Andrés Bukid to the east, Manila Bay to the west, Paco to the northeast, Makati to the southeast, and Ermita to the north.

After the United States of America annexed the islands in 1898 as a consequence of the Spanish–American War, American urban planners envisioned the development of Malate as the newest and trendiest exclusive residential area for American families. American expatriates and some of the old Spanish mestizo families populated the district in modern high-rise apartments and bungalows. In 1901, with the chartering of the City of Manila, Malate would be absorbed by the city when its borders were extended beyond Intramuros.

Despite extensive damage in the Second World War, many homes and buildings in the district remained still standing. The displaced wealthy families who evacuated their homes during the war returned and re-built their private villas and kept the whole district exclusively residential until the 1970s.

The once exclusive residential areas in western Malate began to transform into a commercial area with some large homes and residential apartments being converted into small hotels, specialty restaurants and cafes.

During the authoritarian regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr, visual and performing artists found a haven in Malate and it became a bohemian enclave.

The Malate district was the setting for the episode "Mata" of the 2010 horror film Cinco. In 2011, it feature in the horror film, Bulong.

List of barangays Zones BarangaysZone 75Barangays 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, and 695Zone 76Barangays 696, 697, 698, and 699Zone 77Barangays 700, 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, and 706Zone 78Barangays 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720, and 721Zone 79Barangays 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, and 730Zone 80Barangays 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, and 744 Barangay Land area (km²) Population (2020 census) Zone 75Barangay 6880.04690 km²1,212Barangay 6890.02462 km²733Barangay 6900.01288 km²496Barangay 6910.01467 km²409Barangay 6920.03993 km²1,329Barangay 6930.02784 km²511Barangay 6940.07146 km²1,281Barangay 6950.04763 km²654 Zone 76Barangay 6960.08344 km²2,420Barangay 6970.08563 km²1,967Barangay 6980.08458 km²1,736Barangay 6990.1955 km²3,193 Zone 77Barangay 7000.03950 km²138Barangay 7010.1914 km²2,695Barangay 7020.04345 km²3,342Barangay 7030.05857 km²114Barangay 7040.03584 km²5,299Barangay 7050.02287 km²2,683Barangay 7060.04013 km²296 Zone 78Barangay 7070.004390 km²1,052Barangay 7080.02016 km²753Barangay 7090.04385 km²4,154Barangay 7100.01038 km²559Barangay 7110.008760 km²1,294Barangay 7120.01313 km²1,068Barangay 7130.005250 km²1,964Barangay 7140.01546 km²1,371Barangay 7150.005370 km²180Barangay 7160.004890 km²920Barangay 7170.002740 km²479Barangay 7180.008380 km²1,155Barangay 7190.4977 km²6,690Barangay 7200.05317 km²1,238Barangay 7210.1336 km²577 Zone 79Barangay 7220.02605 km²641Barangay 7230.02234 km²540Barangay 7240.08319 km²2,388Barangay 7250.05289 km²1,409Barangay 7260.04322 km²595Barangay 7270.05788 km²1,790Barangay 7280.07134 km²840Barangay 7290.03145 km²871Barangay 7300.04507 km²1,539 Zone 80Barangay 7310.03627 km²2,916Barangay 7320.02318 km²1,974Barangay 7330.04084 km²4,303Barangay 7340.01504 km²902Barangay 7350.02234 km²2,063Barangay 7360.01458 km²3,806Barangay 7370.01198 km² 2,209Barangay 7380.03285 km²3,047Barangay 7390.02586 km²4,530Barangay 7400.02993 km²4,138Barangay 7410.01402 km²1,207Barangay 7420.007560 km²807Barangay 7430.03766 km²1,607Barangay 7440.03347 km²1,223

Accessibility The district can be directly accessed by the main roads like the Roxas Boulevard, Quirino Avenue and Taft Avenue.

The Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) follows Taft Avenue and has two stations located in Malate, namely Vito Cruz and Quirino stations.

Economy

Government offices Agencies like the Department of Finance (DOF), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and lending institution LandBank of the Philippines are headquartered in the district, whilst the National Naval Command Headquarters of the Philippine Navy is at the boundary limits of Manila and the city of Pasay along Roxas Boulevard. The Bureau of Plant Industry is also headquartered in the district.

The Apostolic Nunciature to the Philippines is located in the district along Taft Avenue near Quirino Avenue. This serves as the residence of the pope during visits in the country.

Facilities

In the 1990s, Malate and the nearby district of Ermita had been "cleaned-up" and big businesses and resort hotels have sprouted in the district.

Harrison Plaza, Manila's first enclosed modern mall, was located in the Malate district.

There is one public hospital, the Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, located at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and Quirino Avenue. It serves the 5th legislative district of Manila.

Recreation The district is also home to the Philippine's first sports stadium, the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, and the country's premiere zoological park, the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden. Promenades and parks by the Manila Bay have been made more convenient and safe with the opening of the Manila Baywalk area and the renovated Plaza Rajah Sulayman. A portion of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex also lies within the district.

The district contains a red-light district. A Koreatown could also be found in the district. The aesthetics in Malate Church shows the only unique combination of Mexican Baroque and Philippine Mudejar (Christianized Islamic Art) in Asia.

Education and scholarly activity

Education in Malate is mostly provided by private schools. Several educational institutions which are part of the University Belt are located in Malate, these are the De La Salle University, De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde, Philippine Christian University, Philippine Women's University, St. Paul University Manila and St. Scholastica's College Manila. Prominent secondary schools in Malate are the Jesus Reigns Christian Academy, Jose Abad Santos Memorial School and the Malate Catholic School. Doña Aurora Quezon Elementary School and Epifanio delos Santos Elementary School are the public schools located in the district.

Notable residents

Herminio A. Astorga Kim Atienza Chi Atienza Beethoven Del Valle Bunagan a.k.a. Michael V. Eugene Domingo Tina Monzon-Palma Iñigo Pascual Piolo Pascual Carlos Yulo Tiya Dely

Gallery

Notes By Sword and Fire: The Destruction of Manila in World War II, 3 February-3 March 1945 by Alphonso J. Aluit (1994) Bookmark, Inc. © 1994 National Commission for Culture and the Arts

References

External links