A local organization shared a map of Metro Manila indicating its official administrative districts after social media users debated on how the divisions of the capital should be labeled.
Earth Shaker Philippines, which introduced itself as an organization aiming to educate Filipinos on earth sciences, posted the map of Metro Manila’s official divisions based on the records of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“This post was meant to inform every one of the official district divisions in Metro Manila that is being used in government and other legal matters. While people’s viewpoints differ, it’s important to know these ‘official’ things when transacting with the government,” Earth Shaker said on September 7.
Taga-North? South? The Official Administrative Districts in Metro Manila
Since there are many maps of the divisions in Metro Manila, it's a good thing to still go back to the basics and know the official "north", "capital", "south", and "east" cities. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/3FZKo8QsQM
— EarthShakerPH (@earthshakerph) September 6, 2019
Based on the graphic, the following cities are grouped accordingly:
- Northern – Valenzuela, north and south Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas
- Capital – Manila
- Eastern – Quezon City, Marikina, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Pasig
- Southern – Makati, Pasay, Pateros, Taguig, Parañaque City, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa
The post which made rounds more than 1,000 times came as a surprise to some users who viewed the cities differently.
Injecting humor
Other maps of the capital region that recently went viral used were more funny than informative.
Twitter user @foxrots previously shared her version of a map wherein she categorized the areas of Navotas, south Caloocan, Malabon, Valenzuela, Quezon City as “super north” and Parañaque City, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa as “super south.”
The province of Cavite was labeled as “liblib na lugar.”
someone shared on fb a map of metro manila divided into north/south/central so of course my extra af ass had to go and fix it. first pic is their post, second pic is THE NEW ABRIDGED 2019 DELUXE EDITION DIRECTORS CUT 😤😤😤 true facts only!!!! 💪👌✊😂 pic.twitter.com/jbETj6TmrS
— 🦊 carla 🦊 (@foxrots) September 4, 2019
She juxtaposed her edited graphic to another one she found on Facebook.
She called her version “The New Abridged 2019 Deluxe Edition Director’s Cut” map.
Another user @scrtsjrm made his divisions of the region based on traffic congestion.
Everyone is doing this but as a commuter, this is the reality: pic.twitter.com/OUJZCbGhor
— Socrates Jerome (@scrtsjrm) September 5, 2019
He described the cities Manila, Makati, Taguig, Pateros, Mandaluyong, San Juan and Pasay as the ones with the worst traffic conditions or “The Pits of Hell aka Traffic.”
Meanwhile, the three cities Parañaque City, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa were wittingly called “do people live here?” while still experiencing heavy traffic.
Both users, however, did not specify their maps’ sources.
True midpoint of NCR: San Juan
Last February, social media users debated on the true midpoint of Metro Manila based on online calculations of travel or commuting time.
The arguments started with claims that southern residents often are the ones who commute far to meet their northern friends but this does not happen vice versa.
They speculated that it is either Glorietta mall in Makati or Shangri-La Plaza in Ortigas.
The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority through the Freedom of Information Philippines, however, declared that the geographical midpoint is the first-class city of San Juan.
Based on the map, it is bordered by Quezon City in the north and east, Mandaluyong in the south and Manila in the west.
In terms of commuting time, a poll reported by a news organization showed that those who live in nearby provinces or Mega Manila (Cavite, Bulacan and Laguna) experience the longer and worse travel experiences to and from the business districts.
According to 400 respondents, the average waiting time is 28 minutes with five maximum transfers.
