Malabon Day in the Philippines Date in the current year: May 21, 2024

Malabon is a highly urbanized city situated in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, just north of Manila. It is one of the most densely populated cities in Metro Manila. The city’s name derives from the Tagalog word malabon, which means “having many silt deposits”. Its original name was Tambobong, from a rural Tagalog word for “barn”.

Malabon was established by Augustinian friars on May 21, 1599 as a hamlet (visita) of Manila, then named Tondo. It had no church but the parish priest would visit the settlement occasionally to evangelize and perform sacraments.

The economic role of Malabon began to grow in the second half of the 19th century thanks to the founding of the tobacco company La Princesa Tabacalera (under the corporate umbrella of the Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas owned by the Spanish Crown) and the Malabon Sugar Company, which pioneered the refined sugar industry in the Philippines.

Malabon was officially chartered as a municipality in 1901, during the American occupation era. It was part of the newly created province of Rizal. In 1975, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos established Metropolitan Manila, and Malabon officially became its part alongside four cities (Manila, Caloocan, Pasay, Quezon City) and twelve other municipalities (Las Piñas, Makati, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela). In 2001, Malabon was officially converted from a municipality into a highly urbanized city.

Today, Malabon is a primarily industrial city. Sugar refinery remains one of its main industries; other industries include the production of fish sauce, candles, cigars and ylang-ylang flower extract, as well as fishing. One of the things that makes Malabon stand apart is its proneness to frequent flooding during heavy rains or high tides, due to which it is sometimes referred to as the “local Venice”.

Quite a lot of famous Filipino personalities were born in Malabon. They include painter Benedicto Cabrera, writer Linda Ty Casper, historian and journalist Epifanio de los Santos, cartoonists Nonoy Marcelo and José Zabala-Santos, poet and educator Ildefonso Santos, landscape architect Idelfonso Paez Santos Jr., singer and actress Armida Siguion-Reyna, model and beauty queen Jessica Marasigan, lawyer and economic reform advocate Gregorio Sancianco, clergyman and bishop Rolando Santos, sports shooters Nathaniel Padilla and Tom Ong, basketball player Jimmy Mariano, and many others.

The founding anniversary of Malabon is proclaimed as a special non-working holiday every year so that the city’s residents and guests can participate in the celebration. Malabon Day is marked by official ceremonies and various cultural events and activities such as parades, pageants, talent competitions, street games, dancing and singing performances, food festivals, and more.