ONCE a sleepy town in the province of Cavite — the former San Francisco de Malabon renamed after the de facto Vice President General Mariano Trias under the first republic with General Emilio Aguinaldo as President — this place of vast wilderness in the 1800s is now a burgeoning urban center.

Since its conversion from a municipality to a city in 2015, development has been fast-tracked and GenTri (its popular name among residents and the rest of the populace across the archipelago) is considered the new frontier of growth and development in the Calabarzon area.