MUNTINLUPA celebrated its 28th year of cityhood last March 1, looking forward to a 'smart future' but also looking back at the lessons and realities brought by the pandemic.

Mayor Ruffy Biazon, who marked his eighth month in office as the city's chief executive, shared to his fellow Muntinlupeños in his latest State of the City Address: 'The pandemic has been a true test of our strength, of our faith. It has been — and for some, still is — a difficult time, but the good news is that we are steadily bouncing back. We are steadily recovering from the effects of the crisis.'

While Biazon believes that the city has turned a page, there is still much to build on in terms of recovery. Currently, Muntinlupa has achieved 136 percent vaccination rate among its eligible target population, translating to 538,614 individuals, with 80 percent having received booster shots.

Regaining the lost years of the pandemic also required the combined efforts of educators, parents, the city government and various other sectors to safely bring back to school almost 89,000 Muntinlupeño students. Recognizing the significant literacy gap brought about by the time away from school, the city sought to address this with the 'Every Muntinlupeño a Reader' agenda to develop basic literacy skills, especially among young readers.

But the city's recovery has been nothing short of spectacular. Muntinlupa has exceeded expectations of its post-pandemic rebound, posting P6.033 billion in total revenues, higher than the target for 2022, on top of 101.09 percent collection efficiency. In addition, the city had 12,232 registered businesses this January 2023, up by 59 percent from 7,651 registered businesses in the same period last year.

Indeed, Biazon believes the future of Muntinlupa as a smart city is achievable thanks to the collective Muntinlupeño spirit. 'Our cityhood journey, and now our road to pandemic recovery, underscores the importance of working together, and shows what we can do when we are focused,' he said.