Pasig

Pasig is a city in the Philippines which was the former provincial capital of the province of Rizal prior to the formation of Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of the country of which it became a part. Located along the eastern border of Metro Manila, Pasig is bordered on the west by Quezon City and Mandaluyong; to the north by Marikina; to the south by Makati, Pateros, and Taguig; and to the east by Antipolo, the municipality of Cainta and Taytay in the province of Rizal.

A formerly rural settlement, Pasig is primarily residential and industrial, but has been becoming increasingly commercial in recent years, particularly after the construction of the Ortigas Center business district in its west. The city is also the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pasig, making its cathedral (formerly the Immaculate Conception Cathedral) a landmark built around the same time as the town's foundation in 1573.

Etymology

The city's name Pasig was believed to have come from the old Sanskrit word “passid”, or "sand", which refers to the tribal community beside the sandy edges of the river. Some historians believed that El Pasig came from "Legaspi" (Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Basque explorer well known for being involved in the "Sanduguan", and was the first Governor-General of the Spanish East Indies.