Paranaque City has a long and proud history of being actively involved in the Philippines' own development eversince the Spanish era of the 16th century.

Having been founded as the town of "Palanyag" in 1572, townsfolk were said to have been active traders with neighboring countries, what with Palanyag's strategic location south of Manila and beside Manila Bay.

Livelihood at the time predominantly included salt-making, fishing, agriculture, weaving, and shoe/slipper-making.

In 1574, when the Chinese pirate Limahong attempted an invasion of Manila, the residents of Palanyag came to the aid of Manila, and thwarted the attack. Again and again the strategic location of Palanyag was realized as future attempts to invade Manila were foiled. Later on during the Philippine revolution Palanyag then served as defense for Filipinos who were holed up in the revolutionary government's stronghold of Kawit, Cavite - a place the spaniards were trying to access from Manila via Paranaque.

The evolution of the town's name from Palanyag to Paranaque has several versions; an interesting anecdote is that of a Spanish soldier telling his caruaje (carriage) driver to stop, exclaiming "Para aqui, para aqui!" The driver, not understanding, kept on moving the carriage forward, much to the chagrin of the spanish soldier. Other spaniards in the area who witnessed this miscommunication jestingly said, "Para niya aqui, para niya aqui!" which meant "He said 'stop here', he said 'stop there'." This stuck with the townsfolk, until the phrase "para niya aqui" stuck which became Paranaque later on.

Today, Paranaque City is located around 8 kilometers South of Manila, bounded by Pasay City in the north, Muntinlupa City in the southeast, Las Pinas City in the southwest, Taguig in the Northeast, and the Manila Bay (more recently, reclaimed land) in the West, technically at 14o30' latitude and 121o01' longitude. It has a total land area of 47.7 square kilometers having residential, commercial, and industrial establishments, among others. The most recent population census in 2000 reflected 449,811 Paranaque citizens.

Climate in the City reflects the typical Philippine climate: hot summer months from March to May, intermittent rains with occasional gustiness from June to October, and cool fair weather from November to February. Annual rainfall is pegged at 1.82 mm per minute, with a temperature range of 23 to 33 degrees Celsius. Relative humidity is at 76%, with an average daylight duration of 12 hours.

Business has been fairly good in the Paranaque despite various crises that have beset the Philippines, with establishments choosing to remain and continue operations. Reasons cited for this are the high quality of human resources, sound infrastructure, low labor unrest, strategic location close to air and sea ports, stable power supply, good governance, fair business practices, and loyal resident patrons.

Information condensed from the Paranaque City Website