Mt. Zion - Taytay, A Decade Later

The Little Rotunda of Mt. Zion Memorial Park - Taytay

It has been so many years since the very first time I visited Mt. Zion Memorial Park - Taytay.  What looked like a desolate, barren and forgotten subdivision is now a park lush with greens and trees and bustling with gentle activities.  The transformation is very vivid in my mind.  I am one of the few persons who have watched the site grow and change and cultivate its reputation as a "cannot-be-missed" landmark along the very busy Manila East Road.  The riding public has known the place to be just Mt. Zion.  Ask any jeepney driver using the east route about Mt. Zion and they sure will drop you right at the entrance of the site.

The most interesting thing about Mt. Zion Memorial Park was how it circumvented the myth that a cemetery does not encourage good business in the area, one of the reasons why people leaving near the area resisted the construction of the project 12 years ago.  In the contrary, Mt. Zion Memorial Park brought with it prosperity and development at the site.  Manila East Road is now lined with commercial establishments the likes of which can only be seen in a high density and highly urbanized location.  From selling just P5,000 to P7,000 per square meter, the strip now costs a whooping at least P40,000 per square meter.

But the best thing that happened to Mt. Zion Memorial Park is not just the trees that have grown skyward, or the greens that covers the blocks like carpet in the hills, but the relationships that it has cultivated between its clients, brokers, salespersons and other investors.  A place which anyone can truly be proud of.

Personally, I want to be in Mt. Zion where family members and friends gather for a moment of remembering.