Like many Filipinos, I visited Cebu many times, twice as a child and almost a dozen times as a professional for work and fun.
Investment flows into Cebu City, making it a prosperous port capital where investors find more than a hospitable business community but a home with a 16th-century Spanish colonial past, including the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño church and the triangular Fort San Pedro. It is a gateway to dive sites and beach resorts.
The city is highly urbanized and Metro Cebu has around 2.6 million residents. It is the second most- populous metropolitan area after Metro Manila. The city is a significant center of commerce, trade and education in the Visayas region. It is also building a reputation for health and cancer treatment with the Chong Hua Hospital Mandaue & Cancer Center, Center for Cancer in Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital and the Cancer Survivorship Center at Robinsons Cybergate Complex.
Rapid economic development of both Cebu City and Cebu province was noted since the early-1990s. With the city’s proximity to many islands, beaches, hotels and resorts, diving locations and heritage sites, high domestic and foreign tourist arrivals have fueled growth. Due to its geographic location, accessibility by air, land and sea transportation, the city has become the tourism gateway to Central and Southern Philippines.
It is a hub for the information technology and business-process management (IT-BPM) industry, and identified as a Center of Excellence by the Information and Communication Technology Office of the Department of Science and Technology. Deputy Executive Director Mon Ibrahim noted that Cebu is an ideal location for the industry, as it moves into higher levels of service. It ranks seventh worldwide in the “2016 Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations” by global advisory firm Tholons in an industry that targets to earn $25 billion this year for the country.
Ayala Corp. and Cebu Property developed the Cebu Park District, where you will find both Cebu Business Park and Cebu IT Park, which host the regional headquarters for various companies in the banking, finance, IT and tourism sectors.
The real-estate industry is the fastest-growing sector in Cebu. The South Road Properties is a 300-hectare property-development project on a reclaimed land a few meters off the coast of Cebu’s central business district for entertainment, leisure, residential and IT-BPM. It is registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
Shipbuilding companies are also found in Cebu. This sector is responsible for making the Philippines the fourth-largest shipbuilding country in the world.
Cebu City is a cultural center in the Visayas. The Spanish and Roman Catholic culture is evident with the landmark Magellan’s Cross. This cross is reputed to have been erected by Ferdinand Magellan when he arrived in the country in 1521. Near the cross, you will also find the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, which was the first church established on the islands. It is also where the Sinulog Festival is celebrated during the island’s cultural festivities.
A few years back members of District 3780 of the Rotary Club were billeted at the Waterfront Hotel, and they toured the Cebu Taoist Temple, Fort San Pedro, Casa Gorordo Museum, Colon Street (oldest street in the Philippines), Fuente Osmeña and Lapu-Lapu Monument. Rotary music lovers came back to the city to enjoy the Cebu Reggae Festival and the Jose Gullas Halad Museum.
The city is accessible by the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City, and is served by a domestic and international port. Mass transportation throughout the city and the metropolitan area is provided by jeepneys buses and taxis.
Telecommunication facilities, broadband and wireless Internet connections are available, and are provided by the country’s largest telecommunication companies.
Cebu City has 11 large universities and more than a dozen other schools specializing in various courses. They include the University of San Carlos, University of the Philippines Cebu, University of San Jose-Recoletos, Cebu Normal University, Cebu Doctors’ University, University of Cebu, University of the Visayas, Don Bosco Technology Center Cebu, Cebu Institute of Technology University, Southwestern University, Saint Theresa’s College, University of Southern Philippines Foundation, Cebu Technological University, Cebu Institute of Medicine, Cebu Eastern College, Cebu International School, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and the Colegio de la Immaculada Concepcion.
Cebu is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, with an annual growth of over 5 percent per year, but the reason I continue to go there is because it has a heart, and each time I visit I discover another side of Cebu.
1 comment
Iloilo is the Queen’s City, not Cebu. “Queen city” is just another cute but otherwise meaningless restatement of “Tier 1 City”.