70th Charter day

To my fellow Cebuanos, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Afternoon!

As all of us know, today is the 70th Charter day of Cebu City. Anually, we celebrate this event to acknowledge the importance of how Cebu became a city and the effects that it made. As we commemorate this historical event, let us be reminded of the things that made this day come to being.
Cebu is characterized by narrow coastlines, limestone plateaus and coastal plains. Cebu, before the Spaniards came was known to be Zubu or Zugbo. At that time, Cebu already had trading post and trading routes to China, Siam, Arabia and other parts of Malay.
In 1901, Cebu was then declared a municipality. On June 12, 1898, the Spanish era, by God’s grace, came to an end. They were then followed by the American regime. On the grand day of February 24, 1937, Cebu was declared Cebu City and the capital of the Province of Cebu. The city of Cebu was chartered city by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 58 enacted by Congress on October 20, 1936. Senator Vicente Raffia, formerly Representative of Cebu’s 3rd District, was considered as author and sponsor of the bill. It was at that time that Secretary of Interior, Elpidio Quirino appointed the mayor and board members of Cebu City in his power as representative of Manuel Quezon.
That historical event experienced by this city made Cebu what it is now. As Cebu City emerged as the capital of Metro Cebu, the city became famous for loads of things, one of which are the cultural places that can be found within the city. Specifically speaking, it was famous for the Magellan’s cross, the image of Santo Niño, and the Basilica Minor del Santo Niño. The city is also known for it’s expertise in furniture as we are the top in the country in exporting furniture to different places around the world.
As years passed, we became the country’s main domestic shipping hub and we became home to more than 80% of the country’s inter-island shipping. Tourism on the other hand contributed much to the local economy and because of which, the city was able to host the ASEAN Tourist Forum and the East Asian Tourism Forum in 2000.
Truly, Cebu city was able to progress for the past years. At present, as we come all together to celebrate our beloved city’s Charter Day, I ask every one of you to come and join me hand in hand in making Cebu City as the most progressive city not just in the Philippines, not just in Asia, but in the whole world.
Let us show to them that we are true blooded Cebuanos and we can make it to the top!

Thank You and Good Day!