Cebu is an island province in the Philippines, consisting of the island itself and 167 surrounding islands. Its capital is Cebu City, the oldest city in the Philippines, which forms part of the Cebu Metropolitan Area together with four neighboring cities (which comprise Danao City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City and Talisay City) and eight other local government units. Mactan-Cebu International Airport, located in Mactan Island, is the second busiest airport in the Philippines.

Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines, with Cebu City as the main center of commerce, trade, education and industry in the Visayas. Condé Nast Traveler Magazine named Cebu the 7th best island destination in the Indian Ocean-Asia region in 2007, 8th best Asian-Pacific island destination in 2005, 7th in 2004 and in 2009, with popular tourist destinations such as Mactan Island and Moalboal. In a decade it has transformed into a global hub for furniture making, tourism, business processing services, and heavy industry.

Mayor in Cebu City: Michael "Mike" Lopez Rama

Demographics

The population of Cebu in 2010 was 2,619,362 persons. The three largest cities (Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue) had 866,171, 350,467, and 331,320 residents respectively. Therefore there are a total of 4,167,320 people living on Cebu, with a population density of 780.1 persons per km². The population of the Central Visayas is predominantly young with about 37 percent of its population below 10 years old. This is very evident in the very broad base of the population pyramid in the region which has prevailed since 1970 but at a declining rate. A decline of 2.29 percentage points in the proportion of household population below 15 years old was noted from 1980 to 1995. Conversely, an increase of 3.06 percentage points was observed in the 15−64 age group during the same period. The population of the region is evenly distributed between male and female. However, the male population in the region has been increasing at a faster rate compared to the female population.

Religion

The majority of its population are Roman Catholic, there are also some followers of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. he image of Santo Niño de Cebú (Holy Child of Cebu), the oldest Christian image in the Philippines, is enshrined and venerated at the Basilica of Santo Niño. According to Philippine historical documents, the statue of the Santo Niño (Holy Child) was given to the wife of the Rajah of Cebu by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. The friendship is depicted in Cebu's cultural event, the Sinulog where street parades and loud drum beats preceded by a Christian Mass is celebrated every third Sunday of January. Cebu has a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and has several major churches, including the Basilica Minor del Santo Niño de Cebu, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Santo Rosario Parish Church, San José-Recoletos Church, Sacred Heart Church, Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, National Shrine of Our Lady of the Rule, National Shrine of Saint Joseph, Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Cebu and other Christian churches, as well as several other non-Catholic churches, mosques and temples.

Festival in Cebu

The Sinulog is an annual cultural and religious festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, and is the center of the Santo Nino celebration in thePhilippines. Other places like Maasin City, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental and Southern Leyte also have their own version of the festival in honor of the Santo Nino.

The Sinulog festival commemorates the Filipino people's pagan origins, and their acceptance of and conversion to Christianity (Roman Catholicism). The first of these conversions happened in the island province of Cebu when Rajah Humabon and his wife Hara Amihan were baptized and came to be known as Haring Carlos and Reyna Juana of Cebu.

One of the main highlights of the festival is the grand street parade which lasts for 9 to 12 hours (practically the entire day) with participants coming from the different towns and cities of Cebu and from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao across the Philippines. The Sinulog dance contingents are dressed in bright coloured costumes dancing gracefully to the rhythm of drums, trumpets and native gongs. Smaller versions of the festival are held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a "Sinulog sa Kabataan" performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the parade. Recently, the festival has been promoted as a tourist attraction, with a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is usually held in the Cebu City Sports Complex. The Sinulog Festival competition is divided into three (3) categories namely the Street Dancing Category, Free Interpretation and Sinulog base categories. The free interpretation category has the most number of participating contingents coming from outside Cebu. The dance steps are fast and the storyline and theme varies from folkloric, mythical and historical lines. The Sinulog based category centers more on the Sinulog ritual dance worship and the choreography is more "formal" the dance steps depicts the prayer dance which is the true identity of the Sinulog ritual dance. The Sinulog based participants wear Filipiniana and Hispanic inspired costumes. The Grand Champion of the Free Interpretation and Sinulog base categories wins one million pesos (P1,000,000.00) respectively. The Sinanduloy Dance Troupe of Tangub City, Misamis Occidental is a consistent winner in the Sinulog based category. Carcar City of Cebu also proved their mastery of the Sinulog dance and they always end within the top 5 places in the Sinulog Competition. The famous Lumad Basakanon dance contingent of Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City has won several Free Interpretation titles in Sinulog and made history when they were elevated to the Aliwan Fiesta Hall of Fame for winning the national streetdancing champioship during Aliwan Fiesta 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2014. Sinulog Festival showcases the most number of participants and the best choreographic exhibition of any festival in the Philippines.

Delicacies in Cebu

Projects in Cebu City

Construction of PhP 15 billion bridge in Cebu starts January 2015

The construction of a fifteen-billion peso toll-bridge linking Cebu City and Cordova is said to be starting early next year. The project will be spearheaded by Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) of business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan.

“This bridge project is a one hundred percent a done deal. Go, go go,” Cordova, Cebu Mayor Adelino Sitoy said. The mayor said the groundbreaking will be held January 2015. The said bridge will be operational after three years.

According to the mayor, this third bridge connecting Mactan Island to Cebu City is feasible because about 82,000 vehicles use the current two bridges and it is increasing. This will ease travel to Cordova and Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA), the busiest airport outside Metro Manila.

Cebu fares better in competitiveness ranking

CEBU CITY -- Eight cities in Cebu, including Cebu City, performed better in a competitiveness ranking that measures the dynamism of a community’s economy, efficiency of its government and quality of its infrastructure.

Cebu City climbed 50 notches up from last year’s overall competitiveness ranking in the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), a project of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC).

From the 57th spot last year, Cebu City now has the seventh spot, with a score of 43.69. It replaced San Fernando City of La Union, now in the 22nd spot.

Last year, no city in Cebu or Central Visayas made it to the top 10. There were a total of 122 cities examined last year, compared to 136 this year.

Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella welcomed the improvement, adding this would challenge the City to do better.

“To borrow the adage: good, better, best; never let it best; until your good is better, and your better best,” he said.

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