Cebu, Perfect City of the Month

South of the Philippines is a humble city with a booming economy, rich culture, friendly people and beautiful surroundings.

ASEAN Perfect City brings you the Philippine's Queen City of the South! Cebu!

Cebu City (Dakbayan sa Sugbu) is the second most important metropolitan area in the Philippines. It is the capital of Cebu Province and lies in the eastern shore of the island of Cebu. It is home to more than 80% of the country's inter-island shipping companies. Cebu is the center of the Metropolitan Cebu which includes the cities of Mandaue, Talisay, Lapu-Lapu and Naga.

As early as 3,000 years ago, Cebu or Zebu or Sugbu was already a prosperous settlement before it was colonized by Spain. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, a famous portuguese navigator landed in the shores of Cebu who was welcomed by Rajah Humabon along with 800 natives. Magellan however failed to successfully claim the Philippines after being slain by Lapu-Lapu, a cheftain.

The city is also famous for its white sand beaches, clear waters and numerous large hotels including the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Convention Center, constructed in time for the 1998 ASEAN Tourism Forum, Marco Polo Plaza (formerly Cebu Plaza), the first deluxe hotel in the city, Hilton Cebu and Shangri-la Mactan Island Resort. Because filipinos are addicted to shopping, numerous commercial establishments have been set up. The most popular of which is the SM Cebu, the largest mall in the Visayas region and the Ayala Center.

Despite the presence of such establishments, the downtown area still remains the nerve of commercial activity in the city. The Basilica Minore del Santo Niño and the Metropolitan Cathedral are also located there.

In 2006, Cebu hosted the 12th ASEAN Summit in the newly constructed Cebu International Convention Center.

The city is most popularly known in the country as the host of the famous Sinulog Festival, held every 3rd Sunday of January in honor of Santo Niño, the "Holy Child". Sinulog is a dance ritual of pre-spanish origin.

Cebu is one of the two centers of education in the country, the other being the Manila Metropolitan. It has currently nine large universities, each with a number of campuses. among these schools is the University of the Philippines, Visayas-Cebu College (UP Cebu), University of San Carlos, the oldest educational institution in the country established in 1595 as the Colegio de San Ildefonso and the Cebu Normal University, established in 1915 as a branch of the Philippine Normal School. Many foreign students also come to Cebu City to study since education is relatively cheaper here. Most of them are Iranians and Nepalese who come to study dentistry and medicine. In recent years, many Koreans have come to Cebu to study English

Cebuanos (people of Cebu) speak english, filipino and bisaya, a native language of the Visayan region. the city's literacy rate is 97%.

The Mactan Bridge connecting Cebu City and Mactan Island.

The Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Convention Center



The City skyline from the Cordova

Cebu at night



The Magellan's Cross Kiosk

Cebu International Convention Center


Photos courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.