elcome to Cebu - the leisure and business paradise in the Pacific.

Cebu in history

Cebu is said to be a trading center of Southeast Asia in the 13th century. But generally little has been known about Cebu's pre-hispanic and pre-historic past. Thanks however to the recently opened Southwestern University Museum which made available to the public Dra. Lydia Aznar-Alfonso's vast collection of prehistoric relics, antiques and artifacts that had been found in different parts of the island.

The collection has proven beyond reasonable doubt that an advance civilization had existed in the islands long before Magellan set foot on its shores.

On April 8, 1521 Ferdinand Magellan arrived in Cebu and discovered the island for Europeans thus opening a route that would be followed by sea traders until today. Magellan planted a cross in the island that would become Cebu's most famous landmark. While in the island, Magellan picked a fight with Cebu's local chieftain Lapu-Lapu that led to the now legendary Battle of Mactan. Magellan was killed in the battle and most of his men were annihilated by the locals that marked one of histories most stunning war reversals. Spain was a world power at that time, dividing the world with Portugal, while Cebu was an unknown remote island in the Pacific.

Artist Manuel Pañares depicts the battle of Mactan.

Forty-four years later, in February 1565, Spain sent another expedition to Cebu headed by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi which eventually succeeded in colonizing Cebu and the central islands of the Visayas as well as the northern islands of Luzon. The whole archipelago was named "Las Islas Filipinas" in honor of the then Spanish king Philip II.

Spain ruled the Philippines with an iron fist for 400 years that produced several rebellions and many Philippine heroes foremost among them was Dr. Jose Rizal who was recently been accorded as a hero of the Malayan race.

In May 1898 the Americans defeated the Spaniards in the Battle of Manila Bay and took control of the Philippines. The US Government awarded the Philippines independence in 1946 but retained favored trade pacts and several U.S. military bases within the country. In 1991 the Philippine Senate voted against the continuation of of US Military bases that effectively ended America's presence in the Philippines.

Cebu Today

A breathtaking view of city from Busay.

Trying to recapture its old glory, Cebu now leads the Philippines in an economic upswing unprecedented in its history. It has the fastest growing economy in the region with an average 20% export growth for the past 5 years that is considerably higher than that of the country and any other province in the Philippines. It leads the country in export items such as furniture, fashion accessories, carrageenan and gifts, toys and housewares.

Cebu is the gateway in central and southern Philippines and is the country's favorite tourist destination. It is also a jumped-off point for tourists whose iterinary includes the neighboring islands of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Cebu's Mactan International Airport is one of the country's best.. Cebu boosts of many world-class hotels and beach resorts and many more are on the drawing board. In the last 5 years, Golf courses were mushrooming all over the place.

The South Reclamation Project.

Urban Cebu has slowly expanded into a large metropolis with its center of activities no longer limited to one area but scattered in different parts that reach as far as Consolacion and Liloan in the north and Minglanilla and Naga in the south. With the completion of the South Reclamation Road Project (SRP), that cuts travel time from Talisay to Cebu City in minutes, and the soon to be started North Reclamation Road Project that cuts trhough Mandaue, Consolacion and Liloan, a huge Cebu metropolitan area is imminent comprising the central cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay, the northern towns of Consolacion and Liloan and the southern towns of Minglanilla and Naga.

The beauty of Cebu however, is not its growing urban life but when you get outside of its confines. Outside the metropolis, Cebu splendidly retained its provincial flavor and exquisite beauty. You may opt to get some history lessons by touring Cebu's old towns of Carcar, Argao, Boljoon down south and Liloan, Bogo and Bantayan up north, with its rich old churches and antiquated ancestral homes. Or you may go on sprawling and diving in one of Cebu's many famous pristine and white sandy beaches all over the island.

Mactan island offers to resort facilities and some of the best diving spots in the country. Mactan is a huge coral island that's only a short distance from the mainland and is equally famous for rope and guitar making. But the eastern coast is virtual paradise for residents and tourists as well: here you will find some of the best white beaches in the country, many of which have been developed as top-rate resorts. Best bets: Shangri-la's Mactan Island Resort, Coral Reef, Tambuli, Maribago Bluewaters, etc. All of these offer adequate facilities for tourists.

Tucked away in Sogod in the north is the Cebu Club Pacific, a resort far from the madding crowd. Down south, try the Tourist Seaside Hotel in Talisay, which is a short 15-km drive from the city. Badian Island Resort off the town of Badian is a must-see, as well as Pescador Island Resort off the town of Moalboal, a famous coastal town along the southwest end of the island.

Already famous as the diving center of the Philippines, Cebu offers excellent dive sites of up to 150 feet deep, where the spectacular underwater scenery never dails to leave divers enchanted. Sogod, near the northern tip of the island, is excellent for cliff diving. So are Buyong in Mactan island, where night diving is the latest craze, and Sta. Rosa by the Sea. Moalboal is the diving capital, and Pescador island the place to be. For breathtaking sights of coral formations and marine life, the coral reefs there, as well as in nearby Danajon and Caohaga, are a must.

More adventurous divers will proceed further south where Cebu juts out towards Bohol island. Here the underwater precipices of Panglao and Balicasag and the Sumilon island marine sanctuary, off the town of Oslob on the southern tip of the island, offer great views. Farther on, Pamilican island offers a rare sight of huge manta rays during mating rituals.

City Tour

A quick visit to the office of the Department of Tourism isn't a bad idea as you can get there reference materials about Cebu like city maps, etc. You may want to start your day by visiting some of the city's most important landmarks. A three-hour tour within a radius of 20 kms. will transport you back down Cebu's memory lane where houses, churches and municipal buildings date back to the first settlements established by the Spaniards in the 16th century.

You may start your trip at Fort San Pedro, the first Spanish fort built on Philippine soil, which now houses the Philippine National Museum regional office. Currently on exhibit is a miniature replica of the San Diego, a 16th century 300-ton spanish galleon built in Cebu, which sunk 20 miles south of Manila de Bay on December 14, 1600 and was only recovered 5 years ago. The sunken galleon yielded one of the richest finds in history with vast amount of gold and silverware, ivories, stoneware, erthenware, porcelains and many other artifacts.

The recovered artifacts are now currently going the rounds in the world's major capitals.

From Fort San Pedro, you may walk over to Magallanes (another name of Magellan) St., where you will find Magellan's cross and just across the street is the only Catholic Basilica in East Asia -- the Sto. Niño Basilica. It is the center of devotion and religious pilgrimage throughout the Visayas for it houses the original deity of the Sto. Niño or the infant Jesus. The deity was given by Magellan to Queen Juana, the wife of Cebu's King Jumabon.

You may proceed your walk towards Colon St., passing over the shadows of the old buildings along Osmeña Blvd. Colon St. is the oldest street in the Philippines and is now a subject of a major restoration effort by the Women's International League.

A side trip at the famed Carbon Market is highly suggested. The Philippines being a tropical country, fruits in all shapes and flavors abound the year over and it is at Carbon Market where most of these fruits first land, so to speak, after being harvested from Cebu and neighboring islands.

You may then proceed to view the city's different museums and a trek to the hilly Beverly Hills is suggested where the Taoist Temple rises to a commanding view of the city.

Another 2-3 hour route brings you to significant historical spots in Lapulapu City and Mactan. From the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge, turn right towards the market, plaza and Opon Church, the center of local commerce in Mactan Island. From there you may proceed towards Abuno, Mactan, where many of Cebu's famed guitar factories are located. You may continue East towards the resort areas for beachside fun and sightseeing and then end your trek northwest at the Lapu-lapu shrine at Punta Engaño, the spot where the Battle of Mactan took place.