Cebu City

The City of Cebu also known as the oldest city in the Philippines is the second city in the country and the second largest metropolitan center. It is the Philippine’s main domestic shipping port and is located in the eastern shore of Cebu. This is where the first Spanish settlement took place.

Cebu City is regulated by one mayor and one vice mayor together with sixteen councilors. The councilors consist of eighth from the northern part and 8 from the southern part. Each of the local official are given 3-year terms. City administrators handle the day to day governance of the city. At the moment, Cebu City comprises 80 barangays with a total land area of 291.2 square kilometers. 55.9 square kilometers of this is classed as urban while the remaining which is 235.2 square kilometers is rural.

The city has a population of 798,809 people according to the 2007 Philippine census. It is regarded as the second largest international flights and is the center of commerce, trade and industry in Visayas. Cebu City is also called Metro Cebu which includes the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay. Because of this Cebu City became the fastest growing large city in the nation with 5% per year as the annual growth.

Cebu is a prosperous urbanite area with all the amenities of a modern city. Also it is rich in natural resources like white beaches and as well as home to many historical past which reflect the past from the birth of Christianity to early commercial trade.

The city’s economy is also increasing every year. A lot of businesses contribute to the local economy such us the booming Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) like call centers, and other IT related company outsourced by foreign investor. With this along with the other nearby cities that constitute Metro Cebu established the area as the second important economic center.

Infrastructure wise, Cebu Metropolitan Area has the entire infrastructure and facilities essential and enough for urbanization. The city is readily accessible by air via Mactan-Cebu International Airport which is located in Lapu-Lapu. It has direct flights to other countries such as Singapore and Japan and as well as domestic flights. Aside from that domestic port also exist to be able to give access to nearby islands and provinces. Much of the city’s waterfront is engrossed by port which makes the city and ideal transshipment hub. Mostly, the city gets power from an interconnection grid with the Leyte Geothermal Plant. With regards to telecommunication facilities such as broadband and wireless internet connection, the city is on top of it and is provided by some of the country’s leading telecommunications company. The means of transportation in the city and other nearby cities are jeepneys, buses and taxis.

The city is also regarded as one of the two centers of education in the Philippines. Currently, it has nine large universities and each with number of campus branches within the metropolitan area. These universities offer and specialize in various fields such as Nursing, Law, IT, Engineering and others. A lot of foreigners come to the city to study. Recently, a lot of Koreans have come to Cebu to study English. All in all Cebu City has 68 public elementary schools, 23 national high schools and 28 night high schools. This helps the city to achieve a literacy rate of 97%.

City tourism continues to boom and contribute to the local economy not just of the city but for the entire Cebu province. There are numerous places to go to while in Cebu such as the historical places like Fort San Pedro, Basilica Minore del Santo Nino, Magellan’s Cross and many others. If you want to go shopping or mall hopping you can go to the different shopping malls such as SM City Cebu, Robinsons Plaza, Ayala Center Cebu and others. Cebu Metropolitan Area has a lot of white sand beaches as well that you could go to and it’s also ideal for island hopping along with the nearby island of Bohol.

Indeed Cebu City is a desirable place to visit and to stay with.