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Cebu! Cebu!

Cities

Municipalities

Landmarks

Economy

Indicators (2005)
Investments (US$ Million) — 4,983.60
Total Exports (US$ Million) — 2,846.88
Total Imports (US$ Million) — 3,127.16

Major Industries:

Electronics / electrical equipment manufacturing, computers, metals and precision instruments, chemicals, industrial parts assembly, food processing, furniture, fashion accessories, gifts, toys and housewares (GTH), garments, stonecraft, shipbuilding, and mining.

Principal Exports:

Semi-conductor devices, electronic timepieces, electronic components, wire harness, floppy disk drives, photographic equipment, garments, furniture, camera paraphernalia, car stereos, audio/video equipment, carageenan, fashion accessories, coconut oil, frozen shrimps, vehicle / machinery parts

Financial Systems:

50 Commercial Banks;
27 Rural Banks;
9 Savings Banks;
5 Gov’t. Banks;
2 Off-shore Banks

With more than 80% inter-Island shipping based in Cebu and having the most domestic air and sea linkages, Cebu is the most accessible place to all points of the country and a major industrial, commercial, trade, and educational hub right in the strategic center of the archipelago.

Its extensive international port facilities, its accessibility to Asia and the rest of the world has led more than a hundred firms, with multinational companies like Mitsumi, Pentax Corp., Marine Colloids, Fairchild Semiconductor, Tsuneishi Heavy Industries, Muramoto Audio-Visual, Lexmark International, Asahi Optical, Teradyne, NEC Technologies, Timex, Olympus Optical, United Technologies, Maithland-Smith, Taiyo Yuden, and others to set up manufacturing plants on the most successful industrial estates, leading the whole country in exports with growth rates for the past 5 years averaged close to 20% higher than that of the entire nation. Government support and incentives provide a major impetus for its growth.

Cebu’s labor force is oriented towards non-agricultural lines and is rated one of the most productive. High domestic and foreign tourist arrivals, strategic central geographic location and accessibility, man and natural resources - all have fueled the robust growth of Cebu with an excellent economic track record and now the fastest growing economy in their country.

Cebu is home to some national and international corporations like Gaisano Group of Companies, Aboitiz Group of Companies, WG&A, Norkis Group of Companies, Bigfoot International, Lexmark Philippines Inc., Lhuillier Jewellers, among others. Its international port (cargo and container) is currently the one of busiest in the country. Homegrown brands in the city have expanded throughout the past years finding a niche in the national and even in the international market like Penshoppe, Oxygen, Loalde, and Island Souvenirs. Other homegrown brands that have expanded outside the city and province include BO’s Coffee Club, Julie’s Bakeshop, Orange Brutus, among others.

Due to its burgeoning furniture-making industry, Cebu has been hailed as the furniture capital of the country. The Department of Trade and Industry in Cebu is aiming to develop this aspect of Cebu economy by specifically targeting small to medium enterprises or SMEs whose products are considered export-quality.

Cebu is also fast becoming an IT hub as many companies, either local or outsourced, are establishing their headquarters in Cebu. The city has become a site for various U.S. call centers and BPOs. The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an organization comprised of Cebu’s businesses, are hedging the city’s growth and economy on information and communications technology, with the aim of making it a premier ICT investment, software, and e-services hub in Southeast Asia.

Shipbuilding companies in Cebu have manufactured bulk carriers of up to 70,000 DWT, and double hulled fastcrafts as well.

Infrastructure

Industrial Estates / Economic Zones

Crossing at the Cebu Business Park

Cebu City Business park in Metro Cebu

13 locations

The Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in Mactan Island has regular direct flights to (among others) Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Busan, Koror, Tokyo, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Shanghai and Doha, Qatar. There are also direct transfer flights via the capital's NAIA that readily connects the city to other destinations in the world.

With the number of weekly international flights to and from MCIA increasing, a new international terminal will be constructed starting 2006 and will be completed in four years

MCIA which has a capacity of 2 million passengers, will in future be purely devoted for domestic use.

The Cebu International Port is the biggest and main port of entry in the province of and Central Visayas Region. Its international port is a multipurpose terminal covering an area of 10 hectares.

Electricity

The city mostly gets its power from an interconnection grid with the Leyte Geothermal Power Plant which also powers majority of the Visayas Islands. There are also coal-fired power plants. Distribution of electricity is provided by the Visayas Electric Company (VECO).

Telecommunication facilities in the city are abundant provided by some of the country's largest telecommunication companies. Connections to the internet are also readily available (e.g. DSL/Broadband Connection).

The Cebu Business Park, a prime business and financial center in Metro Cebu Nearby is the Asiatown Information Technology (IT) Park, another business district that caters mostly to businesses related to the information technology (IT) industry such as software development, telecommunication, call centers, among others.

South of the city is the South Road Properties (SRP) Special Economic Zone, a 300-hectare prime real estate zoned that would house a business district, a tourism zone, and an industrial area patterned after the nearby Mactan Export Processing Zone. Its main thoroughfare is the South Coastal Highway which stretches from downtown Cebu City up to Talisay City down south. A 1.2 kilometer tunnel is currently being constructed at the highway's entrance in Cebu City to connect it with Sergio Osmeña Avenue which traverses the North Reclamation Area connecting with Ouano Avenue at the New Mandaue City.

Education

Educational Center for 2/3 of the country

Over 1,000 private and public elementary schools
200 secondary (high) schools
9 universities
29 colleges
10 manpower training centers
Average annual population of 130,000 college students.

The elementary school is from grade 1-6.

High school is often attended. The high school program takes four years to finish; commonly taken after graduating from elementary school. Among the prominent high schools of Cebu are Don Bosco, University of San Carlos‘ High schools, Cebu City National Science High School, University of the Philippines‘ high school, and several private schools that offer high school programs.

Cebu is the main educational hub in central and southern regions of the country. It has nine large universities each with a number of campus branches throughout the metro, and more than a dozen other schools and colleges specializing in various courses such as Medicine, Engineering, Nautical courses, Nursing, Law, Computer and IT, etc.

The most prominent of these universities are the University of San Carlos (USC) and the University of the Philippines Cebu (U.P. Cebu). USC is often regarded as the country’s oldest educational institution and is located in four campuses within the Cebu City. On the other hand, U.P. Cebu is a branch of the renowned University of the Philippines System.

Its newest university, Cebu Doctors’ University (formerly Cebu Doctors’ College) was elevated to university status on November 2004. It is the first and only medical university in the country and is currently constructing a nine-storey main building at the Cebu Boardwalk in nearby Mandaue City.

Among foreign students in Cebu are Iranians, Nepalese, Thais and Koreans.

Media

Media Facilities:

7 local television channels
3 cable TV stations
20 FM & 13 AM radio stations
A variety of local, national and international papers

Cebu has 3 local networks including the dominant ABS-CBN Channel 3, GMA Channel 7, Cebu Television Channel 28, Real Cebu Television (RCTV 36), and the Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN 47), a religious station partly owned and endorsed by the Archdiocese of Cebu. Channel 28 and 36 are only seen on cable television and CCTN operates a UHF frequency on channel 47 on free TV and channel 56 on cable.

While national newspapers have presence in the island, Cebu has three English-language local newspapers: The Freeman, Sun.Star Cebu and Cebu Daily News whilst there are also Cebuano-language newspapers, Sun.Star SuperBalita owned by Sun Star and Banat News owned by the Freeman. As of 2005, each of the local dailies sell for P10 a copy, which is much cheaper than their national counterparts.

Political

Some Congressmen of the Province of Cebu have proposed to divide the province into 4 new provinces.

Congressman Simeon Kintanar has proposed to create a province called as Cebu Del Sur which shall comprise the 2nd district of Cebu with Argao as the capital.
Congressman Antonio Yapha has also proposed to create a province called as Cebu Occidental which shall comprise the 3rd district of Cebu with Toledo City as the capital.
Congresswoman Clavel Asas-Martinez has also proposed to create a province called as Cebu Del Norte which shall comprise the 4th district of Cebu with Bogo as the capital.

Cebu is currently subdivided into 6 cities and 47 municipalities.

Religion

Cebu is predominantly Roman Catholic. Other religious minorities include Protestant churches of Assemblies of God, Word for the World, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jesus Miracle Crusade, Jehovah's Witnesses, God's Kingdom, the Baptists, a Reformed Baptist (http://sgbc.faithweb.com), The Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints (Mormons), Taoists, Muslims, etc.

The patron of Cebu is the Santo Niño de Cebu, the Holy Child Jesus The statue is housed in the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, San Nicholas de Tolentino is the oldest church but was partially destroyed during the war. It is the original place where the Spaniards erected the cross and first set foot and later transferred to it's current location the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. Soon, the patron was changed to the Lady of Guadalupe to conform to canonical practice of having patron saints instead of Jesus Christ himself.

According to historical accounts, the Santo Niño was given by the Portuguese sea captain and explorer Ferdinand Magellan to the wife of the chief of Cebu. That act is depicted in Cebu's largest, most popular and largest cultural event, the Sinulog where street-dancing and loud drum beats preceded by a holy Mass is the main attraction.

Magellan's Cross Kiosk

Cebu has a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and has several major churches, including the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the San Carlos Church, the Sto. Rosario Parish Church, San Jose-Recoletos Church, Sacred Heart Church, etc. as well as several other non-Catholic churches and temples.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebu