Cebuanos Celebrate 453rd Founding Anniversary

CEBU – Cebuanos have joined the celebration of the province’s 453^rd founding anniversary after two years of hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the vibrancy of celebrating Cebu’s birth as the country’s oldest province reverberated across the Capitol marking the start of a month-long festivities.

In her speech during the opening salvo, Gov. Gwen Garcia highlighted the event as a celebration of Cebu’s victory above the challenges that it had to face in the last three years. “It’s been three years and it is with so much joy, with so much gratitude that we now again celebrate the Founding Anniversary of the Province of Cebu as normal people. We’re back to normalcy,” she said. 

“And yet remembering what we have been through, we must now define the direction that we shall take. I speak of normalcy because we have learned so much in these three years about this disease,” she added, referring to how Cebu has learned to treat Covid-19 just like any usual diseases that exist in society. 

“Diseases are here to stay. The challenge is to boost our immune system. To ensure that we protect ourselves. But never again should there ever, ever be another lockdown,” she said. 

Garcia was beaming with so much pride when she narrated how Cebu has risen from all these challenges.  “We have been tested. We have faced sometimes the most insurmountable obstacles and beyond all that, we survived. We did not only survive, we prevailed. And we showed to the rest of the country this is the way we shall go. That is Cebu. We are the Cebuanos. We are a cut above the rest,” she said.

She also called on her fellow public servants in Cebu to join her in the journey to regain Cebu’s strength in the next three years. “Magkuyog kita puno sa paglaum nga ang mosunod nga tulo ka tuig panahon na nga mamawi ta, panahon na nga ibalik ta ang kanhi kapiskay, kamadasigon ug makusganon nato nga ekonomiya. Ug ato kanunay, di gyud ta paapas, ato gyud kanunay huptan ang talagsaong distinction nga sa tibuok Pilipinas, ang Sugbo numero uno,” Garcia said. 

The celebration started with the flag raising ceremony where Garcia was joined by Vice Gov. Hilario Davide III and members of the Provincial Board, three congressmen, all mayors and vice mayors from the different municipalities and component cities, and national government officials in Region 7. 

It was then followed by the ceremonial switch-on of the fountain at the Capitol Heritage Garden, a tree planting activity and launching of the “Tabo sa Kapitolyo 2022 Agri-Fisheries Fair.” (Carlo Lorenciana)