CEBU

Queen City of the South

First income class island
province
Oldest city and First capital of
the Philippines
One of the most developed
provinces in the Philippines
#1 among the Top 50 Emerging
Outsourcing Cities in the World

CEBOO
M

THE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
OF CEBU CITY
Initiative and innovation in the attachment
of Cebu Citys economy to the world market
BY DR. JOSE VELEZ JR.
Reported by
DANICA JANE CONCEPCION P. SURIMA

Built on what is a natural harbor, the

port built Cebu Citys economy

THE CASH CROP

BOOM

TRADE OF SUGAR
- Demand in the world market
Sugar Plantations

3rd largest producer of

sugar in the country

CASH CROP BOOM

1845
= 63, 542 piculs of sugar

1856
= 90, 000 piculs of sugar

Mestizo-Sangley
Traders

Cebuano Traders

TRANSFORMATION
OF THE CITY
Urban Aristocracy among the
Chinese-Mestizo community

Canteria Y Teja
Stone and tile

1886

Hemp

Sugar Crisis

Emerging as the citys top export

AMERICAN
ANNEXATION
Sugar
Hemp

CEBU:
Collection
and
transhipment
point of hemp

Hemp
reached the
world market
through Cebu
Leyte,
Camiguin,
Mindanao
hemp
plantations

The Americans made a

wharf that was 2,000 ft. long
and could accommodate 5
large foreign ships

48%

tonnage dues

efficiency

HEMP TRADE
1898-1902

P1.25 M

TRADE
Leyte-based Mestizos:
RSChinese Immigrants:
a. Muertegui Y Aboitiz
(1910)
b. Don Fernando Escano
(1870)

a. Pedro Gotiaco (1920

P 15, 642, 349

P 47, 486, 540

BUILDING THE CITYS

COMMERCIAL DISTRICT

THE ROBUST
TRADE AT
THE CEBU
PORT

BUILT THE
FOUNDATION
OF THE
CITYS
COMMERCIAL
DISTRICT

1902:
1 bank

1915:

8 commercial
buildings

5 viceconsulates

The commercial district was a

multinational mix of businesses,
reflective of the international trade
the Cebu port was engaged in

SERGIO
OSMENA
Provincial fiscal
Led the committee in
reconstructing the
commercial district
William Cameron
Forbes (Gov. Gen., 1909)
Achievement paved way
for a remarkable political

DEVELOPMENTS IN
TRADE AND
INDUSTRY
1919

Copra

Hemp Crisis

Becoming the world

markets muchsought after
commodity

1920

Hemp

Sugar

Copra
399, 120 piculs

1920

COPRA BYPRODUCTS:
1. Glycerine
2. Coconut Oil
Visayan Refining
Company (VCR)
Located in Opon,
pioneered oil mills in
Cebu

1920s
Shipping became a
major industry

1930s

Economic
Depression of
America
affected Cebus
trade severely

P47 M export
1920

P20.7 M
1932

1902
:

Under the
Americans, Ciuded
de Cebu lost its
status as a city,
but was expanded
as a municipality

1937:
Regained city
status and had
its own charter
+ absorbed a
large Cebuano
population
= expanded local
market of goods and
services

BEGINNINGS OF A MODERN
CITY
Improved and
expanded port facilities
Enlarged and repaired
city streets, roads,
bridges
Promoted
modernization and
development

Osmena
Waterworks

Brought clean,
portable water to
Cebu for there was a
Cholera epidemic

Buhisan Dam

Inauguration:
Water was
released from a
commemorative
fountain on a
new circular
provincial park

Fuente
Osmena

Improvement in infrastructures, public utilities,

transportation, and communication facilities:

paved the way to the dispersal of the

citys population away from the
commercial centers and into the citys
suburban areas

1910:
railway
s
1930s:

Buses killed
trains

Cebu was not only the

centre of trade but
also the educational
hub of the region

CHARTERED CITY &

PROVINCIAL CAPITAL
February 24, 1937

Charter day!
VICENTE RAMA
Sponsored the bill that made Cebu a city

+ role as the capital of the Province of

Cebu
Construction of the
Cebu Provincial Capitol
building began

Cebu
never
moved
beyond
exporting
raw
materials
and
importing
finished
products

It failed to
diversify
and
industriali
ze

POPULATION
INCREASE
46, 000
544,00
0
Human
Resources

Diversificatio
n of Cebus
Economy

167,
000

POST-WAR
RECONSTRUCTION

Rizal Memorial Library

Served as
temporary City
Hall

With businesses levelled to the ground and

the citys resources near empty, the task
of rebuilding the city didnt come easy

Businesses gradually came to life. By 1945, the Bank of

the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Philippine National Bank
(PNB) resumed operations

RELIANCE ON IMPORTS
While the war caused unparalleled destruction, it
also brought opportunities to enterprising
families and individuals

John Gokongwei

Saw opportunity in trading to meet the demands of

a market temporarily crippled by war
Set up his first company: American-Asia Trading

Henry Sy

Bought used shoes to sell back home

and became Henry Sy of Shoemart

Businesses engaged in imports were the ones that

were able to rebuild and grow shortly after the war.

Henry Sy and John Gokongwei had humble beginnings

and now are part of the super rich Filipino
entrepreneurial class

RISE OF MANUFACTURING
Lu Do and Lu Ym
Soap and
candle factory
Oil milling
Manufacturin
g
Edible oil
plant

Perfect time for the

company
Imported quotas
High tariffs
Foreign Exchange
controls

Domestic
production

It helped the
countrys foreign
reserves since it
exported to the
world market

Need for
locallyproduced
product

The Philippines became the premier

supplier of copra in the world market

King Copra