Mayor of Cebu City

The mayor of Cebu City (Cebuano: Punong Dakbayan sa Sugbo) is the chief executive of the government of Cebu City in the Philippines. The mayor leads the city's departments in executing ordinances and delivering public services. The mayorship is a three-year term and each mayor is restricted to three consecutive terms, totaling nine years, although a mayor can be elected again after an interruption of one term.[3]

Mayor of Cebu City
Seal of the Cebu City Mayor
Incumbent Edgardo C. Labella since June 30, 2019
Style	The Honorable
Seat	Cebu City Hall
Appointer	Elected via popular vote
Term length	3 years, not eligible for re-election immediately after three consecutive terms
Inaugural holder	Vicente Rama
Formation	1936[1]
Succession	Vice Mayor then Highest ranking Sangguniang Panlungsod member
Deputy	Vice Mayor
Salary	₱200,130 per month (2020)[2]

The current mayor is Edgardo Labella, under BARUG-PDP–Laban. He previously served as city councilor for four terms and as vice mayor for two consecutive terms.[4]

History

Commonwealth Act No. 38 or the Charter of the City of Cebu, signed on October 20, 1936 and officially inaugurated on February 24, 1937, created the post of City Mayor which shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the approval of the Commission on Appointments. President Manuel Quezon appointed Alfredo V. Jacinto of Gapan, Nueva Ecija.[5][6]

Born on March 23, 1891, Jacinto was not a Cebuano. His first assignment outside of Nueva Ecija was in Manila to become Chief Clerk of the Treasurer's Office of Malolos, Bulacan. Jacinto was transferred to Leyte and then to Pangasinan. In March 1930, he was sent to Cebu after his last assignment in Luzon in La Union. Before he was appointed as City Mayor, he was Provincial Treasurer of Cebu. He resigned from the position on December 31, 1936.[5]

Jacinto took his oath of office at Malacañang Palace before Elpidio Quirino, the Secretary of the Interior on January 7, 1937. Along with him, the following city councilors were sworn into office by Secretary Quirino namely, Manuel Roa (the first President of the Municipal Board), Regino Mercado, Felipe Pacaña, Jose Fortich, Diego Canizares, Jose P. Nolasco, Leandro A. Tojong and Dominador J. Abella.[7]

The next to be appointed was Vicente Rama who served as city mayor from 1938 to 1940. When World War II erupted, Rama sought refuge in Carcar where he was appointed as wartime mayor by the Imperial Japanese Army.

A year before the war, Jose Delgado was appointed as city mayor from 1940 to 1942. Delgado also became governor of Cebu from 1943 to 1944. Next in line was Juan Cerilles Zamora.

Then there was Dr. Leandro Tojong of Ginatilan, Cebu, followed by another doctor, Nicolas Escario of Bantayan, Cebu, followed by lawyer Vicente S. del Rosario, then Dr. Luis Espina, Miguel Raffiñan, Pedro Elizalde, Dr. Jose V. Rodriguez, and Pedro Clavano, all of which were appointed by the president.

On June 7, 1955, the Cebu City Charter was amended by Republic Act No. 1233.[8] The first election for City mayor was held on November 8, 1955 together with the 1955 senatorial elections. The first to be elected as City mayor was Sergio Osmeña Jr. together with his vice mayor Ramon Duterte.[6]

Salary

As of 2020, the mayor is paid a monthly salary of ₱200,130 based on the first tranche of the Salary Standardization Law of 2019 signed on January 8, 2020 by President Rodrigo Duterte[2] with the position being classified under salary grade 30.[9]

List

Municipality of Cebu

This is the list of Municipal Presidents of Cebu:[10]

No.	President (birth–death)	Term of office		Vice President
1	Florentino Rallos (1860–1912)	1901	1903	Agapito Hilario
		1903	1905	Filemon Sotto
2	Celestino Rodriguez (1872–1955)	1905	1907	Luciano Bacayo
3	Luciano Bacayo	1907	1908	Raimundo Enriquez
4	Martin Llorente	1908	1909	Francisco Arias
5	Melchor Gonzalez	1909	1910	Pedro Abarca
6	Vicente Teves	1910	1913	Gregorio Abendan
7	Arsenio Climaco (1870–1952)	1913	1916	Fructuoso Ramos
8	Fructuoso Ramos (1869–1949)	1916	1920	Rufino Lauron
		1920	1922	Pedro Abella
9	Hilario Abellana (1896–1945)	1922	1925	Julian Alcantara
		1925	1928	Alberto Mansueto
		1928	1931	Regino Mercado
(8)	Fructuoso Ramos	1931	1934	Jose Fortich
		1934	1937	Julian Alcantara
				Marcos Morelos

City of Cebu

This is the list of Mayors of Cebu City:[11]

No.	Mayor (birth–death)	Party		Term of office		Vice Mayor
Appointive position (1936–1955)
1	Mariano Jesus Diosomito Cuenco (1888–1964)		Nacionalista	November 28, 1936	December 1, 1936
2	Alfredo V. Jacinto ^1 (1891–?)		Independent	January 7, 1937	November 26, 1938
3	Vicente Rama ^2 (1887–1956)		Nacionalista	November 26, 1938	August 2, 1940
4	Jose Delgado			August 3, 1940	April 10, 1942
5	Juan Cerilles Zamora (1906–1966)			1942	1944
6	Leandro Tojong (1905–?)			1945	1945
7	Nicolas Gandionco Escario (1898–1958)		Liberal	1945	1946
8	Vicente S. Del Rosario (1905–1987)			1946	1947
9	Luis Veloso Espina			May 27, 1947	September 5, 1947
10	Miguel Garces Raffiñan (1891–?)		Nacionalista	September 6, 1947	August 15, 1951	Arsenio Villanueva
						Florentino Tecson [12]
11	Pedro Bernal Elizalde (1890–1981)			August 18, 1951	July 23, 1952	Arsenio Villanueva
(8)	Vicente S. Del Rosario (1905–1987)			April 9, 1953	December 6, 1953	Carlos Jurado Cuizon
12	Jose Chiong Veloso Rodriguez (1906–?)		Nacionalista	December 7, 1953	November 16, 1955	Carlos Jurado Cuizon
						Florentino Tecson
13	Pedro Clavano (1907–?)			November 17, 1955	December 30, 1955	Florentino Tecson
Elective position (1956–present)
14	Sergio Veloso Osmeña Jr. (1916–1984)		Liberal	December 30, 1955	September 12, 1957	Ramon Gonzales Duterte
15	Ramon Gonzales Duterte (1901–1971)[13]			September 12, 1957	December 30, 1959	Ramon Abasolo Abellanosa[14]
(14)	Sergio Veloso Osmeña Jr. (1916–1984)		Liberal	December 30, 1959	January 1, 1960	Carlos Jurado Cuizon
16	Carlos Jurado Cuizon (1909–1989)			January 1, 1960	September 18, 1963
17	Mario Diez Ortiz (1922–2015)			September 18, 1963	December 30, 1963
(14)	Sergio Veloso Osmeña Jr. (1916–1984)		Liberal	December 30, 1963	September 16, 1965	Carlos Jurado Cuizon
(16)	Carlos Jurado Cuizon			September 16, 1965	December 30, 1967	Luis V. Diores
(14)	Sergio Veloso Osmeña Jr. (1916–1984)		Liberal	December 30, 1967	January 3, 1968	Eulogio Enriquez Borres
18	Eulogio Enriquez Borres (1917–2008)		Liberal	January 3, 1968	September 13, 1971
19	Florencio S. Urot (1904–1975)			September 13, 1971	December 31, 1971
(14)	Sergio Veloso Osmeña Jr. (1916–1984)		Liberal	December 31, 1971	September 17, 1972
(18)	Eulogio Enriquez Borres (1917–2008)			September 17, 1972	October 16, 1978
20	Florentino Sanico Solon (1931–2020)		KBL	October 16, 1978	1983	Eulogio Enriquez Borres
						Ronald Regis Duterte
21	Ronald Regis Duterte (1934–2005)		KBL	1983	March 25, 1986 ^3	Vicente Alcazaren Kintanar Jr.
22	John Henry Renner Osmeña ^4 (born 1936)		Liberal	March 25, 1986	March 19, 1987	Jose Veloso Cuenco
23	Jose Veloso Cuenco ^4		Independent	March 19, 1987	November 27, 1987	Augusto Wong Go
24	Antonio Rodriguez Veloso ^4		Independent	November 27, 1987	February 2, 1988	Joseph Sy Gaisano
25	Tomas dela Rama Osmeña (born 1948)		PROMDI	February 2, 1988	June 30, 1992	Alvin Biaño Garcia
				June 30, 1992	June 30, 1995
26	Alvin Biaño Garcia (born 1946)		PROMDI	June 30, 1995	June 30, 1998	Renato Veloso Osmeña Sr.
				June 30, 1998	June 30, 2001
(25)	Tomas dela Rama Osmeña (born 1948)		PROMDI	June 30, 2001	June 30, 2004	Michael Lopez Rama
			Lakas	June 30, 2004	June 30, 2007
				June 30, 2007	June 30, 2010
27	Michael Lopez Rama (born 1954)		Liberal	June 30, 2010	June 30, 2013	Joy Augustus Go Young
			UNA	June 30, 2013	December 11, 2015	Edgardo Colina Labella
—	Edgardo Colina Labella ^5 (born 1951)		UNA	December 11, 2015	February 8, 2016	Nestor Archival
(27)	Michael Lopez Rama (born 1954)		UNA	February 8, 2016	May 17, 2016	Edgardo Colina Labella
—	Margarita Vargas Osmeña ^5 (born 1949)		Liberal	May 17, 2016	June 30, 2016	Lea Ouano Japson
(25)	Tomas dela Rama Osmeña (born 1948)		Liberal	June 30, 2016	June 30, 2019	Edgardo Colina Labella
			LDP
28	Edgardo Colina Labella (born 1951)		PDP–Laban	June 30, 2019	Incumbent	Michael Lopez Rama

Notes

¹ Inaugural Municipal mayor.

² Inaugural City mayor.

³ At this time, after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, President Cory Aquino forced the resignation of all local government unit heads and appointed officers in charge in their place.

⁴ Officer-in-charge.

⁵ Acting Mayor.

Timeline of elected city mayors (1986 to present)

Note

• As then Mayor Michael L. Rama was suspended twice, then Vice Mayor Edgardo C. Labella served as Acting Mayor from December 11, 2015 to February 8, 2016.[15][16] while then City Councilor Margarita V. Osmeña served as Acting Mayor from May 17, 2016 to June 30, 2016.[17]

Living former mayors

As of February 3, 2021, six former mayors are alive. The most recent mayors to die are Mario Diez Ortiz (1963; born 1922), on July 31, 2015[18] and Florentino Sanico Solon (1978–1983; born 1931), on June 17, 2020.[19]

Mayor	Mayoral term	Date of birth
Jose Veloso Cuenco	1987
Antonio Rodriguez Veloso	1987–1988
Tomas dela Rama Osmeña	1988–1995 2001–2010 2016–2019	July 26, 1948
Alvin Biaño Garcia	1995–2001	June 29, 1946
Michael Lopez Rama	2010–2016	October 28, 1954

Vice Mayor of Cebu City

Michael L. Rama, incumbent Vice Mayor of Cebu City

The Vice Mayor is the second-highest official of the city elected via popular vote. Although most mayoral candidates have running mates, the vice mayor is elected separately from the mayor. This can result in the mayor and the vice mayor coming from different political parties.

Republic Act No. 244, which was approved on June 12, 1948, provided for the position of Vice Mayor of the City of Cebu. It was to be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments. The first to be appointed vice mayor by virtue of the provisions of R.A. No. 244 was Arsenio Ruiz Villanueva who took his oath of office on July 16, 1948.[20][21]

One of the most significant amendments to the Charter of the City of Cebu (C.A. No. 58) came with the approval of Republic Act No. 1243 on June 7, 1955. This particular amendment provided for the election at large, by the qualified voters of the city in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election Code, of the city mayor and the vice mayor. The first election for city mayor and vice mayor was held during the general election for provincial and municipal officials on November 8, 1955. Chosen as Cebu City's first elected vice mayor was Ramon Gonzales Duterte.[22]

In the Sangguniang Panlungsod, in this case the Cebu City Council, the vice mayor serves as its presiding officer and may vote only to break a tie. The vice mayor is also expected to assume the office of the city mayor and finish the unexpired term in an event of permanent vacancy.[23]

As of 2020, the vice mayor is paid a monthly salary of ₱156,731 based on the first tranche of the Salary Standardization Law of 2019 signed on January 8, 2020 by President Rodrigo Duterte[2] with the position being classified under salary grade 28 for highly urbanized cities like Cebu City.[9]

The current vice mayor is Michael Rama, under BARUG-UNA. He previously served as city councilor and vice mayor for three consecutive terms and as mayor for two consecutive terms.[4]

References

1. "Commonwealth Act No. 58: The Charter of the City of Cebu". gosupra.com. Supra Source. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
2. "Executive Order No. 201, s. 2016" (PDF). officialgazette.gov.ph. Official Gazette. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
3. "Cebu Mayors". Retrieved October 15, 2016.
4. "Labella proclaimed Cebu City mayor | PNA". pna.gov.ph. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
5. Clarence Paul Oaminal (March 30, 2016). "The Pioneer Cebu City Officials". The Freeman. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
6. Clarence Paul Oaminal (February 2, 2019). "The first election for Cebu City mayor". The Freeman. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
7. "Law Creating the City of Cebu". Cebu City Government. 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
8. "An Act to Amend the Charter of the City of Cebu". Retrieved August 27, 2019.
9. "Chapter 9: Position Classification and Compensation Scheme in Local Government Units" (PDF). dbm.gov.ph. Department of Budget and Management. p. 6. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
10. Clarence Paul Oaminal (April 5, 2016). "The presidents and vice presidents of the Municipality of Cebu". The Freeman. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
11. ""The Governors of Cebu and Cebu City Mayors"". Retrieved October 15, 2016.
12. https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-freeman/20161212/281724089184010
13. https://www.myheritage.com/names/ramon_duterte
14. https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-freeman/20130722/281728382128182
15. Jose Santino S. Bunachita (December 15, 2015). "LABELLA FITS IN AS CARETAKER". CDN Digital. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
16. Princess Dawn Felicitas (February 8, 2016). "Rama now back as mayor; 60-day suspension ends". Sun.Star Cebu. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
17. Princess Dawn Felicitas (May 17, 2016). "Suspension order vs Cebu City mayor, 13 others served". Sun.Star Cebu. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
18. "Atty. Mario Diez Ortiz". SunStar Cebu. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
19. Delta Dyrecka Letigio (June 19, 2020). "Former Cebu City Mayor Solon passes away at 88". CDN Digital. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
20. "A.R. Villanueva Street, Cebu City (Part II)". philstar.com/the-freeman. The Freeman. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
21. "An Act to Amend the Charter of the City of Cebu". Retrieved August 28, 2019.
22. "Cebu City Charter". Retrieved August 28, 2019.
23. "THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES" (PDF). officialgazette.gov.ph. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. pp. 28, 190–191. Retrieved August 11, 2020.