GIANT CHRISTMAS TREE : Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmen.a and sponsor-couple Michel and Amparito Lhuillier turn on the switch that lights up the 125-foot Christmas Tree at Fuente Osmena Rotunda, an annual event that marks the opening of the month-long Pasko sa Sugbo activities at the park. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Celebrate but remain cautious this Christmas season.
This was the message of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña during the opening of the annual Pasko sa Sugbo at the Fuente Osmeña Circle yesterday evening.
“Dili ko makatulog usahay (I can’t sleep sometimes). I don’t like anything to happen to the city. Please be careful of all strangers who come to the city. If there are strangers in your community, report them immediately. We have to have everything investigated,” he said in his speech.
Osmeña, his wife Cebu City Councilor Margarita Osmeña, M. Lhuillier Group chairman and president Michel Jones Lhuillier and his wife Dr. Amparito Llamas-Lhuillier, City Hall department heads and officials also led the ceremonial lighting-up ceremony of the giant Christmas Tree inside the rotunda.
The 125-foot Christmas Tree of Hope is annually sponsored by the M. Lhuillier group since 2000. It is considered as the tallest Christmas tree in the country’s southern regions and has become an icon in the city during the Christmas and New Year celebrations until the Sinulog celebration every January.
Osmeña said that even if the city has volunteers to help secure the different activities in the city, he could not completely ensure everyone’s safety.
The Philippine National Police has placed the entire country under Terror Alert Level 3 yesterday following the foiled bombing attempt at the US Embassy in Manila.
Despite the alert status, the mayor said that everyone could still avoid untoward incidents from happening as long as the public remains vigilant.
“I still want everyone to enjoy this Christmas. Our city deserves this. We have many things to look forward to. I hope all our organizers are up to their jobs,” he said.
There will be different nightly activities and entertainment lined up for free at the Fuente Osmeña Circle starting yesterday evening.
Local and foreign tourists take photos of the 125-foot Christmas tree at the Fuente Osmeña rotunda. The lighting of the giant Christmas Tree of Hope on December 1 officially opens the month-long Pasko sa Sugbo. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
For his part, Mr. Lhuillier said they hoped the Christmas tree would give the people hope in their everyday lives. “Not because you’re down now, you’ll be hopeless. There’s always hope. So keep on trying and you will succeed in life,” he said.
“I (went) through that through my businesses. I have difficulties up to now. Competition doesn’t sleep. But you just keep on trying and with the help of God and a little bit of luck, you’ll succeed. That’s the idea of the tree. That the people will have hope in life. They’ll still succeed in spite of the adversaries that will come,” he added.
At the base of the tree are the images of the Señor Sto. Niño, Cebu’s patron saint. It also has 25,000 blinking lights, 500 star lanterns, poinsettias and glittery diadems and other ornaments.
Hundreds of people, mostly students and youth, went to the rotunda last night to witness the lighting of the tree as well as the performances.
Traffic was heavy around the rotunda due to the number of people trying to go inside park.
Volunteers had to regulate the number of people going inside and outside at a time through the two only entry points of the park.