DOÑA Pepang cemetery, where the Osmeña Mausoleum is located, occupies a 9,282 square meter lot in barangay Carreta in Cebu City. The property used to be owned by the Cebu Archdiocese.
On January 2011, the Cebu City Council authorized Mayor Michael Rama to swap the property with the archdiocese represented by then Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
Cebu City exchanged a a 729 sq. meter lot in barangay Pasil which was then leased to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. and sub-leased to the Sisters of Charity. The Pasil property was swapped for the Doña Pepang property.
“The Osmeña Mausoleum is of historical importance to the City of Cebu,” the draft memorandum of agreement (MOA) read. The swap would also save the Sisters of Charity and allow the archdiocese to continue with their charity works.
The Osmeña Mausoleum is the final resting place of Estefania “Doña Pepang” Chiong Veloso-Osmeña, wife of the late president Sergio Osmeña Sr. Also buried there are the parents of former mayor Tomas Osmeña – the late senator Sergio Osmeña Jr. and his wife, Lourdes dela Rama-Osmeña–and former councilor Rogelio “Jingjing” Osmeña.
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