Raymond Garcia announces long weekend in Cebu City

File photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City residents are set to enjoy an extended weekend because of the special non-working holiday on Monday, February 24, in celebration of the city’s 88th Charter Day.

Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia made the announcement on his social media page on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

“GOOD NEWS: Wala’y klase ug trabaho inig LUNES. Nagpasabot nga long weekend ta this week (Sabado, Domingo ug Lunes) for Cebu City only,” Garcia said.

READ: Cebu City employees to receive P35k Charter Day bonus, but….

With the long weekend ahead, he is urging Cebuanos to participate in Charter Day activities.

The city’s Charter Day celebration on Monday will start with a Holy Mass at the Plaza Sugbo at 7 a.m.  This will be followed by wreath laying at the monument of Don Vicente Rama, who authored the bill for Cebu City’s cityhood.

Read: 87th Charter Day: Commemorating Cebu City’s founding anniversary

A look back at history

Cebu City’s Charter Day marks the historic moment when the city officially gained its status as a chartered city.

The journey began in August 1936 when then-Assemblyman Vicente Rama introduced Bill No. 1428 to the National Assembly, seeking to establish Cebu as a city and dissolve its municipal government.

READ: Cebu City’s 87th Charter Day: A celebration of hope and optimism

Rama later recalled in his book, The Vicente Rama Reader: An Introduction for Modern Readers, that he had no personal agenda in pushing for cityhood.

“All I wanted was for Cebu to take her place alongside Manila and Baguio, which already had their own charters and were moving along progressively,” he wrote.

At the time, the National Assembly had already approved city charters for Zamboanga, Davao, and Iloilo.

Seeing no reason for Cebu to be left behind, Rama pushed forward with his proposal.

His efforts paid off when then-Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon signed the bill into law on October 20, 1936, under Commonwealth Act No. 58. Cebu City was formally inaugurated on February 24, 1937. Since then, Vicente Rama has been recognized as the “Father of Cebu City.”

Founding anniversary

To commemorate Cebu City’s founding anniversary, Republic Act 7287, signed by the late President Corazon Aquino on March 24, 1992, declared February 24 of each year a special non-working holiday here.

While many are gearing up for the celebrations, Cebu City Hall employees are still waiting for their P35,000 Charter Day bonus.

During a press conference on Monday, Garcia clarified that the release of the incentive hinges on the approval of Supplemental Budget (SB) 1 by the City Council.

The proposed P635-million budget includes a P180-million allocation for the bonus and P14.6 million to cover expenses related to the Charter Day activities.