Palma among awardees on Charter Day

A furniture designer, humanitarian organizations and officials from the court and church are among the several awardees to be recognized by the Cebu City government on its 79th Charter Day Celebration.

The Cebu City Council has officially approved the list of outstanding individuals, institutions, centenarians and posthumous awardees to be feted by the city during its testimonial dinner at Radisson Blu Hotel on Feb. 24.

The testimonial dinner, a memorial lecture, and awarding of outstanding employees are among the different activities lined up by City Hall for the celebration which has a total budget of P3 million.

“Section 2 of City Ordinance 1487 mandates that the awardees shall be determined by the Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission (CHAC), which shall draw and formulate the guidelines for its selection,” read the resolution of Councilor Nendell Hanz Abella.

There are 12 awardees for Outstanding Individuals including Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, Court of Appeals (CA) Cebu Station Executive Justice Gabriel Ingles and furniture designer Vito Selma.

Other awardees and their respective fields are: Fernando Barrios aka Furne One (fashion industry), Mary Joy Tabal (sports), Carmelo Tamayo (visual arts), Jerry Tundag and Pachico Seares (print media), Ruphil Bañoc (broadcast media), Pilar “Pilita” Corales and Maria Teresa Cruzata aka “Dulce” (entertainment) and former congressman Antonio Cuenco (public servant).

Among the outstanding institutions to be recognized by the city are Cebu Institute of Medicine (medical education), RAPID Philippines (emergency relief operations), AMRO or All-Terrain Medical Relief Operations (humanitarian aid), Gasa sa Gugma (religious charitable), Kiwanis Club International (community service), Cebu Chamber of Commerce (trade and investments) and Cebu Contractors Association (infrastructure support).

In their budget proposal, Assistant City Administrator Veronica Morelos, who also heads the 2016 Charter Day Steering Committee, is asking for P1,009,600 to cover for the testimonial dinner which will also include the Plaques of Recognition and cash to be given to the different awardees.

They are also asking for a budget of P1,386,500 for the Awarding of Outstanding Employees which will be held at the Parklane Hotel on Feb. 20.

Other Charter Day-related activities include City Hall’s Family Fun Day last Feb. 8 (P180,000); Agro Fair from Feb. 15-19 (P120,000) and an essay writing contest on Feb. 17 (P25,000).

City Hall will also be sponsoring an inter-department service showcase (P102,000), employees’ night and super show (P100,000), a memorial lecture (P41,400), quiz bowl (P17,000) and floral offering (P60,000).

The P3 million budget for the charter day activities will be charged against the City Sponsored Activities appropriation under this year’s annual budget.

During their regular session last week, the city council deferred approval of the proposed budget pending a breakdown of the budget for each of the activities.

Councilor Sisinio Andales personally asked for the breakdown of the P1 million budget for the testimonial dinner. This was echoed by Councilor Margarita Osmeña who said the amount is “big.”

Posthumous awards will also be given to seven people during the testimonial dinner. They include Juanito Jabat, Pablo Tinga, Ernesto Herrera, Democrito Mendoza, Napoleon Rama, Richard King and Esperanza Garcia.

Six centenarians will also be recognized during the testimonial dinner. They are Mercedes Franco, Filomina Tariman, Leodegaria Tabal, Genara Bacolod, Graciana Adlawan and Nicanor Labao.