Cebu reached an important milestone on Feb. 24, 1937 when it became a chartered city, finally putting to rest the issue of its status as Ciudad during the Spanish colonial period and a municipality during the early years of American occupation. Its 128.3 square mile area included “some 75 square miles of rural, agricultural hill country.” (Wernstedt, Spencer,1967)
Vicente Rama, a self-made politician sponsored the bill that made it a city despite opposition against his bill by fellow Cebuano assemblymen Rafols and Abellana in the Philippine Assembly. On October 20, 1936, Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon signed it into law despite pleadings against it by the Cebu Provincial Council led by Osmeña ally, Governor Sotero Cabahug, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Cebu. Rama later served as mayor of Cebu City after it became a chartered city1.
The cityhood was apparently a Quezon and Rama handiwork.
During its birth as a chartered city in 1937, Cebu City also assumed a dual role as the capital of the Province of Cebu. In that same year, construction of the Cebu Provincial Capitol building in the city began. Ironically, as a chartered city, it is not within the jurisdiction of the province. “The act of chartering a city removes it from the control of the provincial government and places it under presidential administration.” (Wernstedt, Spencer,1967)
1Fr. Rudy Villanueva, The Vicente Rama Reader: An Introduction for Modern Readers, Ateneo de Manila Press, Quezon City, 2003, p. 99
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