TODAY is a special non-working public holiday throughout Cebu to celebrate the province’s 441st founding anniversary. There won’t be work and classes in all levels.
The law that amended the original declaration of the holiday specified that it covered the entire province, including Cebu City and five other cities.
Before the amendment, questions were raised whether Cebu City, being a highly-urbanized city, is covered by the holiday declaration.
To settle the question, Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) amended the declaration to explicitly include Cebu City as well as the cities of Mandaue and Talisay and the component cities of Lapulapu, Danao and Toledo.
On this day in 1569, Spain’s King Philip II, through a royal cedula, appointed Miguel Lopez de Legaspi as governor of Cebu.
“The appointment of Legaspi as governor and captain general, with definition of his duties and powers, as well as the existence of a de facto or emerging province could well mark the foundation, although loosely, of a province of Cebu,” the Cebu Provincial Board resolution said in a resolution approved in 1993.
Capitol will mark the occasion with an anniversary mass to be officiated by Msgr. Roberto Alesna and Rev. Fr. Dan delos Angeles at 10:00 a.m. Capitol will then hold a series of activities to mark the occasion. (RRF)