Dear guest,
Thank you for coming. Welcome to the Sinulog. We hope you’ll enjoy your stay, our exorbitant hotel rates and horrendous traffic notwithstanding.
We are not robbing you blind; the steep cost that you have to pay for accommodation at this time of the year is dictated by the oldest law in economics: when the demand is high in the midst of a finite supply, it is okay for the businessman to charge more to make up for the lean days.
About the traffic, there is no doubt that your presence has made it a little more difficult to travel from point A to point B or to and from any point in the city but don’t be hard on yourself for it because our traffic problem is, like the paltik guns that you can buy here with relative ease, locally made.
Feel free and act free. Do not worry about our local ordinances. We don’t obey most of them anyway. When in Rome, you are advised to be like a Roman. In Cebu, be like a Cebuano. Drink in public places even if you’ve been told that it is prohibited. Throw your paper cups anywhere you like, urinate wherever and whenever you feel the need to do it. The locals do that too, anyway.
Unless you have a conscience. Unless your parents have bred you well. We also have Cebuanos who are like that, by the way.
And by the way again, if you’re a first-time visitor, here are some bits of the recent past.
After an absence of two years, the commercial Sinulog (as distinguished from the religious one) will return to the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) this year. The past two editions were held at the South Road Properties at the instance of Mayor Michael Rama and to the frustration of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
Now Rama is gone, replaced by Raymond Garcia, a nephew of the governor. Not surprisingly, the Abellana (as the CCSC is sometimes called) Sinulog is back, and, with it the governor and her mayors who had all boycotted the two most recent celebrations.
It should interest you to know that the CCSC was not built for the purpose of hosting the Sinulog but as venue for sports competitions like the Palaro. Former Tomas Osmeña and Councilor Joy Young won the right to locate the facility in Cebu City instead of Talisay, which then First District Rep. Eddie Gullas favored, on the argument that the Abellana ground was more accessible to athletes and the public who were the intended beneficiaries of the sports complex.
Significantly, among all the four past city mayors, it is only Osmeña who has not ordered the closure of the center for a significant period. The late Edgardo Labella shut it down during the pandemic, Rama did it in 2022 purportedly for repairs, and Garcia closed it again last year to continue/correct the Rama-ordered repairs.
Rama and Garcia are candidates for Cebu City mayor, along with Nestor Archival and Yogi Ruiz. Osmeña, on the other hand, is running for vice mayor. If the Señor Santo Niño were a voter, who do you think would he vote for in May?