30,000
years ago the Negrito race crossed
the Asian continent through the land
bridges. With the dis-appearance of
the bridges, islands were formed and
Cebu was formed. Being part of the
Malay Peninsula, Cebu was part of
the Malay empire around 500 A.D.
Early inhabitants
refer to this island Zebu or Sugbu,
whose trade, commerce reaches as far
as Thailand, and China was well as
the near Malay countries.
The people lived
in log houses with nipa roofs and
used porcelain wares and earthen jars
to contain wine and water. They wore
gold jewelries and other ornaments
to adorn themselves and their clothes.
The men wore bahagui at the lower
torso and silk turbans on their heads
and their bodies were marked with
tattoos. The women on the other hand,
wore a loose sack-lined blouse, called
chambarra, on tops of a square length
cloth skirt wrapped around the waist.
Some of the women did not wear anything
from the waist up, but they painted
their lips, nails, decorated their
hair with flowers and colorful turbans,
and wore beautiful jewelries.
The later part of
the year 1521 marked the Spanish era
with the landing of Fernando de Magallanes
and the baptismal to Christianity
of Datu Humabon and Queen Juana and
their followers. Magallanes was a
Portuguese explorer who sailed under
the Spanish expedition of 5 ships
and more than 200 men. However, he
died in the hands of Datu Lapulapu,
a chieftain in the island of Mactan.
The famous battle marked the Filipinos'
aversion to foreign dominance and
rule. It was 44 years later after
Magellan's death when the expedition
of Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and
Fray Andres de Urdaneta (April 1565)
that Christianization and Spanish
colonization took place. Legaspi bombarded
the palisades of Rajah Tupas, destroyed
the village, and called it Villa del
Santisimo Nombre de Jesus and did
the Spanish Cortes establish the first
Spanish city in 1571.
The Philippine revolution
although it started in Luzon organized
by Andres Bonifacio, had Cebu itself
a site of a bloody battle. On April
3, 1898, Cebuano rebels under Gen.
Leon Kilat engaged in a three-day
fight and had the Spaniards cover
behind Fort San Pedro.
Although the revolution
did not last, the Spanish-American
War finally ended the Spanish rule
when the Americans won in the Battle
of Manila Bay. Spain officially turned
over the Philippines to the Americans
in the Treaty of Paris.
The American set
the country to a semi-autonomous rule
when the Philippine Commonwealth was
establish in 1935, with Manuel Quezon
as president and Sergio Osmena, a
Cebuano, as vice-president.
Cebu, being the
most densely populated island in the
country, served as a vital Japanese
base during the Japanese occupation
in the Second World War, which began,
with the landing of the Japanese Imperial
Army on April 1942.
Today, Cebu City
is an important economic center not
only for Cebu Island but for the Visaya
Islands and Mindanao as well. Cebu
Island's economy includes agriculture,
mining (coal, copper, limestone, silver),
and small-scale manufacturing, such
as food processing, textile, footwear,
and furniture. Cebu City is also the
educational center of the southern
Philippines, with several major universities
and colleges. The city has an international
airport, and the port has maintained
its international importance through
the centuries.
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