Cebu Media

Cebu Media
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Cebu has television and cable stations namely: Cebu! Television Channel 28, Real Cebu Television (RCTV - 36) and the Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN 47) (a religious station partly owned and endorsed by the Archdiocese of Cebu). Cebu! Television Channel 28, and the Real Cebu Television (RCTV - 36) are only seen on cable television and CCTN operates an UHF frequency on channel 47 on free TV. It can also be accessed through Skycable's channel 56.
Despite having these local stations, Cebuanos prefer to watch the Philippines' two dominant television networks namely: ABS-CBN Broadcasting, and GMA Network. While national newspapers have presence in the island, Cebu has English-language local newspapers: The Freeman, Sun-Star - Cebu and Cebu Daily News, while there are also Cebuano language newspapers, SunStar SuperBalita owned by Sun Star and Banat News owned by the Freeman. Each of the local newspapers sell for about 10 peso a copy, which is much cheaper than their national counterparts.

Economy of Cebu

Economy of Cebu

About 80% of its domestic shipping are located in Cebu. The island has the most domestic air and shipping and cargo vessels in the Philippines. The island also has a major industrial, commercial, trade and educational system. Its extensive international port facilities, its accessibility to Asia and the rest of the world has led more than a hundred firms, with multinational companies like Mitsumi, Pentax Corp., Marine Colloids, Fairchild Semiconductor, Tsuneishi Heavy Industries, Muramoto Audio-Visual, Lexmark International, Asahi Optical, Teradyne, NEC Technologies, Timex, Olympus Optical, United Technologies, Maithland-Smith, Taiyo Yuden and other companies to established manufacturing industries on the islands, leading the whole country in exports with growth rates for the past 5 years averaged close to 20% higher than that of the entire nation. Government support and incentives provide a major development for its growth.

Cebu's labor force is oriented towards non-agricultural lines and is rated one of the most productive work force in the country. High domestic and foreign tourist arrivals, geographic location, accessibility and natural resources have fueled the development growth of Cebu with an excellent industrial record and now the fastest growing economy in the Philippines.
Cebu is home to some national and international corporations like AAA Commercial Broker & Consultancy Inc, Ayala Corporation, JobsDB.com, Gaisano Group of Companies, Aboitiz Group of Companies, WG&A, Norkis Group of Companies, Bigfoot International, Lexmark Philippines Inc., Lhuillier Jewellers and among others. Its international port (cargo and container) is currently one of the busiest in the country. Homegrown brands in the city have expanded throughout the past years finding a niche in the national and even in the international market like Penshoppe, Oxygen, Loalde and Island Souvenirs. Other homegrown brands that have expanded outside the city and province include BO's Coffee Club, Julie's Bakeshop, Orange Brutus, Mother's Fried Chicken and other businesses.

Due to its burgeoning furniture-making industry, Cebu has been named as the furniture capital of the Philippines. The Department of Trade and Industry in Cebu is aiming to develop this aspect of Cebu's economy by specifically targeting small to medium enterprises or SMEs whose products are considered export-quality. Cebu is also becoming an IT hub as many companies, either local or outsourced, are establishing their headquarters in Cebu. The city has become a site for various call centers, and BPOs. The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an organization of Cebu's businesses, are hedging the city's growth and economy on information and communications technology, with the aim of making it a premier ICT investment, software and e-services hub in Southeast Asia. Shipbuilding companies in Cebu have manufactured bulk carriers of up to 70,000 metric tons deadweight (DWT) and double hulled fastcrafts as well.
The Cebu International Convention Center serves as a landmark in recognition of Mandaue City’s involvement in the international trade since the establishment of Philippine history. As venue of the 12th ASEAN summit, the city continues to establish an important role in international industrial relation, becoming the core of development and strengthening its role as the growth center of the province of Cebu.

Cebu Infrastructure and Electricity

Cebu Infrastructure and electricity

The Mactan-Cebu International Airport on Mactan Island has regular direct flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei (Taiwan), Busan and Seoul (South Korea), Tokyo-Narita (Japan), Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Shanghai-Pudong (China) and Doha (Qatar). There are also direct transfer flights via the capital's NAIA that connects the city to other destinations in the world.

With the number of weekly international flights to and from MCIA is increasing, a new international terminal has been proposed. The Cebu International Port is the largest and the main port of entry in Cebu and of the Region of Central Visayas. Cebu also has several business districts attracting different industries. Among them is the Cebu Business Park, a prime business and financial center in Cebu City. Nearby is the Asiatown Information Technology Park, built on what was once the location of the Lahug Airport (Cebu's old airport prior to Mactan International), another business district that caters mostly to businesses related to the information technology industry such as software development, telecommunications, engineering research and development centers, business process outsourcing, including a number of call centers and other industrial businesses.

South of the city is the South Road Properties Special Economic Zone, a large reclaimed property. It is a prime real estate zone that will house a business district, a tourism zone and an industrial area patterned after the Mactan Export Processing Zone on nearby Mactan Island. The new South Coastal Highway, which stretches from Cebu City to Talisay passes through the property. A 1.2-kilometer tunnel, which passes beneath Plaza Independencia is currently being constructed at the highway's entrance in Cebu City to connect it with Sergio Osmeña Avenue which traverses the North Reclamation Area.







The city receives its electricity from an interconnection grid with the Leyte and Negros Geothermal Power Plants which also powers majority of the Visayan Islands. There are also coal-fired power plants. Distribution of electricity is provided by the Visayas Electric Company. Telecommunication facilities in the city are abundant provided by some of the country's largest telecommunication companies. Connections to the internet are also available.

Sinulog festival

Sinulog festival
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, Philippines. The festival honors the child Jesus, known as the Santo Niño (Holy Child), patron of the city of Cebu. It is a dance ritual that commemorates the Cebuano peoples Islamic and pagan origin, and their acceptance of Christianity.

The festival features a street parade with participants in bright colored costumes dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumphets and native gongs. Smaller versions of the festival are held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a "Sinulog sa Kabataan" performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the parade. Recently, the festival has been promoted as a tourist attraction, with a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is usually held in the Cebu City Sports Complex.

Contents [hide]
1 Festival
2 Background
3 History
3.1 Arrival of López de Legazpi
3.2 Letter to the King of Spain
4 Present
5 Sinulog coat of arms
6 Sinulog in Macao
7 External links



[edit] Festival
The Sinulog celebration lasts for nine days, culminating on the final day with the Sinulog Grand Parade. The day before the parade, the Fluvial Procession is held at dawn with the Santo Niño carried on a pump boat from Mandaue City to Cebu City, decked with hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica where a re-enactment of the Christianizing of Cebu is performed. In the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which last for hours due to large crowd participating in the event.

On the feast day at the Basilica del Santo Niño church, a Pontifical Mass is celebrated by the Cardinal with the assistance of several bishops of Cebu. Most devotees go to the Basilica to attend the mass before heading out to the streets to watch the parade.


[edit] Background
The word Sinulog comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which is "like water current movement," which describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. The dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums. The dance is categorized into Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language.

The Sinulog dance steps were believed to originate from Rajah Humabon's adviser, Baladhay. It was during Humabon's grief when Baladhay was driven sick. He then ordered his native tribe to bring Baladhay into a chapel where the Santo Niño was enthroned. Moments later, surprisingly, Baldhay was heard shouting and was found dancing with outmost alertness. Baladhay was questioned as to whether why was he awake and was shouting. Baladhay explained that he found a small child, pointing to the image of the Santo Niño, on top of him and trying to wake him up. He, at great astonishment, scared the child away by shouting but couldn't explain why he was dancing the movements of the river. Up to this day, the two-steps forward, and the one-step backward movement dance is still used by the Santo Niño devotees believing that it was the Santo Eman's choice to have Baladhay dance what the holy child wants them to dance.


[edit] History
On April 7, 1521, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived and planted the cross on the shores of Cebu, claiming the territory for Spain. He presented the image of the child Jesus, the Santo Niño, as baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of Rajah Humabon. Hara Amihan was later named, Queen Juana in honor of Juana, mother of Carlos I. Along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also baptized to the Christian faith. At the moment of receiving the image, it was said that Queen Juana danced with joy bearing the image of the child Jesus. With the other natives following her example, this moment was regarded as the first Sinulog.

This event is frequently used as basis for most Sinulog dances, which dramatize the coming of the Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Niño to the Queen. A popular theme among Sinulog dances is Queen Juana holding the Santo Niño in her arms and using it to bless her people who are often afflicted by sickness caused by demons and other evil spirits.


[edit] Arrival of López de Legazpi
After Magellan died on April 27, 1521 on the shores of Mactan, the remnants of his men returned to Spain. The Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in Cebu on April 28, 1565 and occupied the villages ruled by Rajah Tupas. In one of the huts of the burning village, one of López de Legazpi's soldiers named Juan Camus found a wooden box containing the image of the Santo Niño lying amongst several native idols. Historians later said that during the 44 years between the arrival of Magellan and López de Legazpi, the natives of Cebu continued to dance the Sinulog but no longer to worship their anitos (god) but to show their reverence to the Santo Niño.

The Augustinian friars that accompanied López de Legazpi in his expedition proclaimed the statue miraculous and built a church on the site where it was found. The church was called San Agustin Church, later renamed to Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.


[edit] Letter to the King of Spain
After Juan Camus found the Santo Niño in the burning village, López de Legazpi was said to have included the incident in his report, entitled "Relation of Voyage to the Philippine Islands":

"Your Excellency should know that on that day when we entered this village (Cebu City), one of the soldiers went into a large and well-built house of an indio where he found an image of the Child Jesus (whose most holy name I pray may be universally worshipped). This was kept in its cradle, all gilded, just as if it were brought from Spain: and only the little cross, which is generally placed upon the globe in his hands, was lacking. The image was well kept in that house, and many flowers were found before it, and no one knows for what object or purpose. The soldier bowed down before it with all reverence and wonder, and brought the image to the place where the other soldiers were. I pray to the Holy Name of his image, which we found here, to help us and to grant us victory, in order that these lost people who are ignorant of the precious and rich treasure, which was in their possession, may come to knowledge of Him."

[edit] Present
Since 1521, devotion to the Santo Niño has grown and has taken root in Philippine popular piety, particularly in the Visayas; pilgrims from different parts of Cebu and the rest of the Philippines make their yearly journey to the church to take part in the procession and festival. Starting in 1980, the Cebu City government organized the Sinulog Mardi Gras and eventually gave incentives to tribal dance groups.

The first Sinulog parade was held in 1980, organized by Dávid Odilao, then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports, and Youth Development. The parade was composed of students dressed in Moro costumes, dancing the Sinulog to the beating of drums.

The idea caught and thus, under the direction of the Cebu City Mayor Florentino Solon with the help of several influential Cebuanos, Odilao turned over the Sinulog project to the Cebu City Historical Committee under Kagawad Jesus Garcia. It was the task of the Committee to conceptualize the Sinulog festival and make it into a yearly event from then on.

In 1981 the following year, the concept of the Sinulog Parade was actualized, involving practically every sector in the Cebuano community. Marking its difference from another popular festival, the Ati-Atihan in Aklan, the Sinulog focuses not on the ritual itself but on the historical aspects of the dance, which, as it has been said, represents the link between the country's Islamic and Pagan past and the Christian religion.


[edit] Sinulog coat of arms
The Cebu City Historical Committee, which was responsible for the conceptualization of the Sinulog as a provincial event, decided to adopt a logo for the Sinulog to identify it as an institutionalized yearly event. They turned to the coat of arms of the Santo Niño which consisted of a two-headed hawk that was the mark of the ruling House of Habsburg in Europe. The emblem represented the twin purpose of the Habsburg dynasty as "Champion of Catholicism and Defender of the Faith." At the time when Spain sent expeditions to the Philippines, they were under the Habsburg dynasty.

The Sinulog committee then incorporated the two-headed eagle to a native warrior's shield. The native shield is supposed to symbolize the Philippines resistance to colonization while the Santo Niño's coat of arms printed on its face represented the country's acceptance of Christianity.


[edit] Sinulog in Macao
The Santo Nino de Cebu Fiesta was first conceived in Macao, in the last quarter of the year 2000 with Lito Escote , Louie Silagpo and a handful of devotees at the New Allied Cleaning Services, Ltd. office, with the inspiration and guidance of Rev. Father Carlos D. Saligumba, SOLT.

The first fiesta then was held in 2001 at the Saint Joseph Parish Church on the 3rd Sunday of January. It was on the second fiesta that the idea of the Sinulog came about. So, in 2003, the Sinulog in China made its debut on January 19. The affair was a surprise beyond all expectations. It was bigger than anyone expected. Bishop Lai officiated the Mass. The Macau Government threw in its support through IACM (Civil and Municipal Bureau) and MGTO (Macau Government Tourist Office). TDM (Teledefusao de Macau), Journal Tribuna and Clarim also came to help spread the news that indeed the Santo Nino is finally in Macao.

Cebu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cebu (Cebuano: Sugbo, Spanish: Cebú) is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands. Cebu is a long narrow island stretching 225 kilometers (140 mi) from north to south, surrounded by 167 neighboring smaller islands, that includes Mactan, Bantayan, Malapascua, Olango and the Camotes Islands. Cebu has narrow coastlines, limestone plateaus and coastal plains. It also has predominant rolling hills and rugged mountain ranges traversing the northern and southern lengths of the island. Cebu's highest mountains reach over 1,000 meters. Flat tracts of land can be found in the towns of Bogo, San Remigio, Medellin and Daanbantayan at the northern region of the province. Its capital is Cebu City, the oldest city in the Philippines which forms part of the Cebu Metropolitan Area together with four neighboring cities which include Danao City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City and Talisay City and eight other municipalities. Cebu's infastructure is served by the Mactan-Cebu International Airport located in Mactan island.

Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines, with Cebu City as the main center of commerce, trade, education and industry in the central and southern islands of the Visayas. It has five-star hotels, casinos, white sand beaches, world-class golf courses, convention centers and shopping malls. The U.K. based Condé Nast Traveler Magazine named Cebu the seventh best island destination in the Indian Ocean-Asia region in 2007,[1] eighth best Asian-Pacific island destination in 2005, and seventh in 2004.