Cebu City’s 77TH Charter day groups, persons get honors today

CEBU, Philippines - Outstanding individuals and institutions who contributed to Cebu’s history and development will be given recognition today as the city celebrates its 77th charter anniversary.

Included in the groups to be awarded are the Aboitiz Foundation Inc. for Humanitarian Service, the Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary for Environment, and the University of the Visayas Chorale for Culture and Arts.

Among the individuals to be awarded are Atty. Augusto Go for Education and Philanthropy; Francis Monera for Business and Industry,  Virginia Vamenta for Media, Resil Mojares for Journalism and Capt. Vicente Sejoco for Military Service.

Posthumous awards will be given to the late Col. Manuel Segura and the late lawyer Esperanza Valenzona.

Segura, who died last November at the age of 95, was a war veteran who helped liberate Cebu from the Japanese during World War II. He also authored the books “Tabunan: The Untold Story of the Famed Cebu Guerillas of World War II,” and “The Koga Papers”.

Valenzona, who died aged 96 just last January, was the founder of the Share-A-Child Movement, a non-government organization that helped poor and defenseless children back in 1980s and set up community libraries.

Also, Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal will be given a Lifetime Service Award. Last Wednesday, the city council passed a resolution bestowing the award on the prelate as a way of acknowledging his “praiseworthy apostolic service” to the Archdiocese of Cebu.

It was Vidal, 83, who pushed for the renovation of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and the rehabilitation of its rectory which was eventually turned into a museum. He also hugely contributed to the canonization of the first Visayan Saint, San Pedro Calungsod, a Visayan Sacristan and missionary catechist.

His years of service as the archbishop of Cebu led to the rise of new priests, the construction of additional parish churches and two retirement houses for priests and bishops.

Over the weekend, the city government already awarded outstanding employees of City Hall.

These included Rafael Yap of the City Traffic Operations Management as outstanding department head, Department of Manpower Development and Placement assistant department head Ma. Suzanne Ardosa, City Market Division  chief  Raquel Arce and Oscar Abordo, project evaluation officer of the city’s planning and Development Office.

Also named awardees under Department Section heads were Analyn Calungsud of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries, Sonia Empinado of the Cebu City Medical Center, Jino Cabuguas of the accounting office and Dr. Raymond Ogan of the City Health Department.

The rank and file outstanding employees were Roberto Atillo Jr. of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries; Porcia Basmayor of the Department of Social Welfare and Services, Francisco Bastismo of the City Health Department, Teresita Sigurasion of the Cebu City Medical Center, Noel Barietua of the City Market, Rupert Baoy of the Registrar’s office, Jose Cofido of the Department of  Public Services and Joselito Gilbuena of CITOM.

There were also special Mayor’s Awards given to Atty. Jose Marie Poblete of the Department of Engineering and Public Works, Diwa Cuevas of the City Treasurer’s Office, Carlo Dugaduga of the Public Information Office, Dr. Ester Concha of DSWS, Ruben Baculi of the Burial and Cash Assistance Office, Engr. Apolo Dante of DEPW. Jerone Castillo of the City Attorney’s Office, Belinda Navasquez, secretary to the mayor, and Guillermo Viola of DEPW.

There were also four employees from the Management Information and Computer Services who got a special award; they were Richard Consolacion, Loida Antonio, Francis Bernard Yu and Joy Destacamento.

Harold Alcontin of Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, Arlie Gesta of the city’agriculture office; Marie Farlash Acenas of PIO; Cinbeth Arellano of City Tourism Office and the mayor’s secretaries Juvelyn Montecillo and Candelaria Arado were also awarded.

The awarded outstanding department head got P50,000; the assistant heads, P40,000; the division and section heads, P30,000; and the rank-and-file employees and special mayor’s awardees got P20,000.

Part of today’s ceremony will be the floral offering to the monument of Don Vicente Rama at 9 a.m. in front of the Cebu City Bureau of Fire Protection-7 along Natalio Bacalso Avenue. It was Don Vicente Rama who authored the Cebu City Charter on Feb. 24, 1937 by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 58.

Another activity scheduled for today is the demolition of the Cebu City Medical Center which was rendered unsafe by an earthquake last year. The demolition will take three months to finish.  —/BRP (FREEMAN)