FEATURE: Personalities in Cebu from Eastern Visayas

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City has the enviable distinction of being the fastest growing city in the Philippines today. Its citizens also have the reputation of being the most mature voters in the country for having refused to be addled and dazzled by the luster of movie personalities and those in the entertainment industry during elections.

Indeed, I salute the friendly and diligent Cebuanos who are looked up as leaders by Cebuano-speaking residents in the Visayas and even in Mindanao. But are you aware that some heroes and personalities in Cebu are from Eastern Visayas?

One of the most loved persons in Cebu was the late Julio Cardinal Rosales, the second Archbishop of Cebu. A big memorial hospital was built in his honor and memory in the town of Dalaguete. Roads and boulevards were also named in his memory in the city and province of Cebu. Maybe many thought he was a Cebuano, but he came from Calbayog City in Samar and was the elder brother of my former boss, ex-Senator Decoroso Rosales.

The Sinulog of Cebu is now an international attraction, drawing tourists from all over the world aside from hundreds of thousands of devotees of the Sto. Niño. The father of the Sinulog street dancing is not a Cebuano but a Leyteño from Hinunangan, Southern Leyte – David Odilao Jr., a retired Customs Collector and my colleague in the Youth and Student Affairs Board of Metro Manila in the 1960s.

The owner of the University of the Visayas, the first university in Cebu City, is the Gullas family who originally came from Brgy. Labo-on of Maasin City in Southern Leyte. The school, now with many satellite campuses and a hospital in various parts of Cebu, is headed by its president, former Cebu Governor and now Rep. Eduardo Gullas (1st dist., Cebu), and its executive vice president, Jose "Dodong" Gullas, who is likewise a former congressman of the 1st district of Cebu. 

Dodong Gullas revived The FREEMAN newspaper, which was founded in 1919 by his uncle, lawyer-assemblyman Paulino Gullas, and operates the same to this day, as the longest running regional paper in the country, in partnership with The Philippine Star, which is owned by Miguel Belmonte, the son of House Speaker Sonny Belmonte.

Recently this year, Dodong Gullas founded the Jose R. Gullas (JRG) Halad Museum, which is a musically-themed museum (the only one in the region), dedicated to his parents Vicente and Josefina Rivera Gullas while showcasing the heritage of Cebu.

Whenever young militant priests, social workers and students hold rallies and demonstrations, they often draw inspiration from the late Fr. Rudy Romano who was killed by unknown assailants. He was a young priest of the Redemptorist Church and a native of Villareal, Samar. He was handsome, gutsy and passionately devoted to the protection and promotion of human rights.

Cebuanos were also shocked by the brazen and brutal murder of a young and lovely lawyer, Arbet Sta. Ana Yongco, who was the private prosecutor of a sensational parricide case in Cebu. She was from Allen, Northern Samar, a champion Girl Scout in that province and a very accomplished singer and a born-again Christian.

In the business and financial landscapes of Cebu, there's the highly successful CFI Cooperative Inc., which was founded by retired RTC judge Esperanza Fiel Garcia of Ormoc City, wife of former governor and now Rep. Pablo Garcia (deputy speaker), and mother of incumbent Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia and Rep. Pablo John Garcia (2nd dist., Cebu).

One of the best and biggest hospitals in Cebu, with many branches and a university, is owned by the prominent Larrazabals of Ormoc City in Leyte. This is now under the managerial skills of Dr. Potenciano Larrazabal Jr.

Another prominent figure in Cebu business is Betty Roble from Hilongos, Leyte, who owns Roble Shipping and mother of Hilongos (Leyte) Mayor Joy Roble.

Some officials from Eastern Visayas who are regional directors or heads of national government agencies in Cebu and Region 7 (Central Visayas) are: PCSO vice president for Visayas and Mindanao William Medici of Catarman, Northern Samar; LTO-7 director Raul Aguilos from Carigara, Leyte; LTO-7 assistant director Norman Tansingco from Mayorga, Leyte; CSC-7 director Judith Chicano from Taft, Eastern Samar;

COA-7 director Delfin Aguilar from Carigara, Leyte; DA-7 director Leo Cañeda from Barugo, Leyte; NFA-7 director Danilo Bonabon from Allen, N. Samar; PopCom-7 director Leo Rama from Catbalogan City, Samar; and Nat'l Grid Corp. of the Phil. Project Visayas supervisor Narciso Bantug from Brgy. Tagnipa, Maasin City.

In the field of the judiciary, the Eastern Visayans now holding top positions in Cebu are: Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Santiago from Hinunangan, Southern Leyte; NLRC-7th Div. presiding Commissioner Violeta Ortiz Bantug from San Rafael, Maasin in S. Leyte; RTC-Cebu Judge Sylva Paderanga of Allen, N. Samar; RTC-Cebu Judge Raphael Yrastorza from Ormoc City; RTC-Cebu Judge Bella Mondragon Tormis from Tacloban City; Deputy Regional Prosecutor for Region 7 Llena Ypong Avila from Gamay, N. Samar; and Cebu City Prosecutor Fernando Collantes Jr. of Tacloban City.

Eastern Visayans also excel in media and the arts in Cebu. They are premier broadcasters Leo Lastimosa from Brgy. Sabang in Palompon, Leyte, and Rico Lucena of Naval, Biliran who are both news anchors and program hosts of ABS-CBN Cebu besides being columnists of The FREEMAN and Banat News.

Another Eastern Visayan is visual artist, Filipino reggae musician and songwriter Errol "Budoy" Marabiles from Laoang, N. Samar and Isabel, Leyte.

Of course, there are many others who have escaped my memory for now and they–along with the mentioned personalities from Eastern Visayas who have carved good names in Cebu in their respective fields of endeavor–serve as our inspiration and beacons for the youth to follow. — THE FREEMAN