Manuel A. Cuenco

It is the public road from the corner of Archbishop Reyes Avenue and San Jose dela Montana up to the Mahiga Bridge. The Cebu City Council on motion of Councilor Bienvenido B. Tudtud on February 6, 1974 enacted City Ordinance No. 869 naming the public road in honor of "Manuel A. Cuenco".

Manuel, fondly called as "Doc Manuel", was a doctor of medicine who graduated from the University of Sto. Tomas. He was appointed Governor of Cebu in 1946 by President Manuel Acuna Roxas. He was elected as governor in 1947 until 1951. He was elected President of the League of Provincial Governors and City Mayors of the Philippines.

Doc Manuel was born on Nov. 10, 1907 in Cebu and was the only son of Mariano Jesus Cuenco (who was also Governor of Cebu and Senator) and Filomena B. Alesna. His sisters were: Lourdes, Concepcion, Carmen, Consuelo and Teresita.

Manuel married Milagros Veloso and had the following children: Antonio, Ramon, Manuel Jr., Filomena, Jose and Jesus. According to his son Antonio, who became a congressman representing the Old 5th District and the Cebu City 2nd District, before entering public service his father was a company physician of Cebu Portland Cement Company in Naga, Cebu. During World War II, Doc Manuel and his family, together with M.J. Cuenco (a senator at that time) eluded arrest by the Japanese Imperial Army by transferring to different places like Simala in Sibonga, Cebu; Sitio Baha-Baha of Bien Unido (formerly a barrio of Talibon) in Bohol and in Hilongos and Macrohon in the Province of Leyte. The contemporaries of Doc Manuel were not as fortunate as him who was not taken into custody by the Japanese to be forced as the Governors of Cebu under their control, like Hilario Abellano and Jose Leyson who were executed at the end of the war.

He also served as Secretary of Health from December 1964 to December 1965, prior to the position he was economic coordinator during the Presidency of Diosdado Macapagal. He was also Administrator of the Overseas Employment Council.  He died on Oct. 18, 1970. The ordinance naming the street after Doc Manuel was approved by Mayor Eulogio E. Borres on Feb. 21, 1974.

The Presiding Officer of the City Council at that time was Florencio S. Urot, while the President Pro Tempore was Raymundo A. Crystal and the Floor Leader was Bienvenido B. Tudtud.