An old warehouse is one of the last places you will expect to find a national treasure.

Philippine businessman Jaime Sy never thought there was something special about the four-decade-old warehouse owned by his family in Cebu.

That is, not until he noticed a 40-centimetre plaque on a wall inside the building.

He said, ‘For old houses, they normally have a plaque which says the year that it was built. So in this case, its ano 1730, it’s in Spanish, but in English, it’s year 1730.’ Channel NewsAsia

Pacific Daily News

Lt. Gov. Mike Cruz has entered Guam into a sister-city relationship with the city of Cebu, Philippines. Cruz signed the accord with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia when he was in Cebu Jan. 19.

The two governments agree to carry out exchanges benefiting the commercial, agricultural, scientific, technological, cultural, educational, athletic and employment interests of Guam and Cebu.

The mayor of Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands, yesterday told Cebu City that he was interested in collaborating to enhance the two cities’ ties.

Mayor Theo Weeterings, who spoke before the Cebu City Council yesterday, said he was especially interested in extending his city’s help to improve the management of the emergency room of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).

Weeterings, who has been mayor of Haarlemmermeer since April 2007, arrived in Cebu City last Tuesday to meet with Mayor Tomas Osmeña. It was the first time the mayors of the two “sister cities” met. Inq.net

Lumad Basakanon won first prize for this year’s Sinulog Free Interpretation category.

They were followed by the municipality of Carmen, Alikaraw
Organization of Hilongos, Leyte, Tribu Iliganon of Iligan City, and
Tribu Pintaflores of San Carlos City. Read the complete story here..

You can find more of the Sinulog pictures here..

Thousands of spectators trooped to the streets as early as 8 a.m. on Sunday as over 137 participating contingents, including dance troupes, floats, puppeteers and higantes (giant parade figures), joined Sunday’s Sinulog Grand Parade.

The Sinulog is Cebu City’s biggest annual event, attracting foreign and local tourists.

It was scorching hot earlier in the day Sunday and a little bit cloudy towards late afternoon but the Sinulog Grande Parade continued to excite thousands of Cebuanos and visitors. The parade has become a venue to promote other destinations and festivals. Inq.net

CEBU’S twin fiesta celebrations stretched over 14 hours with no major snags, and even the only thing organizers couldn’t control—bad weather—failed to drive the crowds away.

No major alarms disrupted the religious and cultural activities, from Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal’s mass at 6 a.m. to the end of the Sinulog grand parade at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s terrific, the Sinulog is world-class. The choreography, imagination and execution just gets better and better every year,” said Sen. Manuel Roxas II, who watched the entire parade from the grandstand, said the rest of the country can learn from the Cebu experience. More…

While Cebu has been identified as lead area for the development of the wellness sector, officials here are also positioning the island-province as a premier destination for medical tourism.

Wellness and medical tourism, along with the retirement sector, make up the rapidly growing health tourism industry.

Government has identified Cebu to lead the wellness thrust because of the mushrooming of spa centers here. Metro Manila will lead the medical tourism thrust due to the presence of big hospitals there, while Pampanga will focus on retirement. GMANews

FOREIGN investment experts have again noticed Cebu City’s potential for business and ranked it as eighth of the Top 10 Asian Cities of the Future, in a list by the Finance Direct Investment (fDi) magazine of the Financial Times Group.

Only two other Philippine cities, Quezon City and Davao City, made it to the top 10, ranking seventh and 10th place, respectively.

Cebu City also ranked fourth in the list of 10 most cost-effective cities, seventh in the best quality of life category and second in development and promotion, next only to Singapore. More…

CEBU is set to become an emerging shopping destination in the Philippines as existing mall operators are expanding and new ones are set to rise in the different parts of the province in the coming years.

Ayala Center Cebu mall developer Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI) president and chief executive officer Francis Monera said Cebu’s shopping market has been “tremendously” growing not only in Metro Cebu but in other key cities and towns in the province.

“There is a lot of money in Cebu. Offer something of value and it’s taken,” Monera said. SunStar

Philippine Information Agency

Cebu City is already reeking with the Sinulog air as the feast of the Sto. Nino draws near.

The City streets, the rotundas at Fuente and Plaza Independencia, the establishments and buildings in the city are bedecked with colorful streamers, buntings, mini structures, theme booths and the image of the Sto. Nino heralding the readiness of the local government of Cebu City for the world-famous celebration of the Sinulog!

“All systems go for the Sinulog!” says the organizers led by Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama during the Kapihan sa PIA recently.

Cebu is living up to its billing as one of the world’s top emerging destinations for business process outsourcing (BPO), a local leader has said.

Indian outsourcer Wipro recently announced it was opening a customer support center in the city that will employ as many as 900 workers.

Indian companies are not the only ones looking at investing in Cebu right now. More…

The Sinulog 2008, the annual festival for the Child Jesus, will be formally launched on Jan. 11, a Friday, in Cebu City.

The launching will kick off with a Holy Mass at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño at 2 p.m., followed by a parade from the Basilica to the Cebu City Sports Center.

Another launching program will be held at 7 p.m. at the Fuente Osmeña Circle, featuring the Mandaue City Children’s Choir, Dancesports Team Cebu City and some dance troupes from Cebu’s schools and universities. More…