THERE are now 3.85 million people in Cebu Province, according to the 2007 census by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The figure makes Cebu the largest province in terms of population.

But excluding population figures for the highly-urbanized cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue, Cebu Province’s population is 2,439,065 or a growth of only 1.68 percent. Not counting the highly-urbanized cities, Cebu would rank fifth among provinces in terms of population size and Cavite, with 2.66 million, would rank first. Continue…