The island of Olango may have to be upgraded into a municipality as part of efforts to redraw boundaries of Cebu’s congressional districts.

Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th district) said this would enable Olango and the town of Cordova on Mactan Island to comprise a new district.

She said this could solve concerns earlier raised when bills were filed proposing to make Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities into their own districts. More…

THREE cities in Cebu emerged among the top six cities where it is easiest to start a business in the Philippines, according to a survey commissioned by the International Finance Corp. and the World Bank.

Lapu-Lapu City is the second easiest city to start a business in, next only to Taguig. Cebu City placed fourth, while Mandaue landed sixth in a list of 21 cities in the “Doing Business in the Philippines 2008” survey. Continue…

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 reported a 7.44-percent increase in visitor arrivals in Cebu from January to February this year from a year ago.

DOT records also show that there was an 8.85-percent increase in foreign travelers and 6.25-percent growth in domestic travelers coming to Cebu for the first two months of the year.

There were 127,561 foreign travelers and 147,638 domestics visitors, totaling 275,199 visitors. Sun.Star Cebu

Proudly Cebuana Raki Vega sings duet with Martin Nievera on “Ikaw ang Pangarap”, the official soundtrack of ABS-CBN Primetime teleserye, Lobo. Raki is the 2005 Born DIVA Champion, won several awards from Broadway last year and an NGenius IT Hub product endorser in Cebu. The MTV is directed by Mark Ocampo and edited by Ramil Aznar.

Ayala Land-affiliate Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI) will transform a portion of its 200-hectare property in the uplands of Cebu City into a nature park.

CHI assistant vice president Ver dela Cerna said they will set aside 71 hectares of the property located in Cebu City’s mountain barangays.

“This facility will be open to students and the public who wanted to enjoy nature,” dela Cerna told BusinessMirror.

The Ayala Heights Nature’s Park is geared to become an ecotourism destination and is expected to be completed within a year. Yehey.com

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…

Residents of Cebu City will mark the feast of the Santo Niño (Christ Child) a second time this year with the feast of “Kaplag” on April 28.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said “Kaplag” commemorates the discovery of the image of the Sto. Niño in a nipa hut in Cebu on April 28, 1565.

Kaplag 2008 features a series of religious and cultural activities celebrating the discovery from this Thursday, April 24, to Monday next week. GMANews.TV

Cebu, that long, narrow island situated practically at dead center of the Philippine archipelago, is again in the spotlight these days with two recently published books that extol the Cebuano island lifestyle.

Geography and Cebuano industry have built up the city into a major regional and business center, ranking in influence next to Manila, the nation’s capital. Certainly it is a busy city, but life in Cebu is not all work.

The sea around Cebu is aquatint-clear. Pristine, blindingly white beaches surround the island. It is probably the country’s major holiday destination, a virtual tropical paradise complete with the lure of the sea. Inquirer.net

With its cool climate and its 1,000 meter elevation above sea level, barangay Mantalongon in the municipality of Dalaguete has been known as the “Summer Capital of Cebu.”

But Joe Canton, a former tourism attaché from Mantalongon, said much infrastructure is still needed to make the place live up to the title. The provincial government recognized Mantalongon in a 2006 resolution of the Provincial Board.

“We wanted to promote our place as a tourism destination, but first we need infrastructure to accommodate visitors,” Canton said. More…

Russian buyers lead the delegates of foreign buyers yesterday at the opening of the 19th Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition or Cebu X 2008.

Aside from the 79 Russian buyers that pre-registered online, another 36-man delegation from Russia will be coming in anytime during the four-day show, said Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation (CFIF) executive director Ruby Salutan.

“The Philippine Trade Attache from Russia informed us of more Russian buyers coming in anytime,” Salutan said. The Freeman

After Cebuano designer Kenneth Cobonpue won accolades for his furniture designs and products in the international market, here comes another Cebuano, Pete Delantar, whose furniture pieces were showcased during the 50th annual Grammy Awards last month.

Delantar, president of Nature’s Legacy Home and Garden, said his company’s eco-friendly product line, Naturescast, was presented at the Grammy Awards Talent Gift Lounge, a sideline attraction.

According to United States magazine Furniture Today, the lounge was used by show presenters and performers during rehearsals. Continue…

IF you think you know all of Cebu’s secrets, think again.

Strawberries are being grown in a pioneer farm in the west coast town of Balamban. The plants bear fruit between January and April.

A 500-square meter strawberry farm sits on a mountain slope in sitio Putol, barangay Magsaysay, about 64 km from Cebu City.

The farm houses almost 5,000 strawberry plants of different varieties. The three-year old project, is still in the experimental stage, but it has shown a lot of business potential, according to Jose Bebelonio Pepito, chairman of the Barangay Unity Key to Integrated Development Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Bukid-MPC), which operates the farm. More…