The Cebu Provincial Capitol is the seat of the provincial government of
Cebu
Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. Located at the north end of
Osmeña Boulevard
Osmeña Boulevard is a major arterial thoroughfare in Cebu City, Philippines. It is the city's "main street" which travels in a generally northwest–southeast orientation linking the old downtown district of San Roque near the harbor with the mod ...
in
Cebu City
Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...
, it was designed by
Juan M. Arellano
Juan Marcos Arellano y de Guzmán (April 25, 1888 – December 5, 1960), or Juan M. Arellano, was a Filipino architect, best known for Manila's Metropolitan Theater (1935), Legislative Building (1926; now houses the National Museum of Fi ...
, a Filipino architect best known for the
Manila Metropolitan Theater
The Metropolitan Theater ( fil, Tanghalang Metropolitan), abbreviated as MET, is a Philippine Art Deco building found near the Mehan Garden located on Padre Burgos Avenue corner Arroceros Street, near the Manila Central Post Office. It was design ...
(1935), the Legislative Building (1926; now the
National Museum of the Philippines
The National Museum of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas}) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological, and visu ...
), and the
Manila Central Post Office
The Manila Central Post Office, often called the Post Office Building, is the main postal office of Manila, which also serves as the home of the Philippine Postal Corporation. It also houses the main mail sorting-distribution operations of the Phi ...
(1926). An inscription on the central concave portion of its façade reads, "''The authority of the government emanates from the people. Erected A.D. MCMXXXVII.''"
It is also the same venue, which held the second inauguration of President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...
in June 2004.
History
Planning for the capitol, which was to replace the old ''Casa Provincial'' in the city's Spanish quarter, actually started in 1910, in the day of the inauguration of Osmeña Waterworks.
Sergio Osmeña
Sergio Osmeña Sr. (, ; 9 September 1878 – 19 October 1961) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fourth president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was vice president under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudden ...
, then Speaker of the First Philippine Assembly, took Governor General
William Cameron Forbes
William Cameron Forbes (May 21, 1870 – December 24, 1959) was an American investment banker and diplomat. He served as Governor-General of the Philippines, governor-general of the Philippines from 1909 to 1913 and ambassador of the United States ...
to an exhibition baseball match, after which they inspected the future site of the building near Fuente Osmeña. In the book about his father ''E. J. Hanselma: Colonial Engineer'', James Hanselma narrates the event:
:''Finally they went over a newly-built boulevard into the countryside to a plaza in the midst of fields empty except for a simple fountain. The site was planned as the new provincial capitol site. The fountain was to commemorate the building of the waterworks.''
Construction commenced in 1937 under the supervision of the
architecture firm
In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countri ...
of
Pedro Siochi and Company. It took place also during the administration of
Governor Sotero Cabahug who was its principal champion. It was financed through a bond approved by Pres.
Manuel Quezon
Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his d ...
and through public subscription.
Vicente Sotto
Vicente Yap Sotto (born Vicente Sotto y Yap; April 18, 1877 – May 28, 1950) was a Filipino playwright, journalist, and politician who served as a Senator from 1946 to 1950. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1922 to 1925, rep ...
once criticized the construction of the building as a waste of public funds, and vowed to convert it to a hospital in one of his speeches. Additionally, Quezon was initially skeptical of the project because of the opposition from allies, but he supported and approved its construction.
The building was finally completed in 1938 during the term of
Governor Buenaventura Rodriguez, the inauguration ceremony taking place during June 14, 1938, led by President Manuel L. Quezon, with Cebu Archbishop Gabriel Reyes blessing the new building, and the wife of Governor Rodriguez breaking the champagne bottle at the main balcony.
The Capitol was badly damaged in World War II but eventually rehabilitated through the Tydings War Damage Act of 1946.
Architecture
The Cebu Provincial Capitol is dramatically positioned at the end of a grand perspective of a new avenue (Osmeña Boulevard) as conceived by
William E. Parsons in his 1912 plan of Cebu, in the lines of the
City Beautiful Movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...
.
The building follows an H-shaped plan, one side opening to the terminus of Osmeña Boulevard. The main block or ''corps de logis'', three stories high, is flanked by two secondary wings, symmetrically advancing to embrace a rectangular, elevated ''
cour d'honneur
A ''cour d'honneur'' (; ; german: Ehrenhof) is the principal and formal approach and forecourt of a large building. It is usually defined by two secondary wings projecting forward from the main central block (''corps de logis''), sometimes wit ...
'' that serves as an entrance podium. The elevation of the ''corps de logis'' is of typical neoclassical formula: a rusticated ground floor, containing minor rooms and offices, the ''piano nobile'' above, with the most important spaces, and finally the attic story. A heavy cornice and parapet caps the façade, with allegorical statues standing by its corners. The most distinctive part of the façade is the central concave pavilion, which creates the semi-circular main balcony and pulls together the entire mass, finally crowned by an austere dome upon an octagonal drum.
The ''piano nobile'' is reached by two staircases from the ground floor foyer. The first space, the art deco rotunda below the cupola, opens to the south the main balcony that faces Osmeña Boulevard, and to its north the ballroom (social hall). Two stories high with full-length windows, the ballroom, also in art deco style, is reminiscent of a fairytale setting. Two enormous chandeliers fashioned in crystal and local ''capiz'' shells (''
placuna placenta
The windowpane oyster (''Placuna placenta'') is a bivalve marine mollusk in the family of Placunidae. They are edible, but valued more for their shells (and the rather small pearls). The shells have been used for thousands of years as a glass su ...
'') light the grand space.
The building's architectural style is neoclassical in spirit, but in its severe simplification foreshadows the changing architectural language of Arellano towards the ''
art deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
'' style.
Landmark
In 2008, it was declared as
National Historical Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
by the
National Historical Commission of the Philippines
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural herita ...
.
Gallery
File:Allan Jay Quesada- DSC 0706 Cebu Provincial Capitol Building, Cebu City.JPG, Cebu Provincial Capitol Building at night 2013.
File:Cebu ProvincialCapitol.jpg, Cebu Provincial Capitol Building close up 2013
File:Cebu Capitol historical marker (Tagalog) (cropped).jpg, Cebu Capitol historical marker (Tagalog)
File:Cebu Provincial Capitol Building.jpg, Cebu Provincial Capitol Building on the 449th Founding Anniversary in 2018
File:111-SC-212564 (Gov. Fructuoso Cabahug - 1945).jpg, Governor of Cebu Fructuoso B. Cabahug, speaks from the steps of the Capitol Building as part of the VJ-Day
Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...
Celebration. 9/9/1945
External links
* Cebu Provincial Capito
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References
{{Cebu City
Provincial capitols in the Philippines
Buildings and structures in Cebu City
Tourist attractions in Cebu City
Art Deco architecture in the Philippines
Juan M. Arellano buildings