Giving Cebu back its Main Street.

Byline: Augusto F. Villalon

ITS A GOOD beginning, one that tells of better things to come.

Mayor Michael Rama of Cebu, a staunch heritage advocate, has asked prominent Cebuana philanthropist Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung to chair a campaign to beautify the city.

Together with her vice chair, Marguerite Lhuillier, Yeung has embarked on cleaning up city streets and rehabilitating Osmena Boulevard to recapture the elegance and ambiance that Jones Avenue (its former name) of old was like.

Only a few blocks of Jones Avenue retain its original grace. The rest, a hodgepodge of impromptu architecture and ad-hoc landscaping, is, indeed, ready for massive cleaning up and rejuvenation.

In its day, Jones Avenue …