Cebu thrilled.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Belinda Olivares-Cunanan

CEBU CITY-All roads led to the Queen City of the South as it became the site of the first-ever oath-taking by a Philippine President in the Visayas. We have had three Visayan presidents-Sergio Osme[currency]a Sr. of Cebu City, Manuel Roxas of Capiz and Carlos P. Garcia of Bohol-but as Cebu City Rep. Tony Cuenco noted, it had to take one of Pampango-Pangasinense origins to take her oath here.

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One reason, of course, was that the three male presidents had little choice but to follow tradition or bow to exigency: Manuel L. Quezon died during the war in New York and Don Sergio succeeded him there; Roxas inaugurated the Philippine Republic in Manila; and Garcia took his oath in Malaca[currency]ang after Ramon Magsaysay died in a plane crash in Cebu. The other reason was that GMA wished to thank the Cebuanos for the over one-million vote margin they gave her, which wiped out the lead of Fernando Poe Jr. in 35 provinces.

By the way, few people know that it was former Sen. John Osme[currency]a who suggested in a letter dated May 27, 2004 that GMA hold the inaugural program at the steps of the Cebu Provincial Capitol, to be hosted by all the Cebuano leaders. Such a venue "would be more apt," he said, since GMA's majority in Cebu "almost equals your total nationwide majority over FPJ" and will be appreciated by all the Cebuanos.

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