74th Cebu City Charter Day Celebration

The proof of a strong and unified chartered city.

This coming February 24, Thursday, Cebu City will celebrate its 74th Charter Day anniversary and honor Don Vicente Rama, a Cebuano who had the foresight to establish Cebu as a chartered city. The struggle of Don Vicente to author the bill was horrendous. The bill was met with stiff objection from politicians and nearly all sectors of the Municipality of Cebu. The reasons were basically political envy and fear of additional taxes that may be collected with a city status.

But unknown to many, the change of status brought so much benefits to the city, starting with autonomy from the national government. What we are today is a consequence of the act establishing the City of Cebu. But who was Don Vicente Rama?

DON VICENTE RAMA

Father of Cebu Charter, 1936, also the real father of local autonomy of the rich and vibrant City.
For 27 years Rama founded Fuerza Nuevo/Bag-ong Kusog, a periodical and magazine, a prolific
writer, publisher and journalist making Colon St. the Hub of press freedom
and the center of the Visayan language Literature.

He was the first non-Luzon legislator who advocated that the works of Jose Rizal in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo be made required reading for students. His bill mandating the reading of both Rizal books in school was opposed and failed to pass in the First Assembly because of the aggressive lobby of Spanish authorities in Congress.

Tomorrow's celebration may be entitled as a "Rama Day or Charter Day," well for me, it does not matter. We may call it in any way we want. For this city could not achieve its chartered status without the vision and hard work of our legislator, the great Don Vicente Rama.

From your servants in Scouting, we salute you!

Compiled:

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view/20090224-190751/The-Rama-legacy