Vicente T. Abella Street

The street located in the interior of the Bagong Lipunan Improvement Site Services (BLISS) Housing in Labangon, Cebu City is named “Vicente T. Abella Street.”

The BLISS Housing was a project of then First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos. A school (Labangon BLISS Elementary School) was constructed in 1979 to compliment the residential site.

But who was Vicente T. Abella? He was born in 1891 to the Juan Abella and FaustaTaboada. Vicente served as the head teacher of the Labangon Primary School in 1928, until his death in 1946. He rendered faithful and honest service under the Bureau of Education in Cebu City and contributed to the educational development of the residents of Labangon and Calamba.

The Labangon Primary School, later named Labangon Elementary School, was and still is the central school in Barangay Labangon and Calamba.

The school was constructed during the American Occupation by virtue of the Organic Act of 1916 or the Jones Law under the Department of  Public Instruction. The department was later changed to the Department of Public Instruction and Information during the Commonwealth in 1945. Presently, it is called the Department of Education.

The naming of a street after a schoolteacher is special because traditionally, streets are named after elected public officials, businessmen and philanthropists. The Vicente T. Abella Street is the only street in Cebu City named after a public schoolteacher.

It is named as such by virtue of City Ordinance No. 1886 enacted on February 14, 2001 on motion of Councilor Jocelyn G. Pesquera, which was carried unanimously. It was approved by Mayor Alvin B. Garcia on March 8, 2001.