Revisiting Cebu's six component cities

As we all know, the provincial governor has supervision over the governance and public administration of component cities, unlike highly-urbanized cities which are granted local autonomy and self-governance by law. The highly-urbanized cities in the island of Cebu are Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Mandaue City. The component cities are Bogo, Carcar, Danao, Naga, Talisay, and Toledo.

Let us revisit them in the order of their cityhood: Toledo became a chartered city on June 18, 1960 by virtue of Republic Act 2688. It is 67 kilometers from Cebu City, with an area of 216.28 square kilometers, with 38 barangays. It is bordered by Balamban to the north, Pinamungajan to the south, Tañon Strait to the west and Cebu City to the east. Its population was 207,314 in 2020 and its registered voters as of 2022 were 120,481. It is a third-class city with revenue of ?1.818 billion in 2020. Danao became a city on June 7, 1961 pursuant to RA 3028. It is 33 kilometers north of Cebu City with an area of 107.30 square kilometers, with 42 barangays. North of Danao is Carmen, south is Compostela, west is Asturias, and east is the Camotes Sea. It had 156,321 residents, 96,794 voters, and 42 barangays. It is a third-class city with a revenue of ?1.265 billion in 2020.

Talisay gained cityhood on the strength of RA 6979 promulgated on November 22, 2000. It is 10 kilometers south of Cebu City. It is bordered in the south by Minglanilla, in the west by Toledo City, and in the east by the Cebu Strait. It has an area of 39.87 square kilometers, with 22 barangays. Its population in 2020 was 263,048 and its voters as of 2022 were 148,704. It is a third-class city with a revenue of ?1.265 billion in 2020. It is well-known for its delicious lechon. Bogo, which is 98.1 kilometers north of Cebu City and is near the northernmost tip of the island of Cebu, gained its city status on March 15, 2007 in accordance with RA 9390. It has an area of 103.52 square kilometers with 29 barangays, a population of 88,867 and 56,603 voters. North of Bogo is Medellin, south is Tabogon, east is San Remigio, and west is the Camotes Sea, It is a sixth-class city with a revenue of ?641.2 million.

The City of Naga was granted its charter on July 15, 2007 in accordance with RA 9491. It is 21 kilometers from the City of Cebu. It is bordered by Minglanilla to the north, San Fernando to the south, Toledo City to the west, and the Cebu Strait to the east. Its area is 101.97 square kilometers, with 28 barangays, a population of 133,184, and 82,783 voters. It is a fifth-class city with a revenue of ?856.6 million. It is well-known for its cement mining industry. Carcar became a city on August 15, 2007 by virtue of RA 9436. It is 38.8 kilometers south of Cebu City with an area of 116.78 square kilometers and 15 barangays. North of it is San Fernando, south is Sibonga, west is Aloguinsan, and east is the Cebu Strait. Population was 136,453 and the voters numbered 82,036. It is a fifth-class city with a revenue of ?726.4 million. It is famous for its chicharon, ampaw, and pomelo.

In terms of distance from Cebu City, Talisay is the nearest, followed by Naga, Toledo, Danao, Carcar, and Bogo is the farthest. In area, Toledo is the biggest, followed by Carcar, Danao, Bogo, Naga, and the smallest is Talisay. On population and number of voters, the biggest is Talisay (the smallest in area), and the smallest is Bogo. Based on the number of barangays, Danao has the most and Carcar the least. On revenues, the richest is Toledo and the poorest is Bogo. The third-class cities are Toledo and Talisay. Danao, Naga, and Carcar are fifth class. The only sixth-class city is Bogo.

An interesting trivia is that all the six component cities are smaller in area than Balamban town which has an area of 333.56 square kilometers, the biggest area in Cebu, even bigger than Cebu City. Balamban has a population of 95,136, much bigger than Bogo City. Congressman Pablo John Garcia has filed House Bill 1574 in 2019 seeking to grant cityhood status to this big and progressive town. The governor is transferring the capital of Cebu to Balamban. In due time, we shall have three highly-urbanized cities and seven component cities.