Marcelo A. Barba Sports Complex, Toledo City

The sports complex in Toledo City is named after the first city mayor of Toledo City. Marcelo A. Barba became mayor of Toledo when it was still a municipality in 1955. Marcelo called by friends and constituents as "Liloy" Toledo became a city through Republic Act 2688 enacted by the Congress on June 18, 1960. The bill converting Toledo into a city was sponsored by then Congressman Manuel A. Zosa. Toledo was inaugurated as a city on January 6, 1961.

Among many of the accomplishments of Mayor Barba is the establishment of Poog Elementary School, Toledo City, Cebu in 1959. It was Mayor Barba, representing the then Municipality of Toledo, who bought the lot owned by Emeterio N. Sejismundo consisting an area of 11,432 square meters.

In 1966 the Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation encountered a labor problem. The Progressive Labor Union with 4,000 employee members of Atlas presented on March 31, 1966 a 19-point demand as terms of employment to the management.

The labor union instituted a case with the Court of Industrial Relations, it then issued a Notice to Strike on June 15, 1966. The management sought an Injunction before the Court of First Instance for the employees not to proceed with the strike. The Court of First Instance presided by Judge Guillermo Villasor issued an injunction stopping the union to hold a strike.

On July 27, 1966 the Progressive Labor Union filed a motion to dismiss the order of the Court of First Instance which the latter denied. The Progressive Labor Union went to the Supreme Court and asked for an order to stop the Court of First Instance from stopping the employees to hold a strike.

The Supreme Court granted a preliminary injunction, meaning while the case is being heard the Court of First Instance should not proceed with the hearing of the case. The Progressive Labor Union asked the Supreme Court to hold Mayor Marcelo Barba, its chief of police and the Philippine Constabulary Commanders for contempt for it violated the order of the Supreme Court. The allegation was that Mayor Barba helped the employees of Cebu Cartage Company, the one that hauls the minerals extracted from Atlas, from continually working.

The Supreme Court on April 3, 1968 decided that the Court of First Instance that issued the injunction ordering the employees from not holding a strike was correct and had jurisdiction to hear the case.