On his 137th birthday, Cebu honors Don Sergio Osmeña

CEBU, Philippines - With elections getting near, Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella took the 137th birth anniversary celebration of the late President Sergio Osmeña Sr. to remind those running for office about the essence of public service.

“Don Sergio has lived up to our belief that public officials and (that) public office is not a proprietary right…that public official shall always remain (to be) servants and not masters of the people,” Labella said.

Osmeña, known to many as Don Sergio, was the first Visayan to sit as President of the Philippines.

As in the previous years, the city’s Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission led the commemoration at the marker along Osmeña Boulevard. The commemoration started with a Holy Mass celebrated by Msgr. Roberto Alesna.

“Public officials shall always be accountable to the people and serve with utmost fidelity, integrity and loyalty; and shall live with a modest life,” he said.

He said Osmeña was “an epitome of humility in higher office, dedicating an honest public service.”

“It is my fervent hope that this yearly activity we are holding in honor of Don Sergio will serve as a reminder not only for us but also for the future generation that, once upon a time, there was a great man of Cebu who gave us, who provided us with a sense of decency and morality in public service,” Labella said.

Labella, the chairperson of CHAC, pointed out that Osmeña concentrated on restructuring the country that suffered from warfare. Because he did not spend too much time campaigning, he lost in the succeeding elections but was “very gracious in defeat and accepted the verdict silently.”

Speaking on behalf of the Osmeña clan, one of Osmeña’s great grandchildren, Margarita Larrañaga, thanked the city government for initiating the yearly event.

She said the family hopes that Cebuanos will remember Osmeña’s sacrifice for the country to gain independence from the United States of America.

She said among Osmeña’s most admirable traits are sincerity, patriotism, integrity, selflessness, patience, tact and ‘delicadeza.’

“Wherever we will be, whether on public or private service, let us all emulate the virtues of Don Sergio. And let us make sure that his legacy will endure forever,” she said.

While he was present at the city’s commemoration, it was at the Capitol that former mayor Tomas Osmeña spoke. He joined Governor Hilario Davide, Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, some Provincial Board members, department heads and Capitol employees during the flag-raising ceremony.

The provincial government, too, laid a wreath at Osmeña’s life-size statue.

“I’m very honored that they’ve recognized,” Tomas said, saying he would prefer to refer to his grandfather as the “grandest young man in history” for being elected governor of Cebu while still 27 years old.

“Asa ka kakita’g governor nga 27 years old?” Tomas said.

At 29 years old, two years after his governorship, Osmeña became the first speaker of the Philippine First Assembly. He was speaker for four terms, which meant the people “were satisfied in putting the country together.”

Tomas said that at the time he was a legislator and later president in 1944 after succeeding Manuel L. Quezon, Don Sergio’s goal was to show the Americans that the country could survive on its own.

“How do we run this country? We have to show to the Americans that we can do it,” Tomas said, remembering Osmeña’s statement. — (FREEMAN)