Mandaue City to honor outstanding individuals

CEBU, Philippines - The Mandaue City government will be giving awards to outstanding young Mandauehanons, who excelled academically, during the 126th birth anniversary of the late Cebuano statement justice Sotero Cabahug next month.

This is part of the city’s annual tradition, in honor of justice Cabahug, that has been running for 94 years since 1923.

The chosen outstanding men and women from Mandaue will receive the Justice Sotero B. Cabahug Medal of Academic Excellence Award, according to Vice Mayor Carlo Pontico Fortuna.

“This is only given to a Mandauehanon who achieved academic excellence,” he said.

Fortuna said interested individuals are advised to file their application forms at the Sangguniang Panlungsod on or before March 31.

Based on the criteria for the award, the applicant must be an honor graduate, with a general average rating of at least 90-percent or its corresponding equivalent, from a secondary or tertiary school, academy, institute, college or university.

Since 2008, the Mandaue Cultural, Historical, Education, Sports and Tourism Foundation Inc. has been spearheading the celebration in coordination with the city government.

The recipient of last year’s Cabahug award was a summa cum laude graduate from the Cebu Normal University. Ian Christian Cosido, a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, received the 18-karat gold medal worth P200,000.

However, there were no awardees in 1925, 1928, 1931 to 1939, 1941 to 1946, 1981, and 1995-2007.

Cabahug was a statesman who served in the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of the government. He was born on April 22, 1891 in Mandaue, Cebu to farmers Narciso Cabahug and Cirila Barte.

He started his public career as a justice of the peace (JP) in Surigao in 1917, then deputy provincial fiscal in Cebu the following year and municipal councilor in Mandaue in 1920.

Cabahug also served in Congress representing Cebu’s Second District from 1928 to 1931. He served as a Supreme Court chief justice and a defense secretary.

He was also responsible for the construction of several landmark structures in Cebu like the Mandaue City Hall, the Rizal Library and the Capitol building. (FREEMAN)