muelle osmeña pier of opon 1910

Cebu has one of the country’s finest harbors, sheltered by Mactan and the province’s central mountains and strategically located at the heart of the Visayas. Naturally, its port would pulsate with ships, local and international, docking on its wharves, loading and unloading goods and people.

As early as the 10^th century, the Cebuanos had begun trading cotton, silk, gold, porcelain and more with the Chinese. When Magellan landed on our islands in 1521, he was quickly directed by the chiefs of Homonhon and Limasawa to the island of Cebu as a place where he could avail of ample provisions.

Upon his arrival he found that the natives were not at all ignorant of foreign ships, quite the contrary, he was later informed of the Chinese traders.

Cebu’s trading importance and the bustle in its port later declined when the Spanish colonizers monopolized and limited much of the trading in Manila.

The reopening of the Cebu port to world trade in 1860 renewed its old trading vigor. A Spanish royal decree of July 30, 1860 created a customs house or aduana.

Once again, ships with goods like sugar and tobacco from Bohol, rice from Panay, abaca from Mindanao and Leyte, mother of pearl from Northern Mindanao and many more unloaded their cargoes. Two decades later, ships carrying sugar, abaca, and tobacco regularly sailed from Cebu to Europe and the United States.

By 1895, the value of Cebu’s trade already reached more the P2 million yet it was still surpassed by Iloilo at more than P7 million.

Ships wishing to dock at the port of Cebu, however, increased in number and there were endless requests for no longer berthing and docking space.

The bustle of Cebu’s port was stimulated further by the growth in hemp trading since Cebu was never to its principal importer, the United States. When the Americans came “to steal” our country’s newly won independence, they saw Cebu’s importance to their trading interest and made sure Cebu’s port was improved and expanded.

As early as 1900, they were already advertising calls for contractors to bid for harbor work such as dredging in preparation for wharves and the reclamation of lands that would be used for the port complex.

By 1917, Cebu’s port had already surpassed Iloilo in volume of trade and was the busiest center of inter-island shipping.

- Ybarra