The Mayor of Cebu City () is the chief executive of the government of Cebu City in the Philippines. The mayor leads the city's departments in executing ordinances and delivering public services. The mayorship is a three-year term and each mayor is restricted to three consecutive terms, totaling nine years, although a mayor can be elected again after an interruption of one term.

The current mayor is Nestor D. Archival Sr. of Bando Osmeña – Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), who was elected in 2025 with an upset victory over incumbent mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia (KUSUG) and their predecessor former mayor Michael Rama (BARUG). Archival took his ceremonial oath of office on June 26, 2025 and officially began his term on June 30.

History

Appointive position Commonwealth Act No. 38 or the Charter of the City of Cebu, signed on October 20, 1936 and officially inaugurated on February 24, 1937, created the post of City Mayor which shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the approval of the Commission on Appointments. President Manuel Quezon appointed Alfredo V. Jacinto of Gapan, Nueva Ecija.

Born on March 23, 1891, Jacinto was not a Cebuano. His first assignment outside of Nueva Ecija was in Manila to become Chief Clerk of the Treasurer's Office of Malolos, Bulacan. Jacinto was transferred to Leyte and then to Pangasinan. In March 1930, he was sent to Cebu after his last assignment in Luzon in La Union. Before he was appointed as City Mayor, he was Provincial Treasurer of Cebu. He resigned from the position on December 31, 1936.

Jacinto took his oath of office at Malacañang Palace before Elpidio Quirino, the Secretary of the Interior on January 7, 1937. Along with him, the following city councilors were sworn into office by Secretary Quirino namely, Manuel Roa (the first President of the Municipal Board), Regino Mercado, Felipe Pacaña, Jose Fortich, Diego Canizares, Jose P. Nolasco, Leandro A. Tojong and Dominador J. Abella.

The next to be appointed was Vicente Rama who served as city mayor from 1938 to 1940. When World War II erupted, Rama sought refuge in Carcar where he was appointed as wartime mayor by the Imperial Japanese Army.

A year before the war, Jose Delgado was appointed as city mayor from 1940 to 1942. Delgado also became governor of Cebu from 1943 to 1944. Next in line was Juan Cerilles Zamora.

Then there was Dr. Leandro Tojong of Ginatilan, Cebu, followed by another doctor, Nicolas Escario of Bantayan, Cebu, followed by lawyer Vicente S. del Rosario, then Dr. Luis Espina, Miguel Raffiñan, Pedro Elizalde, Dr. Jose V. Rodriguez, and Pedro Clavano, all of which were appointed by the president.

Elective position

On June 7, 1955, the Cebu City Charter was amended by Republic Act No. 1233. The first election for City mayor was held on November 8, 1955 together with the 1955 senatorial elections. The first to be elected as city mayor was Sergio Osmeña Jr. together with his vice mayor Ramon Duterte.

Osmeña Jr. was elected mayor five times in 1955, 1959, 1963, 1967, and 1971, a feat that would only be surpassed by his son Tomas Osmeña in the late 1980s to 2010s. Osmeña Jr. was severely injured in the Plaza Miranda Bombing on August 21, 1971, heading into exile in the United States and remaining there after the declaration of Martial Law and imposition of dictatorship by his political rival, President Ferdinand Marcos.

From 1978 to 1988, the office was occupied by several appointed mayors. Marcos appointed Florentino Solon in 1978, who then won a full term in the 1980 elections. Solon resigned in 1983 after Marcos appointed him Deputy Minister of Health, succeeded by Vice Mayor Ronald Duterte who served until President Corazon Aquino forced the removal of all local chief executives and their replacement with officers-in-charge (OICs).

John Henry Osmeña was appointed OIC Mayor on March 25, 1986, before resigning to run for senator in 1987. He was succeeded by appointed OIC Jose V. Cuenco on March 19, 1987 until his resignation to run for a full term as mayor on November 27. Cuenco was followed by Antonio R. Veloso who served until the resumption of elective terms on February 2, 1988, upon the election of Tomas Osmeña as mayor.

1988 to present

From the late 1990s onwards, the city was beset by a pattern of conflicts between mayors and their political heirs, with the former criticizing the latter's policies as mayor: Then-Mayor Alvin Garcia, successor and former vice mayor to Tomas Osmeña, bolted the latter's party to found Kugi Uswag Sugbo (KUSUG) following a rift that first emerged in 1997. After Tomas Osmeña reached the 3-term limit, he ran for Congress in 2010 and was succeeded by allied Vice Mayor Mike Rama. Conflict eventually emerged between the two over Rama's handling of the city, culminating in Rama leaving BOPK to found his own party, Team Rama in 2013. In 2021, Mike Rama, once again vice mayor, criticized ally Mayor Edgardo Labella for the latter's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, to which Labella responded by accusing Rama of playing politics. Rama once again assumed the office of mayor following Labella's death from sepsis on November 19, 2021. In 2024, following Rama's suspension from office, he became increasingly critical of the leadership of his ally and vice mayor, Acting Mayor Raymond Garcia. Rama eventually ended the alliance between him and Garcia on September 25.

In 2024, Rama became the first mayor of Cebu City to be removed by the Ombudsman of the Philippines, being dismissed from office and permanently disqualified from public service on October 3, after being found guilty of nepotism and grave misconduct.

Salary As of 2021, the mayor is paid a monthly salary of based on the second tranche of the Salary Standardization Law of 2019 with the position being classified under salary grade 30.

List Municipality of Cebu The following served as municipal presidents of Cebu:

Image President Party Term Vice President 1 Florentino Cuico Rallos 1860–1912 (aged 51-52) Independent Nacionalista after 1907 1901 – 1903 Agapito Hilario 1903 – 1905 Filemon Yap Sotto Nacionalista 2 Celestino Lasala Rodriguez 1872–1955 (aged 82-83) Independent Nacionalista (from 1907) 1905 – 1907 Luciano Abellana Bacayo 3 Luciano Abellana Bacayo 1873–? 1907 – 1908 Raimundo Bracamonte Enriquez 4 Martin Pantaleon Llorente 1868–1916 (aged ~49) Federalista 1908 – 1909 Francisco Arias Nacionalista 5 Melchor Gonzalez 1873–1950? 1909 – 1910 Pedro Abarca 6 Vicente L. Teves 1910 – 1913 Gregorio Abendan 7 Arsenio Veloso Climaco 1870–1952 (aged 82) 1913 – 1916 Fructuoso Rodis Ramos Nacionalista 8 Fructuoso Rodis Ramos 1869–1949 (aged 80) Nacionalista 1916 – 1920 Rufino Lauron 1920 – 1922 Pedro Abella 9 Hilario Hermosa Abellana 1896–1945 (aged 48) Democrata 1922 – 1925 Julian Lochallan Alcantara 1925 – 1928 Alberto Mansueto 1928 – 1931 Regino Mercado (8) Fructuoso Rodis Ramos 1869–1949 (aged 80) Nacionalista 1931 – 1934 Jose Fortich Democrata 1934 – 1937 Julian Lochallan Alcantara Marcos Miranda Morelos 10 Mariano Jesus Diosomito Cuenco 1888–1964 (aged 76) Nacionalista November 28, 1936 – December 1, 1936 None

Notes

City of Cebu This is the list of mayors of Cebu City: