Victorina A. Abellanosa - was a Cebuano dramatist who is specialized in writing plays particularly zarzuelas (Cebu City)
Ramón D. Abellanosa - political journalist, minor politician, businessman, and writer. He was best known for his plays (Cebu City)
Temistokles Adlawan - a contemporary Cebuano poet and short story writer who often writes with irreverent humor usually associated with Cebuano folk (Cebu City)
Ruperto Alaura - is a Cebuano writer. He was a LUDABI prize winner in 1961 (Cebu City)
Sinforosa Alcordo - fiction writer during the pre-war era (Cebu City)
Jacinto Alcos - is a pre-Second World War Cebuano writer (Cebu City)
Epifanio Alfafara - writer in the Cebuano language of political and philosophical articles. He used Isco Anino as a pen name (Carcar City)
Sergio Alfafara - was a Filipino Cebuano Visayan writer. A parish priest, he published, authored and translated religious and missal texts in Cebuano. He published a grammar of Cebuano known as Sugboanon nga Gramatika. His pennames included Napoleon Alferez (Carcar City)
Estrella Alfon - an author who wrote in English (Cebu City)
Potenciano Aliño - a writer, translator, and revolutionary (Talisay City)
Cora Almerino - is a Cebuano Visayan writer.[1] Her poems were included in Sinug-ang: A Cebuano trio published by Women in Literary Arts in 1999 (Cebu City)
Tomas N. Alonso - is a well-known Cebuano Visayan writer. He published the first complete Cebuano translation of Jose Rizal's El filibusterismo. He also translated the Mi último adiós (Cebu City)
Francisco C. Álvarez - was a Cebuano Visayan stage actor and playwright (Cebu City)
Uldarico A. Alviola - known as the "Dean of Cebuano Writers", he was a Filipino Visayan civil servant, novelist, and editor (Cebu City)
Natalio Bacalso - a writer, newspaperman, radio broadcaster, filmmaker, Constitutional Convention delegate in 1971 representing Cebu's 2nd district, and opposition assemblyman to the Interim Batasang Pambansa in 1978 (Cebu City)
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard - an author and editor. She co-founded PAWWA or Philippine American Women Writers and Artists; and also founded Philippine American Literary House (Cebu City)
Vicente Garces - a politician, writer, and poet (Talisay City)
Vicente Gullas - was a Filipino writer, lawyer, and educator from Cebu, Philippines (Cebu City)
Ernesto Lariosa - a writer, poet, and columnist (San Fernando)
Pio Kabahar - a Cebuano composer, playwright, journalist, and director (Cebu City)
Resil B. Mojares - a Filipino historian and critic of Philippine literature best known as for his books on Philippine history. He was recognized in 2018 as a
National Artist of the Philippines for Literature - a conferment which represents the Philippine state's highest recognition for artists (Cebu City)
Nicolas Rafols - a legislator, journalist, businessman, lawyer, and agriculturalist (Toledo City)
Napoleon Rama - was a Filipino Visayan lawyer, journalist, and writer in English and Spanish. In 2011, he was awarded the
Philippine Legion of Honor, the country's highest recognition, with the rank of Grand Commander on the 25th anniversary of the EDSA 1 Revolution by President
Benigno S. Aquino III (Cebu City)
Vicente Rama - a legislator, publisher, and writer (Cebu City)
Buenaventura Rodriguez - was one of the popular playwrights in Cebuano language during the American occupation. Like his contemporaries, his works featured the theme of rising nationalism,[5] combining social criticism and entertainment (Bogo City)
Florentino Suico - a public school teacher and prolific writer, fictionist, poet, and journalist. He was known for his historical fiction written in Cebuano language (Mandaue City)
Florentino Tecson - a lawyer, politician, editor, writer, and labor leader (Naga City)
Vicente Ranudo - a writer, poet laureate, and Cebu provincial civil servant (Cebu City)
José María del Mar - a writer, orator, playwright, theater actor, politician and authority on the Spanish Language. (Cebu City)
VISUAL ARTS
Martino Abellana "Noy Tinong" - a renowned Cebuano and dubbed as "The Dean of Cebuano Painters" (Carcar City)
Ramon Abellana - a Cebuano sculptor and composer (Carcar City)
Paulina Constancia - a Filipino-Canadian artist known for her work on canvas, textiles, and found materials, sometimes incorporating stitching (Cebu City)
Manuel Rodriguez Sr. "Mang Maning" - a Filipino printmaker. He was one of the pioneers of printmaking in the Philippines and was dubbed as the "Father of Philippine Printmaking" (Cebu City)
Romulo Galicano - a Filipino painter whose works are technically academic and philosophical in approach (Carcar City)
MUSIC
Vicente Rubi - a Filipino Visayan musician best known for composing the Philippine Christmas carol Kasadyaa Ning Taknaa, which was translated into Tagalog,
Ang Pasko ay Sumapit, by National Artist
Levi Celerio. (Cebu City)
Daisy Ba-ad - a playwright, stage director, composer, motivational speaker and life coach (Cebu City)
Luis Borromeo - a jazz musician and entertainer. Known as the "King of Jazz" in the Philippines (Cebu City)
Manuel Kabajar Cabase - a singer, songwriter, musical director, computer musician, instrumentalist of at least 28 musical instruments, arranger, conductor, bandleader and musical director (Cebu City)
Isabel Sandoval - filmmaker, actress and director (Cebu City)
Julian Daan - a character he played in a radio drama, was a Filipino Cebuano film, local TV, stage, and radio writer, director, actor, comedian, and politician (Talisay City)
Julius Roden - producer and director, Hailed as "The Father of Modern Cebuano Movies"
Lyle Sacris - a cinematographer and director, known for Exodus: Tales from the Enchanted Kingdom (2005), Yanggaw (2008) and Transit (2013). (Cebu City)
Natalio Bacalso - a Filipino writer, newspaperman, radio broadcaster, filmmaker, Constitutional Convention delegate in 1971 representing Cebu's 2nd district, and opposition assemblyman to the Interim Batasang Pambansa in 1978 (Cebu City)
Pio Kabahar - Playwright, Writer, Journalist, Director and Composer (Cebu City)
Ruel Antipuesto - film director and cinematographer considered as "The Godfather of Cebuano Filmmaking". (Cebu City)
Leo Lastimosa - is a veteran tri-media journalist based in Cebu City. He was formerly an anchorman for
ABS-CBN's regional news program,
TV Patrol Central Visayas, the host of the current affairs program
Arangkada on radio station DYAB, and a columnist for Cebu's newspaper,
The Freeman (Cebu City)
Honcho / Mark Ezekiel Maglasang - (formerly Bosx1ne) rapper, singer and songwriter. He founded the Filipino hip-hop group Ex Battalion in 2012 (Cebu City)
M Lhuillier (Michael Lhuillier) - Cebuano Businessman known as the country’s ‘Pawnshop King’ (
M Lhuillier Group of Companies Founder and Chairman, Cebu Provincial Sports Commission Chairman, Honorary consul of France in Cebu and
Cebu Safari and Adventure Park Founder)
Science
Romulo Davide - an agricultural scientist hailed as the “Father of Plant Nematology," is a philanthropist and leader for the poor farmers of the Philippines and a recipient of the renowned
Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2012. (Argao)
José S. Palma - is a prelate and a professed member of the
Dominican Order who is currently serving as the Archbishop of Cebu since 15 October 2010 (Cebu City)
Ricardo Vidal - was a prelate of the
Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1985, he was Archbishop of Cebu from 1982 to 2010 (Cebu City)
Dennis Villarojo - a prelate of the
Catholic Church who is the 5th bishop of the Latin Church Diocese of Malolos in the Philippines (Cebu City)
Jesus Dosado - was a prelate of the
Catholic Church in the Philippines, who served as the Bishop and then Archbishop of Ozamiz from 1981 until his retirement in 2016 (Sogod)
John F. Du - is a prelate of the
Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. He is the Archbishop of Palo in Leyte, Philippines (Bantayan)
Juan García Ruiz - was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Nueva Segovia from 1784 to 1796 (Madridejos)
Christian Vicente Noel - was a Roman Catholic prelate. He served as the Bishop of Talibon from 1986 until his retirement in 2014 (Asturias)
Osvaldo Padilla - a prelate of the
Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1991 and the position of Apostolic Nuncio to several countries before retiring in 2017 (Sogod)
Daniel Franklin Pilario - a contextual theologian, writer, educator, and Vincentian Catholic priest. He currently serves as president of
Adamson University. He was a former professor and dean of St. Vincent School of Theology (Oslob)
Emilio Bataclan - a prelate of the
Catholic Church in the Philippines. He is an auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Latin Church archdiocese of Cebu (Bantayan)
Lourdes Quisumbing - prominent educator and former Secretary of Education of Philippines
Notable people with roots from Cebu
Bruno Mars - American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. (His mother, Bernadette San Pedro Bayot, was born in Cebu, but her family moved to Hawaii when she was a young girl)
Kirk Hammett - American musician who has been the lead guitarist of the heavy metal band
Metallica since 1983 (his mother Teofila Oyao is from Cebu).
Darren Criss - a Hollywood actor, singer, and songwriter (His mother was from Cebu)
Rodrigo Duterte - 16th President of the Philippines (His father was from Danao City, Cebu)
Manny Pacquiao - Senator and Eight Division World Boxing Champion (His father was from Pinamungahan, Cebu)
Francis Magalona - Actor, the filipino king of rap (His mother was from Cebu City)
Ian Veneracion - Actor, athlete, pilot, singer (his mother is from Lilo-an, Cebu)
Victorina A. Abellanosa - was a Cebuano dramatist who is specialized in writing plays particularly zarzuelas (Cebu City)
Ramón D. Abellanosa - political journalist, minor politician, businessman, and writer. He was best known for his plays (Cebu City)
Temistokles Adlawan - a contemporary Cebuano poet and short story writer who often writes with irreverent humor usually associated with Cebuano folk (Cebu City)
Ruperto Alaura - is a Cebuano writer. He was a LUDABI prize winner in 1961 (Cebu City)
Sinforosa Alcordo - fiction writer during the pre-war era (Cebu City)
Jacinto Alcos - is a pre-Second World War Cebuano writer (Cebu City)
Epifanio Alfafara - writer in the Cebuano language of political and philosophical articles. He used Isco Anino as a pen name (Carcar City)
Sergio Alfafara - was a Filipino Cebuano Visayan writer. A parish priest, he published, authored and translated religious and missal texts in Cebuano. He published a grammar of Cebuano known as Sugboanon nga Gramatika. His pennames included Napoleon Alferez (Carcar City)
Estrella Alfon - an author who wrote in English (Cebu City)
Potenciano Aliño - a writer, translator, and revolutionary (Talisay City)
Cora Almerino - is a Cebuano Visayan writer.[1] Her poems were included in Sinug-ang: A Cebuano trio published by Women in Literary Arts in 1999 (Cebu City)
Tomas N. Alonso - is a well-known Cebuano Visayan writer. He published the first complete Cebuano translation of Jose Rizal's El filibusterismo. He also translated the Mi último adiós (Cebu City)
Francisco C. Álvarez - was a Cebuano Visayan stage actor and playwright (Cebu City)
Uldarico A. Alviola - known as the "Dean of Cebuano Writers", he was a Filipino Visayan civil servant, novelist, and editor (Cebu City)
Natalio Bacalso - a writer, newspaperman, radio broadcaster, filmmaker, Constitutional Convention delegate in 1971 representing Cebu's 2nd district, and opposition assemblyman to the Interim Batasang Pambansa in 1978 (Cebu City)
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard - an author and editor. She co-founded PAWWA or Philippine American Women Writers and Artists; and also founded Philippine American Literary House (Cebu City)
Vicente Garces - a politician, writer, and poet (Talisay City)
Vicente Gullas - was a Filipino writer, lawyer, and educator from Cebu, Philippines (Cebu City)
Ernesto Lariosa - a writer, poet, and columnist (San Fernando)
Pio Kabahar - a Cebuano composer, playwright, journalist, and director (Cebu City)
Resil B. Mojares - a Filipino historian and critic of Philippine literature best known as for his books on Philippine history. He was recognized in 2018 as a
National Artist of the Philippines for Literature - a conferment which represents the Philippine state's highest recognition for artists (Cebu City)
Nicolas Rafols - a legislator, journalist, businessman, lawyer, and agriculturalist (Toledo City)
Napoleon Rama - was a Filipino Visayan lawyer, journalist, and writer in English and Spanish. In 2011, he was awarded the
Philippine Legion of Honor, the country's highest recognition, with the rank of Grand Commander on the 25th anniversary of the EDSA 1 Revolution by President
Benigno S. Aquino III (Cebu City)
Vicente Rama - a legislator, publisher, and writer (Cebu City)
Buenaventura Rodriguez - was one of the popular playwrights in Cebuano language during the American occupation. Like his contemporaries, his works featured the theme of rising nationalism,[5] combining social criticism and entertainment (Bogo City)
Florentino Suico - a public school teacher and prolific writer, fictionist, poet, and journalist. He was known for his historical fiction written in Cebuano language (Mandaue City)
Florentino Tecson - a lawyer, politician, editor, writer, and labor leader (Naga City)
Vicente Ranudo - a writer, poet laureate, and Cebu provincial civil servant (Cebu City)
José María del Mar - a writer, orator, playwright, theater actor, politician and authority on the Spanish Language. (Cebu City)
VISUAL ARTS
Martino Abellana "Noy Tinong" - a renowned Cebuano and dubbed as "The Dean of Cebuano Painters" (Carcar City)
Ramon Abellana - a Cebuano sculptor and composer (Carcar City)
Paulina Constancia - a Filipino-Canadian artist known for her work on canvas, textiles, and found materials, sometimes incorporating stitching (Cebu City)
Manuel Rodriguez Sr. "Mang Maning" - a Filipino printmaker. He was one of the pioneers of printmaking in the Philippines and was dubbed as the "Father of Philippine Printmaking" (Cebu City)
Romulo Galicano - a Filipino painter whose works are technically academic and philosophical in approach (Carcar City)
MUSIC
Vicente Rubi - a Filipino Visayan musician best known for composing the Philippine Christmas carol Kasadyaa Ning Taknaa, which was translated into Tagalog,
Ang Pasko ay Sumapit, by National Artist
Levi Celerio. (Cebu City)
Daisy Ba-ad - a playwright, stage director, composer, motivational speaker and life coach (Cebu City)
Luis Borromeo - a jazz musician and entertainer. Known as the "King of Jazz" in the Philippines (Cebu City)
Manuel Kabajar Cabase - a singer, songwriter, musical director, computer musician, instrumentalist of at least 28 musical instruments, arranger, conductor, bandleader and musical director (Cebu City)
Isabel Sandoval - filmmaker, actress and director (Cebu City)
Julian Daan - a character he played in a radio drama, was a Filipino Cebuano film, local TV, stage, and radio writer, director, actor, comedian, and politician (Talisay City)
Julius Roden - producer and director, Hailed as "The Father of Modern Cebuano Movies"
Lyle Sacris - a cinematographer and director, known for Exodus: Tales from the Enchanted Kingdom (2005), Yanggaw (2008) and Transit (2013). (Cebu City)
Natalio Bacalso - a Filipino writer, newspaperman, radio broadcaster, filmmaker, Constitutional Convention delegate in 1971 representing Cebu's 2nd district, and opposition assemblyman to the Interim Batasang Pambansa in 1978 (Cebu City)
Pio Kabahar - Playwright, Writer, Journalist, Director and Composer (Cebu City)
Ruel Antipuesto - film director and cinematographer considered as "The Godfather of Cebuano Filmmaking". (Cebu City)
Leo Lastimosa - is a veteran tri-media journalist based in Cebu City. He was formerly an anchorman for
ABS-CBN's regional news program,
TV Patrol Central Visayas, the host of the current affairs program
Arangkada on radio station DYAB, and a columnist for Cebu's newspaper,
The Freeman (Cebu City)
Honcho / Mark Ezekiel Maglasang - (formerly Bosx1ne) rapper, singer and songwriter. He founded the Filipino hip-hop group Ex Battalion in 2012 (Cebu City)
M Lhuillier (Michael Lhuillier) - Cebuano Businessman known as the country’s ‘Pawnshop King’ (
M Lhuillier Group of Companies Founder and Chairman, Cebu Provincial Sports Commission Chairman, Honorary consul of France in Cebu and
Cebu Safari and Adventure Park Founder)
Science
Romulo Davide - an agricultural scientist hailed as the “Father of Plant Nematology," is a philanthropist and leader for the poor farmers of the Philippines and a recipient of the renowned
Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2012. (Argao)
José S. Palma - is a prelate and a professed member of the
Dominican Order who is currently serving as the Archbishop of Cebu since 15 October 2010 (Cebu City)
Ricardo Vidal - was a prelate of the
Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1985, he was Archbishop of Cebu from 1982 to 2010 (Cebu City)
Dennis Villarojo - a prelate of the
Catholic Church who is the 5th bishop of the Latin Church Diocese of Malolos in the Philippines (Cebu City)
Jesus Dosado - was a prelate of the
Catholic Church in the Philippines, who served as the Bishop and then Archbishop of Ozamiz from 1981 until his retirement in 2016 (Sogod)
John F. Du - is a prelate of the
Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. He is the Archbishop of Palo in Leyte, Philippines (Bantayan)
Juan García Ruiz - was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Nueva Segovia from 1784 to 1796 (Madridejos)
Christian Vicente Noel - was a Roman Catholic prelate. He served as the Bishop of Talibon from 1986 until his retirement in 2014 (Asturias)
Osvaldo Padilla - a prelate of the
Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1991 and the position of Apostolic Nuncio to several countries before retiring in 2017 (Sogod)
Daniel Franklin Pilario - a contextual theologian, writer, educator, and Vincentian Catholic priest. He currently serves as president of
Adamson University. He was a former professor and dean of St. Vincent School of Theology (Oslob)
Emilio Bataclan - a prelate of the
Catholic Church in the Philippines. He is an auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Latin Church archdiocese of Cebu (Bantayan)
Lourdes Quisumbing - prominent educator and former Secretary of Education of Philippines
Notable people with roots from Cebu
Bruno Mars - American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. (His mother, Bernadette San Pedro Bayot, was born in Cebu, but her family moved to Hawaii when she was a young girl)
Kirk Hammett - American musician who has been the lead guitarist of the heavy metal band
Metallica since 1983 (his mother Teofila Oyao is from Cebu).
Darren Criss - a Hollywood actor, singer, and songwriter (His mother was from Cebu)
Rodrigo Duterte - 16th President of the Philippines (His father was from Danao City, Cebu)
Manny Pacquiao - Senator and Eight Division World Boxing Champion (His father was from Pinamungahan, Cebu)
Francis Magalona - Actor, the filipino king of rap (His mother was from Cebu City)
Ian Veneracion - Actor, athlete, pilot, singer (his mother is from Lilo-an, Cebu)