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 â 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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
The following served as municipal presidents of Cebu:
This is the list of mayors of Cebu City:
The vice mayor is the city's second-highest official, elected via popular vote. Although most mayoral candidates have running mates, the vice mayor is elected separately from the mayor. This sometimes results in the mayor and the vice mayor being elected from different political parties, as was the case most recently in 2016.
Republic Act No. 244, approved on June 12, 1948, established the position of vice mayor of the City of Cebu. It was to be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments. The first to be appointed vice mayor under the provisions of R.A. No. 244 was Arsenio Ruiz Villanueva, who took his oath of office on July 16, 1948.
One of the most significant amendments to the Charter of the City of Cebu (C.A. No. 58) came with the approval of Republic Act No. 1243 on June 7, 1955. This particular amendment provided for the election at large, by the city's qualified voters in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election Code, of the city mayor and vice mayor. The first election for city mayor and vice mayor was held during the general election for provincial and municipal officials on November 8, 1955. Ramon Gonzales Duterte was chosen as Cebu City's first elected vice mayor.
In the Sangguniang PanlungsodâÂÂin this case, the Cebu City CouncilâÂÂthe vice mayor serves as its presiding officer and may vote only to break a tie. The vice mayor also has the authority to appoint the employees of the council, subject to civil service rules and regulations. During temporary absences of the mayor, the vice mayor serves as acting mayor. In the event of a permanent vacancy in the office of the mayor before the end of the term, the vice mayor shall assume the office of mayor for the rest of the unexpired term, which most recently occurred in 2024 when vice mayor and Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia assumed office as mayor following the Ombudsman's dismissal from office of then-suspended Mayor Mike Rama.
As of 2021, the vice mayor is paid a monthly salary of based on the second tranche of the Salary Standardization Law of 2019 signed on January 8, 2020 with the position being classified under Salary Grade 28 for highly urbanized cities like Cebu City.
Following the death of Mayor Edgardo Labella in 2021 and the dismissal of Rama in 2024, first-ranked councilor Donaldo "Dondon" Hontiveros became the first vice mayor of the city to assume office in two separate terms through succession, rather than election, due to the premature end of the incumbent mayor's term. Hontiveros ran in 2025 for a full term as vice mayor in his own right, but lost.
The incumbent vice mayor is Tomas "Tommy" R. Osmeña, the founder of BOPK and himself a former mayor from 1988 to 1995, 2001 to 2010, and 2016 to 2019. Osmeña was elected as Archival's running mate in the 2025 elections, defeating incumbent vice mayor Hontiveros (BARUG) and former city councilor and MCWD chairman Jose "Joey" Daluz III (KUSUG-Panaghiusa).
Osmeña, alongside Archival, took his ceremonial oath of office on June 26, 2025 and formally began his term as vice mayor on June 30.