With a population of about 5 million, Cebu is significantly smaller than Manila. The greater Manila area has some 20 million population. It is a mega-city, If all the surrounding cities are included. Manila is also the Philippines capital, meaning thousands of foreign business people pour into the city every week. Manila also receives a disproportionate amount of funding, which annoys Filipinos living in other parts of the country. Nonetheless, from a tourist point of view, Cebu has a lot of advantages over Manila.
Cebu is in an excellent geographical position: it is right in the middle of the country. It is a return day trip to many nearby Islands of interest. In fact, Cebu is a shorter distance to all parts of the Philippines than Manila. It is also the only other city in the Philippines that has a “real” international airport, meaning one can fly direct to other countries without having to stopover in Manila.
Obviously, Cebu is a lot also easier to get around than Manila, not least because it is a lot smaller. Taxi and Grab fares are cheaper because the distances are shorter. When I lived in Cebu, I used motorbike taxis and in particular, a company called Angkor? that used a similar platform to Grab. The drivers/riders had special licences and were very professional. I found no such service in Manila or other cities, which made traveling expensive and time consuming.
While Cebu is about a quarter of the size of Manila, it is well served by entertainment centres including the famous IT park - blocks of green, clean bars and restaurants that are/were pumping 24/7 (not sure if that's the case now, post pandemic). There are many restaurants and cafes in Cebu. Some are so funky and hip, as are the people living in that city.
Finally, the cost of living is significantly lower in Cebu than Manila. There is a lot of choice when it comes to renting apartments or condos. There is a proliferation of rental accommodation in Cebu, meaning it is cheaper than renting in other cities including Davao (higher supply, lower prices). When I lived in Cebu, cafes were always filled with foreigners or keyboard nomads and little wonder they chose Cebu over Manila: it is so accessable to other parts of the Philippines and a short flight to other parts of Asia.
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