For his unwavering commitment to Cebu City’s advancement Hon. Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña bagged the year 2002’s Most Outstanding Mayor Award for Local Government Leadership after topping 155 other mayors.

Osmeña was chosen by a consortium of government agencies and educational institutions, among these are: the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, National College of Public Administration and Governance, Center for Local and Regional Governance, Local Government Academy, and the Center for Leadership, Citizenship and Democracy.

Osmeña personally received the award last October 17, 2002 at the Philippine Senate in Manila. The prestigious award then again adds to the Mayor’s long list of national and international accomplishment citations and recognitions.

Tomas or “Tommy”, as he is fondly called, is the son of the late Senator Sergio Osmeña Jr. and Lourdes dela Rama Osmeña, the grandson of former Philippine President Sergio Osmeña Sr. and the younger sibling of Senator Sergio Osmeña III. Married to Margarita Lim Vargas, their union is blessed with their son Miguel.

Tommy spent his high school years in Sacred Heart School for Boys and earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Agro-Economics from Xavier University, Cagayan De Oro City. He went on for further graduate studies in Finance, Management and International Trade in the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), USA.

Osmeña not only excelled in the realm of public service but practically in all his endeavors. Coming from a family where Politics and Leadership is a natural dominion, his management and leadership skills were honed at a very young age.

In 1972, he worked as the Vice-President in a Los Angeles-based company, SEROS, Inc. He also became a financial analyst for Foreign Credit Insurance Association, the exclusive operating arm of the Export-Import bank of United States wherein he was engaged in the political and economic play of the export credit accounts of a number of major US banks and exporters across 12 western states. For years Osmeña also served as the Vice-President of the Apex Realty and Developers in California. His hectic work schedule, however, did not prevent him from participating in the activities of various civic organizations in Los Angeles. In fact he was even once selected as Vice-President of the “Club Filipino” in Los Angeles California. He also became the moral fiber of numerous activities and programs of Cebuano organizations in LA.

When he came back to Cebu in the year 1988, Osmeña vied for the Mayoralty and was hailed to office even without the backing of a party or endorsement by a national office. In his first term, Osmeña took the challenge of bringing Cebu to its grandeur by becoming the chairman of the Metro Cebu Development Project (MCDP). As was expected of a natural winner, he was again applauded for acquiring over P2 billion worth of foreign assisted projects for Metro Cebu.
In 1990, he was elected as the National Executive Vice-President of the League of City Mayors of the Philippines. On that same year, he was chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in the Philippines by the Philippine Jaycees and the Gerry Roxas Foundation, Inc.
In the 1992 elections, Osmeña again won and was hailed to office together with his Vice-Mayoralty candidate and fifteen of his sixteen party mates for the council seats. He was also elected on a mass motion as President of the League of City Mayors of the Philippines to serve until the year 1995. The mayor also showed his willingness to shoulder and help out in added responsibility when he accepted the challenge of being the Chairman of the Regional Development Council for Central Visayas.

Osmeña championed numerous innovative endeavors for development and advancement; proof worth noting is the South Reclamation Project- the largest multi-billion project in the history of local governance. Indeed, Osmeña’s way of running the city government proved to be worth emulating as this has won him several Galing Pook Awards.

Osmeña indeed has the right to claim to have laid the foundation for a strong, dynamic and responsive city government as he remains consistent with his pre-determined goals and continues to employ an open minded policy in governance that impresses “There is always a better way in doing things.” A policy founding the basis for hailing Cebu City as today’s focal point for education, tourism and trade and commerce!