Let us stop calling it Mango Avenue and Jones Avenue

Officially, both Mango Avenue and Jones Avenue no longer exist. They were renamed by law decades ago. Yet not only the civilians, but also the government, are the enablers of the misuse of the street names.

Mango Avenue was constructed during the American era, it was renamed before World War II as the “General Maxilom Avenue” after the firest Cebuano governor of Cebu and the last general to surrender to the Americans.

The complete name of Maxilom is Arcadio Molero Maxilom, a public school teacher and Gobernadorcillo of Tuburan, Cebu, who later became the deputy of Pantaleon Villegas, more famously known as Leon Kilat, the chief of the army of the KKK Cebu during the Battle of Tres de Abril (April 3, 1898).

General Maxilom died on August 10, 1924 and his burial was attended by the first Philippine President, General Emilio Aguinaldo. Years later in his honor, Mango Avenue was renamed as General Maxilom Avenue.

Jones Avenue has likewise been renamed decades ago. Jones Avenue was renamed by City Ordinance No. 284 on March 29, 1960 as Doña Pepang Avenue (she was the wife of Don Sergio Osmeña Sr.). Jones Avenue is named after Congressman William Atkinson Jones, the author of the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, the law that created the Philippine Senate.

On July 17, 1978 the Cebu City Council enacted City Ordinance No. 1001, in relation to Ordinance No. 392 dated September 24, 1962 renaming Juan Luna and Jones Avenue to President Osmeña Boulevard. The road stretches from the front of the Capitol Building along Escario Street (named after Dr. Nicolas G. Escario, mayor of Cebu City) up to the Plaza Independencia, along M.J. Cuenco (named after Don Mariano Jesus Cuenco, long-time congressman of the old Fifth District of Cebu, governor of Cebu, and the first Cebuano Senate president).

CEBUpedia is again calling on the Cebu City government not to approve/renew mayor’s permits from establishments that ignorantly use the old street names, likewise the national government through the Philpost in Cebu should not accept letters with the old street names. This is doable as the Philpost likewise will not accept letters with the wrong or no zip code.