Cebu Island, a tropical resort destination close to Japan
When it comes to Cebu Island, it is a well-known tourist destination familiar to many Japanese people, often regarded as one of the tropical resort hotspots. Cebu City has a population of about 900,000, making it the third-largest city in the Philippines, following Manila and Davao. The surrounding metropolitan area, Metro Cebu, has a population of over 2.3 million, making it the second-largest economic region in the Philippines, after Metro Manila.
Tourism is thriving in Cebu, with many beach resorts, diving spots, and historical churches and ruins scattered throughout the area. Many tourists from Europe, the U.S., South Korea, and Japan visit Cebu each year. Although Islam was the dominant religion in the Philippines before the 16th century, when the country became a Spanish colony, many people converted to Christianity, and remnants of Spanish influence can still be found in place names and proper nouns throughout the region. Compared to other cities, Cebu is relatively safe (though not as safe as Japan), and since English is widely spoken, there has been a significant increase in foreign industrial and tourism investment, which has driven up real estate prices.
Recently, more and more Japanese people have been coming to Cebu for language study to improve their English speaking skills. I, too, came to Cebu Island multiple times over the course of six months starting in 2011, to prepare for studying abroad in Europe and to achieve a good IELTS score. Cebu Island is large, but in this piece, I would like to focus on Cebu City, the central hub of the region.
The area around Mabolo, where I stayed, is home to shopping malls like Ayala Mall and SM Mall, which are always bustling with people. Most of the visitors to these malls are either foreigners or locals who are economically well-off. The price range of the goods sold in these malls is relatively high, especially when you consider that the average monthly income of a Filipino is around 20,000 pesos (about 40,000 yen). For example, a Big Mac set at McDonald’s costs about 200 pesos, which, if we consider the monthly salary of a Japanese person at 200,000 yen, would be equivalent to paying around 2,000 yen for a Big Mac set—quite a stark difference!
Reflecting the customer base, these malls have an atmosphere similar to those in Japan or Singapore, with a design featuring warm, indirect lighting and downlights. One thing that stood out to me was the use of neon color facade lighting in many of the restaurants, which was more reminiscent of a bar atmosphere than a typical dining experience. Instead of incandescent or halogen lamps, it seemed that fluorescent lights were more commonly used at the time.
Ayala Mall was built in 1994, so it has a somewhat aged feel. While natural light is brought into the common areas, the quality of the transparent materials seems to be lacking, giving the space a greenish tint overall. This greenish filtered light is common not just in malls, but in older buildings throughout Cebu. At night, although the lights turn on, most of the shops close by 6 PM, with only a few supermarkets and restaurants staying open, and employees head home, leaving the mall fairly empty. The existing areas mainly use fluorescent lights and discharge lamps, but in the expanded sections, which began around 2013, the use of LED lighting has been progressively implemented.
The steady progress of LED adoption in Southeast Asia
The Philippines is experiencing remarkable economic growth, and the streets are filled with massive LED billboards from various companies. In newly constructed buildings, the adoption of LED technology is advancing rapidly. In the DIY section of a mall, I saw many LED lamps and lighting fixtures, with brands like PHILIPS, GE, and local Philippine manufacturers prominently displayed. Japanese LED bulbs typically have a lifespan of around 40,000 hours, while those here are rated for about 15,000 hours, which means they are expected to last around 10 years. On the other hand, they are priced much lower, around 400 yen per unit. In Japan, the most common color temperatures are 2700K (warm white) and 5000K (daylight white), while here, the more common choices are slightly whiter 3000K (warm white) and 6000K (cool white) with a stronger blue tint.
I bought a Firefly LED bulb with a warm white light and tested it. The light is even, and the color is beautiful, so the quality is much better than I expected. I turned it into a simple table lamp and gave it to a teacher at a Filipino language school. After talking with her, I found out that the lighting she uses at home is mostly white light, and she rarely uses warm white bulbs. After explaining a bit, she said, “I never thought about it, but warm white light feels much more relaxing,” and was happy to receive it.
An energetic white light overflowing within the chaos
In the city, the bluish-white light from fluorescent lamps and LEDs stands out. At the famous tourist spot, the altar of the Santo Niño Church, however, harsh fluorescent lights were being used. Even bedside stand lights in hotels are often white, which can really ruin the atmosphere (sigh). Also, at local street vendors, numerous white fluorescent lamps line up, contributing to the lively energy of the night city.
If you head out to the nightlife areas like Mango Square, in addition to those lights, neon signs from bars and clubs brightly illuminate the streets, revealing a dazzling, chaotic side filled with gold and desire—an almost overwhelming sense of energy.
The lights that color the night in Cebu City, Philippines, cannot really be described as beautiful or harmonious, but they exude an energetic sense of development within the chaos, offering something a little dangerous yet thrilling. It might be one of the aspects of the Philippines’ unique light culture.
