The God Culture: 100 Lies About The Philippines: #3 Queen City of the South

Welcome back to 100 lies The God Culture teaches about the Philippines. Today's lie concerns the nickname of Cebu City which is The Queen City of the South. Timothy Jay Schwab says no one knows how that moniker was bestowed upon Cebu City but as we shall see that is simply another lie.

This lie can be found on pages 87-88 of Timothy's book The Search for King Solomon's Treasure.

Solomon's Treasure, pg 87-88

Cebu City today is still known as the “Queen City of the South” and no one seems to coherently know where that identifier originated. Iloilo, Panay, also in Visayas near Cebu, has the same nomenclature. It likely originated in Matthew 12:42 as Messiah called Sheba the “Queen of the South” which is the same connotation of Cebu and Iloilo today (Matt. 12:42, Luke 11:30). Along the same vein, Sheba means 7 and Cebu just by chance happens to be in Region 7. Additionally, is it not fascinating that Lake Sebu in Mindanao has Seven Falls or Sheba Falls?

That is total nonsense and stems from Tim's false teaching that Cebu island is the Biblical land of Sheba. It is not. The biblical land of Sheba is in Southern Arabia likely Yemen. It is certainly not the island of Cebu which is half a world away from Israel. Cebu is also to the east of Israel and not to the south.

The origin of the nickname "Queen City of the South" is actually well known. It was first bestowed upon Ilolio by the Queen Regent of Spain. 

Due to the loyalty of the Ilonggos, the city of Iloilo was honored with the perpetual title of Muy Noble (Most Noble). The Royal Decree granting this title was signed on 1 March 1898 by Queen Regent Maria Cristina. Over time, this title earned for Iloilo City the reputation of it being "The Queen's Favored City in the South" or simply "Queen's City in the South", and was later evolve to "The Queen City of the South", being the second Spanish port of importance next to Manila, and being located South of the Archipelago's Capital. On a side note, at the beginning of the American period until the Second World War, Cebu became the second port of importance (Iloilo having been partly ravaged by bombardment, fire, and riots during the American occupation of Iloilo City).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iloilo_City#The_Revolutionary_Period_(1896)

During World War 2 Iloilo was destroyed and Cebu City then became a prominent port and surpassed Iloilo economically. It was then that Cebu City took the name of Queen City of the South. 

Iloilo City was originally known as the "Queen City of the South," a title that evolved from another Iloilo title, "Queen's Favored City of the South." From being the Queen Regent of Spain, Maria Christina's favorite city in the south of Manila in the late 19th century. Iloilo became the second-most important city in the Philippines at that time, giving it a reason to evolve to the title of "Queen City of the South" until the mid 20th century, after World War II, leaving the city devastated and causing investors to flee to nearby Cebu City. Cebu later claimed the title after it surpassed Iloilo's economy in the 80s. Although some people disagree with Cebu's claim since the title is of historical significance to Iloilo alone and not for which city is the next second-most important in the country

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebu_City

This paragraph has been deleted by a Wikipedia editor who claimed he was cleaning up unnecessary clutter on the Cebu City entry but you can read it at this link. 

If Timothy Jay Schwab had bothered to research the origin of the name Queen City of the South he would not have written something so dumb as to say the name originates in the Gospel of Matthew. It is a recent name applied only 40 years ago.