it's also easier to circulate money bai if cebu were the capital. Dali ra man gud ibyahe. If gikan ka Ilo-Ilo or sa Dumaguete, kadali ra adto sa Cebu. One cheap boat ride away.
This concept of economics was discussed sa BBC. You inject income in a strategic area, the money easily propagates among neighboring areas.
When push comes to shove bai it's the convenience that's the deal maker.
People from Mindanao, East and West Visayas earn in Cebu. They go home to their cities during the weekends. Spend the money there. The money spent there is used to purchase more supplies that can be sold again to those same spenders. The taxes (ideally) would be used to invest in their respective cities.
You get the picture? Dali ra kayao mokalat ang kwarta ba ug dali mo asenso ang pinas.
Again, the idea is only as good as the people managing it. These are all idealistic scenarios.