We have been under Spanish rule for 377 years.
Do you want to feel the Spaniard’s influence in our country?
Visit Zamboanga City!
Hearing the Chavacano language interplay with the waves, brings you closer to Spain. What is it for you in the only Latin city in Asia. Everything. Everything that is about Spain.
Voilà! Here we go!
Fort Pilar
Visiting Fort Pilar opens anything foreign. Here you are at a Spanish port, facing the might of the Moro seafarers. That might have been a few hundred years ago.
An iconic establishment in Zamboanga City and it speaks of centuries old resilience to drive away pirates and sea brigands.
Zamboanga City at present is a contrasting clash in styles. Since the start, it is a city nurturing a Christian faith. Moreover, it is living side by side amongst seafaring people, harboring the foundation of the Islamic belief in the country.
Historic Influences
Fort Pilar is historic. Accordingly, its construction dates back almost 400 years ago, following the arrival of a Jesuit priest in the peninsula.
Through the years, the historical marker of For Pilar speaks it’s the survival, and the stories of its existence. It has undergone a tumultuous history, only to be restored to its former glory in the latter part of the century. Seemingly, it is right and proper to trace back its history.
Fort Pilar, officially, is the Royal Fort of our Lady of the Pillar of Saragossa. Built by the Spanish colonial government in Zamboanga City, it is a 17th century military fortress. Moreover, it is a major landmark and houses a regional museum, that symbolizes the cultural heritage of Zamboanga City.
Accordingly, in 1635 upon the request of Jesuit missionaries. Bishop Fray Pedro of the church of Cebu requested Governor-general, Juan Cerezo Salamanca, for a stone fort. Hence, to defend it against pirates and raiders, of the sultans of Mindanao and the sultanate of Jolo, the citadel was built.
The fort, originally called the Royal Fort of Saint Joseph, was laid out by a Jesuit priest engineer in the person of Melchor De Vera. Establishing it on June 23, 1635, this date eventually became the founding date of Zamboanga City.
Chavacano, a Creole Language
The beginning of the construction of the fort started in the governorship of Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera in 1635–1644. Due to the lack of manpower, laborers from Bohol, Cebu, Panay and Cavite came in to assist the Spaniards, Mexicans and Peruvians in the building’s construction.
The same period, marks the beginning of Zamboangeño Chavacano as a pidgin and eventually develop into a full fledge Creole language for Zamboangeños.
Fittingly, Zamboanga City is Asia’s only Latin City. Chavacano, the living language of the Zamboangeños, and the only one spoken outside the Latin Americas, is a Spanish derivative language. Seventy percent of the composition of the Chavacano language is Spanish.
Dutch Attacks and British Bombardments
Attacking the fort in 1646 are the Dutch, forcing the Spaniards to abandon it in 1662. At that time, the Spanish forces need to assist imperial Manila in its fight against the Chinese brigand Koxinga. In 1669, the Jesuit missionaries returned and spearheaded the rebuilding of the fort after pirates and raiders destroyed it.
Starting anew, and entering the early part of the 17th century, rebuilding the fort was a Spanish engineer, Juan Sicarra. It was then under the supervision of governor general Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustmante y Rueda in 1718-1719. Renaming it; the Royal Fort of our Lady of the Pillar of Saragossa. Hence, Fort Pilar is born.
Testing its defensive capabilities, the King of Bulig with 3000 Moro rebels attacked a year later, it is now famously known as the Dalasi raid. Of which, the defenders successfully repulse the attack.
Consequently, after nearly eight decades in1798, the British bombarded the fort, but their advances were stopped with the military establishment’s robust defenses. It is the brief alteration between the British and the Spaniards at the time, as they were then the existing world powers.
Martian Apparitions
Martian apparitions mark the significance of Fort Pilar. Accordingly, in 1734, the Virgin Mary appeared to a soldier in the gates of the city. Asking her to stop, he instantly fell on his knees, recognizing her presence.
Similarly, narrating the same story is an American soldier, Captain John Macgee, who was then training soldiers at Fort Pilar. Accordingly, as the Dutch ships were besieging the port, the Holy Virgin appeared to a Spanish soldier, instructing him that they will survive is they hold out. And they did. Hence, a shrine now stands in commemoration of the event.
Accordingly, striking the western region of Mindanao is a strong quake on September 21, 1897, at 1:15 pm, local time. The Holy Virgin made another apparition over the Basilan strait, according to visionaries. Raising her right hand, she made command to the onrushing waves to stop, saving Zamboanga City from a tsunami.
Hermosa Festival
In honor of these miracles, Zamboangueños celebrate the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival or the Fiesta Pillar in the whole month of October. However, the feast day is celebrated on the 12th of the month. Additionally, included in the celebrations are the nine-day novena, dance and song competitions, pageants, trade fairs, and the famous Regatta which is a race for colored vintas.
The Zamboanga Hermosa Festival is the most celebrated and awaited festivity in the city and the whole region. Moreover, it showcases the rich and diverse culture and heritage of Zamboanga City.
American and Japanese Influence
The Americans noted of the importance of Fort Pilar during their Philippine Wars campaign. Understandably, it is to suppress a growing Moro rebellion in their early governance. They must have to take hold of the port.
Fort Pilar has many stories to tell. The underlying reason is the centuries old interest of Spaniard colonizers to not let go it off their grasps. It has survived and is a living testament of Zamboanga City to keep hold of its storied past. Likewise, the Americans and Japanese distinguished its strategic location and importance. Each nation has a story to tell on the importance of the Fort.
That is just a part of Zamboanga City that it want to share to the world.
Melting Pot of Cultures
Additionally, Zamboanga City is a melting pot of culture. Openly exposed to the Sulu Sea, it is the gateway to Brunei, Sabah and other Malaysian Cities.
Strategically located in the tip of the Zamboanga peninsula, it is a main hub for trade, industry and fishing activities. It supplies, sixty percent of the Philippines sardines production, and its waters offer many fishing sanctuaries.
Zamboanga City is the sardines capital of the Philippines. Nine of the country’s twelve sardines companies operates in the City.
Pink Beach
Zamboanga City has numerous white sand beaches.
But it’s pink beach, stands out from the rest. It’s a one of a kind beach that separates it from other beaches in the country, hidden in the Great Santa Cruz Island. Starting from the Paseo del Mar port, sea travel takes but, a 15-minute ride in diesel engine powered bangkas. Strictly, never bring one time use plastics to the island.
Pink beach offers a unique experience. The pink color of the beach ties it directly to the corals within in its immediate vicinity. The pink sand’s color come from the mixing of white sand with pulverized red organ pipe coral eroded by the surf over time.
Venturing further into the beach, fishermen readily display their daily catch. Crabs, shrimps, reef fish and squids, they are all fresh harvests from the sea. Sturdy thatches and picnic hats dot the beach where you can take refuge, from the sun or the rains.
Venturing into the Mangroves
For one who grew up in the highlands, all jellyfish stings. But at the Great Santa Cruz Island, there is a specie of jelly fish that does not sting. Guiding us into the mangroves are fellow indigenous people, the Sama Bangingi. They are a part of the Badjaos, and are a distinct ethnolinguistic group. Moreover, they reside throughout the greater Sulu archipelago and the western coastal regions of the Zamboanga peninsula.
Cruising its clear waters, rows and rows of mangrove trees (bakawan) dominate the seascape. Additionally, the clear knee-deep waters sparkly uncover sea dwellers we never expect to appear. Visibly, the famous stingless jellyfishes are visible in the seabed. Various small fishers, makes muddy the mangrove’s floor in their escape, as we pass through. According to the guide, the mangroves are the nursery areas of reef fishes.
Vintas and the Climaco Freedom Park
Vintas greet us on our exit from the mangroves. The vintas are the colorful bangkas famous in the Zamboanga City. It is the multipurpose home of native sea dwellers in their fishing, transport and livelihood activities.
Inland, Zamboanga City has other famous attractions. The Abong-Abong Park now renamed the Climaco Freedom Park hosts the final resting place of Zamboanga’s favorite son, Cesar Climaco. He was a known Mindanaoan critic of Martial Law and of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
The Sadik Grand Mosque
Leaving Zamboanga would not be complete without visiting its Muslim heritage. Twenty-two percent of Zamboanga City’s population are Muslims, making it the most Muslim populated city in Mindanao.
Under construction in a 50 hectare complex is the Sadik Grand Mosque. It will soon rise as the largest mosque in the Philippine and will be one of the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia.
Zamboanga City is the only Asian Latin City. Spanish influences are noted in most part of the country, but it is the Zamboangueños who mastered the Spanish language and incorporated it in their tongue.
Visiting this place in the tip of the Zamboanga peninsula, in the island of Mindanao, is a wholesome experience. It has it all. Natural monuments and heritage, national parks, the beaches, mangroves, a part of history and culture, Martian traditions and of course the Spanish influenced Chavacano language.
Put it in your bucket list. You are assured of a once in a lifetime adventure. Visit Zamboanga City.
Simply amazing!