Zamboanga City’s old, colorful soul

Text and photos by
Carmencita A. Carillo Correspondent

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Two years after the September 2013 siege — when Moro National Liberation Front forces forcefully took over the city, hostaged residents, and engaged the Special Operations Group of the Philippine Navy in a fire fight that lasted almost a month and took many lives — this city is once again hopeful that its tourism industry will bounce back as it celebrates the annual Hermosa Festival this month.

“Zamboanga is going to be back in the tourism map judging from the number of visitors in this year’s festival, specifically the Regatta de Zamboanga,” said Councilor Vincent Paul A. Elago, chairman of the city council committee on tourism, on the sidelines of the vinta (a form of sailboat) competition conducted along the R.T. Lim Boulevard that used to be known as Cawa-Cawa.

The one-kilometer stretch of the boulevard used to be occupied by families who were displaced during the siege, mostly people from the Badjao indigenous group. But the tents that served as temporary shelters are gone and have been replaced by a view of the traditional vintas with their colorful sails parked along the shore.

Mr. Elago estimated that the number of spectators, who stood from end to end of the boulevard to cheer during the Regatta, were at least 50,000, including foreign visitors.

The Regatta de Zamboanga, a traditional race of vintas, also had a record-breaking number of participants with 180 bangkeros (boatmen).

“The vintas are one of the most popular icons of Zamboanga, but most of the Badjaos who used the vintas for fishing have started to look for other means of livelihood in the city so we feared that the vintas would disappear,” Mr. Elago said.

He said the local government hopes to bring back the art of fishing and sailing the vintas through the holding of the Regatta de Zamboanga every year.

Hajad M. Hamid, who used to be a fisherman but now works at a state university here, and his brother Danny paddled and steered vinta No. 006 to victory, keeping their winning record from the past.

“It took me almost a month to practice whenever I have free time,” Mr. Hamid said in the dialect.

“Zamboanga’s vibrant tourism industry suffered a setback because of the siege but we have recovered and are rebuilding tourist confidence in the area,” Department of Tourism (DoT) Zamboanga Peninsula Region Director Mary June G. Bugante said.

The region’s tourist arrivals dove after the siege by almost 50% to 344,000 from 658,000 in 2012. Last year, a slight increase was recorded at 370,000, composed mostly of domestic travelers.

Ms. Bugante said the top attractions of Zamboanga remain to be its culture and beaches.

Zamboanga City was already a trading center among its Asian neighbors as far back as the 13th century, and Spain’s influence is also indelibly marked around town as well as the local Chavacano language, a form of Spanish pidgin.

Fort Pilar, built by the Spaniards in 1635 as a military fortress, was a declared national cultural shrine and currently serves as a shrine to the Catholic Mother Mary and a regional museum of the National Museum of the Philippines.

Zamboanga also has 11 islands in the east that are being pushed for development as a tourism product.

“The Eleven Islands could be our next attractions but we have to make sure they are developed sustainably,” Ms. Bugante said.

But the city’s biggest charm is its cultural heritage that tourists can soak in with a leisurely walk around town, starting at the City Hall that was built by the United States to house the American governors during World War I, including John J. Pershing who started the construction of Pasonanca Park in 1912.

A few minutes away from the City Hall is the Pettit Barracks — named after James S. Pettit, a US colonel who at one time was in charge of the city’s civil affairs — which has been declared by the National Historical Institute as a heritage zone not only for the structures but the more-than-a-century-old acacia trees that line the streets.

These trees stand witness not just to two world wars but the many other struggles, as well as the victories, of the city and the Chavacano people.