Places: Zamboanga City - The Philippine's Little Spain

Fort Pilar

I have been to this city thrice already. The first time I visited this place was in the late 90's when I was working in a financial company. They assigned me to relieve our officer-in-charge to for a month but eventually stayed for 3 - 4 months because hiring process was long delayed for my replacement. I was a newly graduate that time and was scared to go because when you think of Mindanao the first thing that come to mind was the insurgency problems in the region. However when I got to the city, I was surprised to see the warmth and friendliness of its people.


You are like in a foreign place speaking differently mainly in Spanish like Buenas Dias! Gracias! and others. When you hear that, you know you're in Zamboanga City, that little place of the heart of Spain, Asia's Latin City. This is the only city in the Philippines and in Asia where you will hear Chabacano, that lilting delightful patols that's 70 % Spanish with the rest a mix of other dialects.

The City was once a center of Mindanao and the trunk from which other provinces and cities of the Peninsula sprang from has moved through time with grace and exuberance. The reminders of its lineage remain today and are some of the city's most enduring landmarks and attractions.

From the airport, you can take a jeepney (Php 7) or tricycle (Php 20 -25) to the city (pueblo) as there are few taxis. Plissap Rent-A-Car charges a minimum of Php 150, and may be the best way to go.

By day, you visit the city's venerable 1635-vintage Fort Pilar, from which the present city grew, the spring of Christianity in Mindanao, and now a Shrine to the lady of the Pillar of Zaragosa, Spain. The American era left the city with century old City Hall and Plaza Pershing, as well as the Zamboanga Golf Course and Beach Park as it is now called, and memories of the old Pettit Barracks whose name endures in the area where it stood.

You can also take a 15 minute motorboat ride from the mainland to the Island of Santa Cruz. You need to make reservations, but the island's pink sandbar is worth it. Swing by the newly opened Mar Y Monte Resort for its range of activiites too.

Pinkish Sand of Santa Cruz Island

Zamboanga offers both urban and rustic experience. In the city center, clusters of hotels like the Garden Orchid Hotel along Governor Camins Avenue; restaurants, restobars, coffee shops, spas, travel agencies, and other urban amenities increasing in number and services each year abound. Some of the don't miss spots for the city include Paseo del  Mar, a park by the sea and a nightlife favorite just beside the Fort Pilar. You can go bar hopping  at Catribo Complez. Plaza del Pilar, a dining and shopping arcade also fronting Fort Pilar; Pasonanca Park and the Jardin Maria Clara, where the butterfly garden and aviary are, and Museo de Zambianga also in Pasonanca; and the Yakan Weaving Village (Yakan handwoven cloth from the Barter Trade Center at Canelar).

My first Vinta Experience

For souvenirs, miniature Zambianga City Vintas from Home Products along Ledesma Street is highly recommended. The vinta in all its glory lives to this day, and never more so gloriously than in October. They celebrates the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival. It's a weeklong spree for the regatta, the Chavacano song festival, trade fairs and street dances.

Below are some of the old pictures taken at this historic place.

at Fort Pilar with my collegue

pasonanca park 

Paseo del Mar is like a SM Moa bay area..

My stay in the city was a fulfilling one since I was able to gain friends and experience their unique culture. I cannot wait to visit them again. :)