Karahasan sa Zambo, patuloy pa rin!

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 11, 2010) – Patuloy ang karahasan sa Zamboanga sa kabila ng dami ng pulis at sundalong nagpapatrulya sa lungsod na binansagang Asia’s Latin City.

Ito’y matapos na iulat ng ABS-CBN na dalawang granada ang sumabog sa Barangay Talon-Talon at Barangay Mampang na kung saan ay isang katao ang nasugatan sa atakeng naganap nitong Sabado lamang.

Hindi naman makapagbigay ng ulat ang pulisya at sinasabing patuloy ang imbestigasyon sa naturang atake. At kung maitatago sa media ang mga patayan at krimen ay pilit itong itatago ng mga opisyal upang palabasin na tahimik ang Zamboanga sa kabila ng maraming insidente ng pamamaril.

At mula nitong Enero ay mahigit na sa 100 ang naging biktima ng pamamaril at Zamboanga City na ang siyang may pinakamataas na istatistiko sa buong Western Mindanao.

Karamihan sa mga patayan ay kagagawan ng mga gun-for-hire, subali’t madalas na idahilan ng mga awtoridad ay family feud o atraso ang dahilan nito.

Mistulang may template naman ang pulisya sa kanilang imbestigasyon – kung magandang lalaki o babae ang napatay ay agad sasabihing “love triangle” ang posibleng dahilan, at kung mayaman naman ang biktima ay tiyak na “business rivalry” naman ang motibo nito; o kung Muslim ang napatay ay tiyak na “rido” o away-pamilya ang sanhi naman nito.

Karamihan sa mga napatay sa Zamboanga ay hindi pa rin nareresolba. Binansagang Asia’s Latin City ang Zamboanga dahil sa diyalekto nitong Chabacano na may halong Espanyol dahil sa impluwensya ng Espanya halos mahigit sa 100 taon na ang nakaraan. (Mindanao Examiner)

Killings go unabated in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 19, 2010) – Gunmen shot and killed a radiologist of the state-owned regional hospital in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, police said.

Police identified the victim as Ralph Madrigal who was shot just outside the Zamboanga Regional Hospital on Tuesday. The 35-year old man was heading home on his motorbike when two men on motorcycle shot him several times in the body.

The motive of the attack was unknown, but killings are rampant in Zamboanga City where dozens had fell victims to gun attacks since early this year.

Police largely blamed feud in most of the murders, but many of the killings had been carried out by guns-for-hire who are actively operating in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner)

A pauper begs for money in Zamboanga

A pauper begs for money at a crossroad in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, where poverty remains a big problem. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

Sulu Students Tour Asia's Latin City

Some 80 grade school Muslim students and teachers, led by Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan arrive in Zamboanga City for an educational tour Wednesday, May 14, 2008 where the children met and spoke with Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat, who briefed the visitors about the historic past of Zamboanga, now branded as Asia's Latin City. The children also toured the local Coca-Cola bottling plant and the Pasonanca mountain park in Zamboanga City. The tour, dubbed as Lakbay-Bata, is a joint project between the Sulu Provincial Government and the Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States' Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 14, 2008) – Some 80 Muslim grade school students and teachers from Sulu province in the southern Philippines toured Zamboanga City in Mindanao as part of a program aimed at educating the children about the region’s historical past.

The students, accompanied by Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, met with the local Mayor Celso Lobregat who briefed them about Zamboanga and its past. “This is program aims to provide the children about our rich culture and history and will make them more patriotic and responsible as young citizens of this country,” Tan said.

Tan said the tour is a joint project between the Sulu Provincial Government, the Department of Education in the Autonomous Region, the Philippine and US military forces.

Lobregat welcomed the children and even sang them a song. “We are happy that Governor Sakur Tan brought all of you to our beautiful Zamboanga, Asia’s Latin City and we are sure that you will enjoy your stay in Zamboanga,” Lobregat told some 60 students and 20 teachers at the City Hall.

The branding of Zamboanga as Asia's Latin City was spearheaded by the League of Cities, the World Bank and the involvement of the different local sectors. Its dialect is a mixture of Spanish and other Filipino tongues.

Chavacano is spoken by a majority of the people here, in Basilan and other parts of the Zamboanga Peninsula. The growth of Chavacano in Zamboanga can be traced to a concentration of Spanish nationals in Zamboanga at the height of the Spaniards colonization efforts in Mindanao that lasted for centuries until the late 1800.

Local officials said this would give the city a positive shift since it carries an international appeal and anchored on the rich Castilian influence and history of Zamboanga City, once called the City of Flowers because of its beautiful landscapes and flower gardens.

The branding of Zamboanga will provide the city with a competitive global outlook instead of just comparing it with other cities in Mindanao, according to Lobregat.

Zamboanga City had been under Spanish rule in the past and was also used as a base for American soldiers. The city is also popularly known as "Zamboanga Hermosa."

While Sulu was a known international trade center for Chinese traders in the past and Zamboanga served as an economic gateway to Mindanao and the central Philippines.

The area around Zamboanga Peninsula has been occupied by indigenous people as early as 30,000 years ago. The first inhabitants were the Subanons and Lutaos and later, the Islamized ethnic groups of Samals, Bajaus, Tausugs, and Yakans. (Jun Delgado)

Photo: Sunset In Zamboanga City

Sun sets March 01, 2008 in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines. Zamboanga is now branded as Asia's Latin City because of its Chavacano dialect, a mixture of Spanish and several Filipino dialects which is distinct in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

Zamboanga City : Asia's Latin City?

When Zamboanga City was named Asia's latin city, a lot of people reacted to it. Some negatively and some positively.The primary aim of this new title is to drive in tourism. Some people said that it would be a rip off. But Zamboanga city looks latin as any city in Latin America does. In fact most cities in the Philippines can be branded as a Latin city.

The British historian Arnold J. Toynbee went even as far as saying that "the Philippines is a Latin American country that was transported to the Orient by a gigantic marine wave". Zamboanga City having Chabacano (the only Spanish creole in Asia) as its language makes it even more deserving of the title.

The term Latin or Latino is used to refer to anything or anyone that comes from Latin America. It is also used to describe something which has affinity to Latin America.

The term Hispanic meanwhile refers to anything with affinity to Spain. Remember that Hispania and Espania means the same thing: Spain.

Latin America is the collective term for all countries in the Americas where Romance languages (i.e. languages derived from Latin, and hence the name of Latin America) are spoken: Spanish, Portuguese, French, and their creoles.

Different words mean different things to different people. In Anglo-America, these terms have various meanings. However those meanings do not apply to the people outside of Anglo-America.
I remember a radio announcer saying that the more accurate title is 'Asia's Hispanic city' and not 'Asia's Latin city'. However, let us not forget that from 1565 to 1821 or 256 years, the Viceroy of Mexico directly governed the Philippines from Mexico city. In fact, most Spaniards who migrated to the Philippines came from Mexico and not Spain.

Migrating from Spain to the Philippines would not have been practical because travel would have taken a long time. The Suez canal which cut travel time opened in 1869, only a couple of years before Spain sold the Philippines to the USA. For this, both Hispanic and Latin are correct. I am talking from a historical standpoint though and not political.

In this article, Abu Anis , a spokesman of an organization in Zamboanga City and Basilan province, said Resolution No.760 which branded Zamboanga City as "Latin City" has no justification culturally and historically. He went on to say that Zamboanga City was never part of the Philippine territories. But how can one say that Zamboanga city was never part of the Philippine territories when the Spanish Fort of Pilar was built to protect the city from pirates. This obviously means that Zamboanga was part of the Philippine territories.

This Anis person is nothing but a guy whose knowledge in history is obsolete. He even accused (Mayor) Lobregat of acting arrogantly for never consulting the historians and intellectuals, adding that he is acting in sheer “ignorance” or “pride” as half-baked descendants of the Spaniards.

This prejudice and hatred against the Spanish people is one exhibited by most ignorant Filipinos. It is most commonly an emotion planted in Filipinos by movies like 'Rizal' which depicts Spaniards as arrogant, stiff, and cruel, and by history books which has nothing but bad words for the Spaniards.

Anis even said that: to foreigners Latin is not in Latin American countries but in Rome where the spoken language was once Latin, although Latin is now a dead language. How ignorant can you get? What a statement! It makes my heart ache to see such under researched statements.

A corrupt Spanish, that is what Anis calls Chabacano. This is totally an erroneous statement. For one, Chabacano is not Spanish. It is a well known fact that Chabacano is a Spanish creole.
Mr. Anis' ignorance is cemented by this statement: visitors are sometimes frustrated when they cannot find Romans but Badjaos and Samals, who are begging from these newcomers or urging them throw coins into the sea.

A very good example of proof that Zamboanga City and even the Philippines qualifies as '"Latin" is the fact that this country belongs to the Latin union. The Latin union is an organization of all countries which speaks a language derived from latin such as French and Spanish (Romance languages). The Philippines, even though not having Spanish as an official language, enjoys membership in this union because of its cultural affinity to Spain.

It is a fact that when you are in America, the Filipino would typically be mistaken as a Latino. It is a fact that you would feel more comfortable around Latinos than any other kinds of peoples. It is a fact that the Spanish which we spoke in the Philippines years before was Mexican Spanish.

It is a fact that there are words in our language which comes from Nahuatl (a group of related languages and dialects of the Aztecan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family which is indigenous to Mesoamericaorigin (e.g. tatay (tatle), nanay (nantl), abokado (avocado), bayabas [from guayaba(s)])
Zamboanga is qualified to be called as Asia's Latin city. However preposterous it might sound to the typical ignorant Filipino, it is the truth.

Zamboanga: Asia's Latin City? Definitely!(Courtesy of Jerome Herrera from http://allicanhandle.blogspot.com)

Spectators Flock To Zamboanga For Annual Sailboat Race

Some scenes Sunday 08 Oct 2006 from tThe annual sailboat race called Regatta de Zamboanga off the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga. Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful flock to Zamboanga City every October 12 for the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival in honor of the century-old Virgin Mary, believed by many to be miraculous. (Mindanao Examiner)

(Mindanao Examiner Video)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Oct) – More than a thousand spectators flocked Sunday to a beach in Zamboanga City to watch the annual sailboat race called Regatta de Zamboanga.

The race was part of the weeklong celebration of the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival where tens of thousands of Catholics come here join the mardi gras to honor the century-old Virgin Mary, believed by many to be miraculous.

Dozens of wooden boats, fitted with colorful sails called vintas, raced at sea off the Santa Cruz Island as crowds cheered wildly. Local festival songs and music played during the entire race.The winners were given awards and cash prizes.

“This is good and we are having fun watching all these racers trying to out do each other. The mood is festive and there are so many visitors,” one visitor, Samuel Cruz, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Mayor Celso Lobregat was also spotted with some council members at the beach in R.T. Lim Boulevard. Lobregat was busy promoting Zamboanga as Asia’s Latin City.

The basis for branding Zamboanga as a Latin city is the existence of Chavacano, a derivative of the Spanish language that in turn is an outgrowth of Latin, the old Roman tongue.

Chavacano is spoken by a majority of the people here, in Basilan and other parts of the Zamboanga Peninsula. Chavacano, where more than 70 percent of its vocabulary is pure Spanish in nature and origin. The remaining percentage of Chavacano is picked from local dialects.

The growth of Chavacano in Zamboanga can be traced to a concentration of Spanish nationals in Zamboanga at the height of the Spaniards colonization efforts in Mindanao that lasted for centuries until the late 1800.

Lobregat said the branding of Zamboanga as Asia’s Latin City spearheaded by the League of Cities, the World Bank and the involvement of the different local sectors.

Local officials said this would give the city a positive shift since it carries an international appeal and anchored on the rich Castilian influence and history of Zamboanga City.

The branding of Zamboanga will provide the city with a competitive global outlook instead of just comparing it with other cities in Mindanao, accodring to the mayor.

Zamboanga City had been under Spanish rule in the past and was also used as a base for American soldiers. The city is also popularly known as "Zamboanga Hermosa." (Mindanao Examiner)

Photo: Where Does Ye Leadeth Me Father?

A boy and his blind father beg for money outside a Catholic church in downtown Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. Lack of job opportunities and livelihood program for the poor have forced many to beg for alms on the dangerous streets of Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner)