Zamboanga Provincial Government
"Adelante Zamboanga" Chavacano
"Onward, Zamboanga"
The City of Zamboanga (Zamboangueño Chavacano/Spanish: Ciudad de Zamboanga): is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines. It is currently ranked as the 6th most populous city (947,020 estimated population as of 2010) and the 3rd largest by land area in the Philippines (1,483.3849/km2 (572.738/sq mi)).[5][6] It is located at the southernmost tip of theZamboanga Peninsula and is bounded in the north by the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay andZamboanga del Norte, in the west by the Sulu Sea, in the east by Sibuguey Bay, and in the south by theBasilan Strait. It is approximately 460 nautical miles (850 km) south of City of Manila, 365 nautical miles (676 km) northeast of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, 345 nautical miles (639 km) northeast ofManado, Indonesia, bounded to the west by Sulu Sea, on the east by the Moro Gulf, and on the south by the Basilan Strait and Celebes Sea. Its distance from Cebu City is about 372.57 nautical miles (690.00 km), and is 340.17 nautical miles (629.99 km) from Davao City.[7]
The Ciudad de Zamboanga’s climates are generally of the third and fourth types where it is practically from June to December. The highest rainfall occurs on the month of July while the lowest rainfalls on the month of April. The city is outside the typhoon belt, hence, typhoons rarely visit the Ciudad de Zamboanga.
It is now the centre of economic activities in Mindanao with its modern international seaport, which is one of the principal ports of call for inter-island and international shipping. Its airport, which also classified as an international airport, provides air transportation to various domestic destinations. Both seaport and airport serve as transshipment points of various goods to neighboring cities andcountries.
It is the seat of one of the largest number of military and police bases in the country. It is also home of the 3rd Air Division of the Edwin Andrews Air Base, which handles the Air Force of the Philippines in the city; and the 6th Naval District in Camp General Basilio Navarro also known as Western Mindanao Command, the main headquarters of Armed Forces of the Philippines in Western part of Mindanao; the Philippine Army, Philippine Marines, and Philippine Navy are assigned to that command. The "Camp Enrile" and other three military camps can be found in the city.
It is the former capital of Moro Province now Mindanao Island (1903 to 1913) in thePhilippines. On September 15, 1911, the Municipalidad de Zamboanga was converted into a Ciudad by the legislative order Act. No.272.[8] It is known as CIUDAD LATINA DE ASIA in Zamboangueño Language or in English Language Asia's Latin City for its strong Hispanic/Latin influence.
Currently, Ciudad de Zamboanga is one of the primary hubs in the Philippines, being the premier city in Zamboanga Peninsula Region in terms of commerce, trade, health services, financial institutions and education.[9][10]
Ciudad de Zamboanga serves as an entry point in the Philippines to many destinations in Southeast Asia.
History
Ciudad de Zamboanga was founded in the late 12th or early 13th century, with the earliest people living there being the Subanen, an indigenous tribe of Malay origin. The Subanen people's name for Zamboanga, 'Sung Lupa', means 'Pointed Land'. Speculation that the name of zamboanga comes from the word 'Jambangan', meaning the 'Land of Flowers', is met by others insisting the name derives from the word 'Saguan' or 'Sambuan', A Malay word for the paddle used by natives to paddle the vintas in the sea. Still another possible origin is 'Sambon' which refers to herbal plants that grew abundantly in the city.[11] Badjao, Samal, Tausug and the Yakan tribes from Malayan descent settled in the same part of Mindanao in the early 14th century.[12] Mohammedanism and Islam gained predominance in the 15th century in thePhilippines first as a non-indigenous religion from these Malay peoples after Jewsand Christians arrived.[13]
Spanish rule
The Spaniards arrived in the country in the year 1520, as the first European invaders in the country.[14] In the year 1569 Zamboanga was chosen as the site of the Spanish settlement and garrison on La Caldera (now called Barrio Recodo).[15] The goal was to use it for the reinforcement of their troops in the country, making way for Christian settlements by converting the people and protecting the island against foreign invaders and Moro pirates. After 3 decades (1599), the fort was closed and transferred to Cebu due to great concerns about attack by the English on that island, which did not occur. After having abandoned the city, the Spaniards joined forces with Visayan troops and reached the shore of Ciudad de Zamboanga to bring peace to the island against Moro pirates.[16]
Ciudad de Zamboanga became the main headquarters of the Spaniards in 1634 upon approval of King Philip IV of Spain.[16] Thousands of Spanish troops headed by a Governor General from Spain took the approval to build the first Zamboanga fortress (now called Fort Pilar) in Ciudad de Zamboanga to forestall enemies in Mindanao like Moro pirates and other foreign invaders.[17] The Zamboanga fortress became the main focus of a number of battles between Moros, Chinese and Spaniards while the Spanish ruled the region from 16th to 18th centuries. While the region was already dominated byCatholicism, Muslims kept up a protracted struggle against the ruling Spaniards in the country into the 18th century.[18][19]
In the Year 1831, the Custom house in Ciudad de Zamboanga was established as a port, and it became the main port for direct communication, trading some goods and other services to most of Europe,Southeast Asia and Latin America.[20] The Americans arrived in the Philippines, headed by General Weyler with thousands of troops to defeat the Spaniards who ruled it more than three centuries. The Spanish Government sent more than 80,000 Spanish troops in the Philippines. The Spanish Government completely and peacefully surrendered the islands to the United States in the 1890s.[21
American and Japanese period
Before the end of the 19th century; The Republic of Zamboanga was established during theAmericanperiod in the Philippines and it briefly existed from May 18, 1899 to March 1903. The first President of the Republic of Zamboanga wasGeneral Vicente Alvarez and succeeded by Isidoro Midel and Mariano Arquiza.[22]
During the American colonial period. Ciudad de Zamboanga hosted a number of American regional governors, including General John J. Pershing, who was military commander/governor of the Moro Province from 1909 to 1914. Gen. "Black Jack" Pershing became the Supreme Commander of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War I when the US entered the war in 1917. The entire Moro Province of Mindanao was administered directly from the city, effectively making the Zamboanga Mindanao's first and only Capital City. Soon after the establishment of the Commonwealth, it was the center of commerce, trade, and government of Mindanao Island, being the capital of the Moro Province.[23]
Ciudad de Zamboanga became a chartered city in the year 1936.[24] In Pre-World War II, Pettit Barracks, a part of the US Army's 43d Infantry Regiment (PS), was stationed. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines, they were headed by Vice Admiral Skugiyama Rokuzo and accompanied with Rear Admiral Naosaburo Irifune and landed at Zamboanga on March 2, 1942.[25] They established a defense headquarters in the city while ruling the government in more than two years. The Japanese government in the city was eventually overtaken byAmerican and the Filipino forces in 1945.[22]
Martial law
In 1953, Cesar Climaco was elected Mayor. He was a flamboyant personality who pursued policies of good governance and cleanliness.[26]On the 1961 Philippine General Election, Cesar Climaco was unsuccessful to run for the Senate under the Liberal Party, but he was appointed as Customs Commissioner under the Macapagal Administration,[27] and later a prominent critic of Ferdinand Marcos. He was reelected as a mayor in Zamboanga city again in 1980, at a time when martial law was declared in the city because of growing violence. Cesar Climaco was assassinated on November 14, 1984.[28]
Philippines after Marcos
After the Marcos regime, Zamboanga city was still enjoying its good economic activities, but the growth was not rapidly high due to incompetent leaders that ruled the city after martial law. At present, Ciudad de Zamboanga is the main hub in Zamboanga Peninsula through education, financial institutions, health and services, infrastructural projects and a center of foreign investment throughBIMP-EAGA in relation with other major cities in Southeast Asia.[29]
Geography
Location
The Ciudad de Zamboanga's physical characteristics have the following advantages: (i) it has an even distribution of rainfall; (ii) it has no liquefaction prone area; (iii) it is outside the typhoon belt; and (iv) it is outside of major fault lines/no active volcano.[30]
The main land territory of Ciudad de Zamboanga, which encompasses 1,681 kilometers ( 645 square mile ), there are (officially) 11 islands that are part of its principality. The most popular of these islands is the Great Santa Cruz Island, It's tantalizingly beautiful scenery encompasses the rare "pink sand". almost 10– 15 minutes while riding a boat from the city to the Great Sta. Cruz Island. Under thePresidential Decree No. 654, President Ferdinand Marcos declared that the Santa Cruz Islands as National Park and Tourism Development in the City of Zamboanga. Aside from Santa Cruz island, the city has also 28 islands off the mainland coast. All of these islands come under the city's jurisdiction. The biggest of these islands is Sacol (about 12 km. long and 8 km. wide), and eleven of these islands on the Moro Gulf coast form a cluster known as the Eleven Islands, the largest being Cabugan Island (approx. 11 hectares).[31]
Geology and Geomorphology
The southwest and eastern sides of Ciudad de Zamboanga are bounded by irregular coastlines with generally rocky terrain with occasional stretches of sandy and gravely beaches. The coastal profile usually descends abruptly towards the sea. In some places where there are rivers, embayment occurs, thus, filling up areas with alluvial materials and producing small tracts of coastal plains and sometimes-broad plains.
It has been observed that younger rock formation occurs in a higher elevation. Areas along the northeastern coast, which were mostly part of the lower alluvial lowlands, and small low lying areas are characterized by the presence of cold water sediments. These are subjected to the daily inundation of tidal movement. The formation of basement complex along the boundaries of Zamboanga del Norte is influenced by the north-south trending fault while a young volcanic cone influences the formation of volcanic outcropping in the area.
Topography, Slope and Elevation
The overall topography of the city could be described as rolling to very steep. There are some flat lands, mostly narrow strips along the east coast. The urban center is mostly flat with a gentle slope to the interior, ranging from 0 to 3%. The highest registered elevation is 1,200 meters. In terms of slope, a large portion of Ciudad de Zamboanga, about 38,000 hectares, have slopes ranging from 18-30%. Another 26,000 hectares have been described as having slopes pf less than 3% while about 37% of the area or a total of 52,000 hectares have slopes ranging from 30% to more than 50%.[32]
