Tuesday, November 14, 2006 Hispanic festival By Id Acaylar
THEY call it Zamboanga Hermosa or Beautiful Zamboanga literally, which Zamboangueños annually hold in the second week of October in time for their patronal fiesta.
Starting this year's celebration, Zamboanga City is claiming to be Asia's Latin City. And rightly so. Nowhere in the Philippines is the Spanish influence more eminent. Its people, the Zamboangueños, pleasantly speak "chavacano," which is 80 percent derived from Spanish, a language developed from Latin.
Their patron saint, the Blessed Virgin of the Pillar, was introduced by the Spanish Friars in conjunction with Spain's national patron, St. James the Apostle. And the well preserved fortress in the city was named after Her.
The Zamboangueños proudly claim it has protected the city from invaders and many calamities. This perhaps accounted for the strong religious fervor I noticed among them. Even the Zamboangueños residing in Davao City show it. They built a replica of Her shrine in Magsaysay Park.
It was 1:30 a.m. on October 12 when a new-found friend, a Miss Zamboanga two decades ago, Myra Abubakar brought me and Barge Ramos, a prominent Manila fashion designer and a columnist to Fort Pilar to light candles at the Shrine of Nuestra Señora del Pilar.
Honestly, I felt uncomfortable because having come from a social function I was still wearing my piña barong with matching beaded alampay made by Ronan Opiña. Barge was in his sculpted pinokpok barong. Myra, being a wife of a prominent Tausug businessman, was in an authentic Muslim princess costume. So I just said to myself "Que ver!" Besides, postponing our visit during the day would be more inconvenient.
The scorching sun would be up and thousands of people would then be at the shrine. I was amazed by the sight that greeted us. The shrine was a big park with concrete benches and an ancient fortress brick wall that reminded me of Intramuros.
In the middle of the wide wall, the image of the Blessed Mother was majestically ensconced. And at that very early dawn, I was surprised with hundreds of devotees already queuing to light their votive candles, to pray and to pay homage to their patroness.
I did what they did. And what a feeling! What a sight! Serene and spiritually fulfilling. That became my most glorious experience during my recent stay in Zamboanga.
Not only at the Fort did I witness the religious fervor of the Zamboangueños. I saw it on the streets during the traditional procession and even during the street dancing competition.
Every dancing contingent was preceded or followed by a dray bearing an iconic representation of the Lady of the Pillar. Ergo, the storylines depicted her adulation.
The costumes, the dances and the flowers were doubtlessly hispanic. I found out this was a contest requirement. And a smart one. It made the festival unique and different from the other festivals in the Philippines as the dancers minced, sashayed and twirled in their colorful, layered, voluminous costumes to latin beats and joyful Spanish tunes.
My favorites emerged as winners, namely; Universidad de Zamboanga (formerly Zamboanga A. E. Colleges), Zamboanga City High School and Dr. Pablo Lorenzo
Memorial High School.
On the other hand, the Festival's Float Parade told a different story. Although the floats were florally dressed, it depicted the city's architectural landmarks, which are colonial and hispanic.
Like most festivals and fiestas in the country, the celebration is never complete without a beauty pageant. So they had one for the title of Miss Zamboanga. Unlike in other places, it was not organized by the local government or by the festival committee. For more than a decade, the search was single-handedly undertaken by an individual, Sonny Villares who invited me and Mindanao's famous dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Neil Oropesa to sit as judges.
The two of us were astounded for several reasons. First, Zamboanga has four big convention halls. The competition was held in the city's latest, Astoria Regency. Second, there were beautiful contestants. From the point of view of the colonized Filipino, these are the mestizas of which Zamboanga boasts to have a lot. Thus, it has long been called the City of Flowers. Third, there was a swimsuit parade.
The candidates clad in skimpy black bikini comfortably and nonchalantly glided and posed on stage. Dr. Neil was approvingly smiling for such he did not find in the Mutya ng Davao while I was contemplating and appreciating the conservative Filipino culture particularly of the religious Zamboangueños who did not raise a fuss about it.
Perhaps all these are reflective of the mystique of the city and its people as well as their ability to quietly and unperturbedly blend the old and the new. A reason they have remained cheerful, radiant and progressive. And this was so succinctly captured in their Festival theme: "Alegria, alegria! Adelante Zamboanga!" Hola! Zamboanga! I will be back for further exhilarating experience and discovery.
