TheZamboangueño people (Chavacano:Pueblo Zamboangueño), are acreole ethnolinguistic people of thePhilippines originating inZamboanga City. Like most lowland people in the Philippines, the Zamboangueño people are a hispanized people. They areSubanon people who were hispanized and had relationships with other ethnic groups brought in Zamboanga city during the Spanish colonial period. Unlike the hispanized groups in Luzon and the Visayas who retained their indigenous languages, the Zamboangueño were not able to teach their indigenous Subanon language to the younger generation, resulting to the absorption of Spanish as their first language under colonial rule, which eventually led to the development of a creole language calledChavacano. Some places who were heavily hispanized during Spanish rule also speak Chavacano such asIloilo City,Bacolod,Dumaguete,Cebu City, andCavite City,[1] although the language most spoken in those cities are the original native languages of the natives, rather than a colonial language. In many cases, the number of people who speak the colonial language of Chavacano in those cities have fallen as the people have gradually re-embraced the language of their indigenous ancestors.[2]
The Zamboangueño people constitute a distinct ethnolinguistic identity under a cultural and historical heritage based mostly on Spanish colonialism and influence, most notablyChavacano, that distinguishes them from neighboring ethnolinguistic groups. Spanish censuses records previously claimed that about a third of the inhabitants ofZamboanga City has someIberian andHispanic-American admixture by 1870.[3] This question on genetics was later clarified in 2021. As a result of Spanish colonization, according to a recent genetic study, "4 out of 10 individuals tested among Chavacanos" had large "West Eurasian ancestry" admixture.[4]
The present-day location was Zamboanga city was historically part of the Subanon people's ancestral lands. Under Spanish colonial rule, the colonial official subjugated the indigenous Subanons and instructed the building ofFort Pilar using native people for labor. People from other regions were afterwards sent to the colony. The main purpose of the fort was to expand Spain's colonial rule in the region and to guard the Spanish forces from the Moros (Muslims) who mostly came from the Sulu archipelago. Native laborers fromIloilo City,Cavite City,Cebu City,Bohol,Negros and other islands were brought to the city to build the fort through thepolo y servicio, a colonial system which forced natives to become laborers of the Spanish colonizers without any form of compensation. Eventually, these people settled in the city and lived alongside and intermarried with other ethnic groups, primarily the indigenous peoples of Zamboanga, the Subanon. A few Spanish personnel from Spain[5] andPeru were brought to Zamboanga. It is not known if they stayed and intermixed in the city.[6] Later, the people of the city were called Chavacanos or Zamboangueños, who gradually developed a colonial language called Chavacano, acreole which became the city'slingua franca and the official language of the short-livedRepublic of Zamboanga during the Philippine Revolution.
The Zamboangueño or Chavacano people have their own kinship family system, cultural heritage includingfiestas andsiestas culture, which are hispanized in nature due to colonialism. There are still Subanon traits in their heritage, which is the basis for their ancestral roots. Their social lives usually revolve around religious practices and traditions such as thebantayanon andfondas, including theirbailes, thevals,regodon andpaso doble. They are mostly Roman Catholics. The Zamboangueños or Chavacanos inBasilan, who have Yakan and Subanon roots, have developed their own sub-culture.
Chavacano is thelingua franca utilized by the Zamboangueño or Chavacano people due to Spanish colonialism. The original language of the people is theSubanon language.[7]
Zamboangueño courtship traditions are elaborate and regulated by a long list of required social graces. For example, a perfectly respectable Zamboangueño gentleman (caballero) would not sit unless permitted to do so by the woman's parents, he then had to endure questions pertaining to his family, credentials and occupation. Finally, the courtship curfew and the need to cultivate the goodwill of all the members of the woman's family were paramount considerations before any headway could be made in pursuing the hand of a Zamboangueño/Chavacano woman (señorita’) in marriage.
A Zamboangueño woman performing thejota zamboangueña dance.
Zamboangueño songs and dances are derived primarily from Iberian performances. Specifically, thejota zamboangueña, a Zamboangueño version of the quick-steppingflamenco with bamboo clappers in lieu of Spanish castanets, are regularly presented duringfiestas and formaltertulias or other Zamboangueño festivities.
Likewise, Zamboangueño traditional costumes are closely associated with Spanish formal dress. Men wear close-necked jackets as they calledcamiseta Zamboangueña,de bastón pants, and European style shoes, complete with the de-rigueurbigotillos (mustache). Zamboangueño women claim ownership of themascota, a formal gown with a fitting bodice, her shoulders draped demurely by a luxuriously embroidered, though stiff,pañuelo and fastened at the breast by a brooch or a medal. The skirt tapers down from the waist but continues on to an extended trail called thecola. Thecola may be held on one hand as the lady walks around, or it may likewise by pinned on the waist or slipped up a cord (belt) that holds the daintyabanico or purse. The traditional Zamboangueño dress has been limited to formal functions, replaced by the more common shirt, denim jeans, and sneakers for men, and shirts, blouses, skirts or pants, and heeled shoes for women.
There are several important events of the festival that can be witnessed duringHoly Week (Chavacano/Spanish:Semana Santa). These include watching films (magá película) about Jesus and his teachings,visitaiglesias, processions, novenas and the climbing and praying of theStations of the Cross (Estaciones de la Cruz) in Mt. Pulong Bato,Fiesta de Pilar (Spanish:Fiesta del Pilar), afestivity in honour ofOur Lady of the Pillar (Zamboangueño:Nuestro Señora de Pilar; Spanish:Nuestra Señora del Pilar) and Zamboanga Day (Día de Zamboanga) and Day of the Zamboangueños (Día del magá Zamboangueño) which is celebrated every August 15 every year for the foundation of Zamboanga city on August 15, 1635.
Zamboangueño celebrate Christmas in so many unique ways such as thevillancicos/aguinaldos o pastores this also includes the Día de Navideña andPascua,Nochebuena,fiestas,vísperas, Diana,Misa,magá juego, processions and feasting.
There are Zamboangueños who are famous for their fields of endeavor, especially in music, entertainment, sports, and politics. These are the following:
Chris Cayzer – Aficionado Perfumes model and singer, who had his first concert in Zamboanga in July 2007 with Lovi Poe, another Aficionado model, and singer/actress. His Zamboangueño parents were based in Australia, where he grew up.
George Christian T. Chia (born August 19, 1979), better known as Gec Chia, is a Filipino business executive and former professional basketball player.
Armarie "Arms" Cruz – one of the "Final 12" and the lone Mindanao bet of Philippine Idol First Season.
A. Z. Jolicco Cuadra (May 24, 1939 inZamboanga City – April 30, 2013 inCalamba) was a poet and artist, art critic, essayist, and short story writer. He was known as the "enfant terrible of Philippine art" in the 1960s, and his good looks and writings dubbed him theByron of Philippine literature.
Roberto Gomez – World Pool nine ball 2007 runner-up. Beaten By Daryl Peach onto the finals 17–15.
Winner Jumalon is a multi-award-winning Filipino contemporary visual artist based in Manila. His works of oil and encaustic on canvas have been described as "latecapitalist masterpieces marred by illogical marks, haze, and aggregations of reality that not only displaces portraiture as the totemic symbols of power and status but questions the formation of identity itself as the trap where man cannot go forward".[15]
Alfonso R. Márquez[19] (born March 29, 1938), better known asAlfonso "Boy" Marquez, is aFilipino former basketball player and coach. Marquez was born inZamboanga City, Philippines.
Christian Morones is a teen housemate inPinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7. He's dubbed as theCourtside Kusinero of Zamboanga because of him being a varsity basketball athlete on his school as well as being fond of cooking. Kusinero is a Filipino word for Chef.
Yong Muhajil is a teen housemate inPinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7. Dubbed as the “Pag-A-Son ng Angkan ng Zamboanga”, likes to help his family do household chores such as to cook and to fetch water.
Alberto Nogar – (weightlifter) bronze medalist 1958 third Asian Games Tokyo, Japan, fifth place 1958 World Weightlifting Championship Stockholm, Sweden, eighth place 1960 Rome Olympiad, 1960 Philippine Sportswriters Association Weightlifter of the Year
Harry Tañamor (born August 20, 1977) is an amateurboxer fromZamboanga City, Philippines best known to medal repeatedly on the world stage at light flyweight.
Simeon Toribio – Filipino High Jumper, 1932 Olympics Bronze Medallist in Athletics. He later settled in Bohol and represented it in Congress.
^Letter from Fajardo to Felipe III From Manila, August 15, 1620.(From the Spanish Archives of the Indies)("The infantry does not amount to two hundred men, in three companies. If these men were that number and Spaniards, it would not be so bad; but, although I have not seen them, because they have not yet arrived here, I am told that they are, as at other times, for the most part,boys, mestizos, and mulattoes, with some Indians. There is no little cause for regret in the great sums that reënforcements of such men waste for, and cost, your Majesty. I cannot see what betterment there will be until your Majesty shall provide it, since I do not think, that more can be done in Nueva España, although the viceroy must be endeavoring to do so, as he is ordered.")
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