Zamboangueño people
Geographic extent of the Zamboangueño people
Total population
3.5 million
Regions with significant populations
 Philippines
(Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Metro Manila)
Languages
Chavacano, Spanish, Filipino, English
Religion
predominantly Christianity (Roman Catholic majority and Protestant minority), Islam, Paganism, others

The Zamboangueño people (Chavacano: Pueblo Zamboangueño), are a creole ethnolinguistic nation of the Philippines originating in Zamboanga City. Spanish censuses records previously showed that as much as one-third of the inhabitants of the city of Zamboanga possess varying degrees of Iberian and Hispanic-American admixture.[1] In addition to this, select cities such as Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Cebu, and Cavite, which were home to military fortifications and/or commercial ports during the Spanish era also hold sizable mestizo communities.[2]

The Zamboangueño nation constitute an authentic and distinct ethnolinguistic identity because of their coherent cultural and historical heritage, most notably Chavacano, that distinguishes them from neighboring ethnolinguistic nations. As a result of Spanish colonization, according to a genetic study written by Maxmilian Larena, published in the 2021 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, the Philippine ethnic groups with the highest amount of Spanish/European descent are the Zamboangueño, with 4 out of 10 Zamboangueños being of Spanish descent (40% of the population), this is followed by Bicolanos, with 2 out of 10 Bicolanos being of Spanish descent (20% of the population). Meanwhile, there are "some" Spanish descended people among the other lowland Christianized Filipino ethnic groups.[3]

Ethnogenesis

People from other ethnolinguistic nations came to Zamboanga when the construction of the present-day Fort Pilar began. The colonial Spanish government ordered the construction of a military fort to guard off the city from Moro pirates and slave raiders of Sulu. Labourers from Panay, Cavite, Cebu, Bohol, Negros and other islands were brought to the city to help build the fort.

Eventually, these people settled in the city to live alongside and intermarried with other ethnolinguistic nations, primarily among the Subanon ethnic group, whose entire ethnicity descended from one clan is a grand claim. (from the Royal ethnic lineage of Macombong and Tongab whose father is Shariff Bungsu of Bruneian royalty and mother is Princess Nayac, the daughter of the late King of Kingdom of Jambangan, Datu Timuay of the Subanon people who are the ancestors together with other ethnolinguistic nation - the Lutao,). Together, they would form the nucleus of the present-day Zamboangueño people. To this nucleus were added the descendants of laborers from Iloilo City in Panay and of soldiers from New Spain[4] and Peru.[5]

Through intermarriage, Visayans, Hispano-Americans and with the Spanish, they created a new culture which gradually developed a distinct identity—the Zamboangueños (Zamboangueño: magá/maná Zamboangueños; Spanish: Zamboangueños). Furthermore, because these people come from different islands and even nations and spoke different languages, they together developed a new pidgin language called Chavacano. Chavacano then evolved into a full-fledged Spanish-based creole to become the lingua franca of Zamboanga City and then the official language of the Republic of Zamboanga.

Culture

The character of the Zamboangueño people are unique as we can say for their kinship family system, love for one's cultural heritage, propensity for extravagance, fiestas and siestas, as well as aristocratic behaviour. While their social lives usually revolve around religious practices, the tradition of the bantayanon and fondas, includes their bailes the vals, regodon and paso doble. They are mostly devout Roman Catholics.

The Zamboangueños of Basilan have, of late, also acquired more globalized tastes in cuisine, fashion, and customs.

Language

The extent of Chavacano speakers in Mindanao.

Chavacano is the native language of the Zamboangueño people. A conglomeration of 90% traditional Spanish and 10% influences from other Romance languages such as French, Portuguese, Italian and Native American such as Nahuatl, Taíno, Quechua et al. and Austronesian languages such as Binisaya (mainly Cebuano and Ilonggo), Tagalog, Subanon, Tausūg, Yakan, Sama and Malay.[6]

Courtship etiquette

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 lineage, 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 a Zamboangueño señorita’s hand in marriage.

Dance

A Zamboangueño woman performing the jota zamboangueña dance.

Zamboangueño songs and dances are derived primarily from Iberian performances. Specifically, the jota zamboangueña, a Zamboangueño version of the quick-stepping flamenco with bamboo clappers in lieu of Spanish castanets, are regularly presented during fiestas and formal tertulias or other Zamboangueño festivities.

Clothing

Likewise, Zamboangueño traditional costumes are closely associated with Spanish formal dress. Men wear close-necked jackets as they called camiseta Zamboangueña, de bastón pants, and European style shoes, complete with the de-rigueur bigotillos (mustache). Zamboangueño women claim ownership of the mascota, 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 the cola. The cola 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 dainty abanico 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.

Festivals

There are several important events of the festival that can be witnessed during Holy 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 the Stations of the Cross (Estaciones de la Cruz) in Mt. Pulong Bato, Fiesta de Pilar (Spanish: Fiesta del Pilar), a festivity in honour of Our 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 and ethnogenesis of the Zamboangueño people on August 15, 1635.

Zamboangueño celebrate Christmas in so many unique ways such as the villancicos/aguinaldos o pastores this also includes the Día de Navideña and Nochebuena, fiestas, vísperas, Diana, Misa, magá juego, processions and feasting.

Cuisine

Zamboangueño cuisine includes in its repertoire curacha, calamares, tamales, locón, cangrejos, paella, estofado, arroz a la valenciana, caldo de vaca/cerdo/pollo, puchero, caldo de arroz, lechón, jamonadas, endulzados, embutido, adobo, afritadas, menudo, caldereta, jumbá, Leche Flan and many more.

Notable persons

There are Zamboangueños who are famous for their fields of endeavor, especially in music, entertainment, sports, and politics. These are the following:

References

  1. Jagor, Fëdor, et al. (1870). The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes
  2. Institute for Human Genetics, University of California San Francisco (2015). ""Self-identified East Asian nationalities correlated with genetic clustering, consistent with extensive endogamy. Individuals of mixed East Asian-European genetic ancestry were easily identified; we also observed a modest amount of European genetic ancestry in individuals self-identified as Filipinos"
  3. Maximilian Larena (January 21, 2021). "Supplementary Information for Multiple migrations to the Philippines during the last 50,000 years (Page 35)" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. p. 35. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  4. 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.")
  5. "SECOND BOOK OF THE SECOND PART OF THE CONQUESTS OF THE FILIPINAS ISLANDS, AND CHRONICLE OF THE RELIGIOUS OF OUR FATHER, ST. AUGUSTINE" (Zamboanga City History) "He (Governor Don Sebastían Hurtado de Corcuera) brought a great reënforcement of soldiers, many of them from Perú, as he made his voyage to Acapulco from that kingdom."
  6. "El Torno Chabacano". Instituto Cervantes.
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  19. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alfonso Márquez". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016.
  20. Vera, Noel (June 28, 2012). "The Quiet Man Passes". Business World Philippines. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
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