Zamboanga yet to change

This southern Philippine town has changed little in more than a decade, and not because of any 'heritage' status.

AT the Zamboanga International Airport, there were more porters than passengers disembarking from the half-full Philippine Airlines Airbus 319 flight from Manila.

For a tip of between 50 and 100 pesos (between RM3.70 and RM7.40), porters will hustle to carry your bags.

Nothing has changed in Zamboanga City, I thought. After 11 years of absence, it was as if I had never left.

In 2000, I lived in the city for six months as I was assigned to cover the kidnapping of 21 people – including 10 foreign tourists – in Sipadan island, Sabah.

The Abu Sayyaf bandits smuggled the hostages to Jolo island in Sulu province about 150km from Zamboanga City in Mindanao, southern Philippines.

Zamboanga City is the twin city of Sandakan, an east coast town in Sabah.

If you took a night ferry from Sandakan to Zamboanga, you'll pass by islands such as Tawi Tawi, Jolo and Basilan (all under the ARMM or Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, a region carved out by a 1996 peace deal between the Moro National Liberation Front and the Philippine government).

The route is also the main migration passage from poverty-stricken Mindanao to prosperous Sabah.

The provinces – Tawi Tawi, Sulu and Basilan – are synonymous with the notorious Abu Sayyaf who make a living from kidnapping.

Zamboanga City reminds me of Sabah towns where everybody knows your name.

For example, in 2000, I hung out at Latitude, a downtown nightspot, and there were times when I would stumble into a rather smashed Congressman Celso Lobregat (now Zamboanga City mayor) in the CR (comfort room).

I was disappointed to find the hotel I used to stay in had become run down.

The curtains, I told my editor PK Katharason, knew me longer than Vera (my wife of six years). The same goes for the soiled bedsheets, 14-inch television and mouldy bathroom.

In fact, the once brand-new hotel had deteriorated to a point where the hot water system was not functioning.

Outside, it was pitch-dark. Brown-outs are a daily occurrence.

At a street corner in front of the hotel, while PK was buying some smuggled cigarettes, a street kid in her teens approached me.

"Do you like girls? You want sex?" she said, just as a motorised tricycle passed by, revealing her scruffy self.

"No," I said, as other street kids surrounded me, begging for pesos.

The next day we visited the fortress home of Lee Peng Wee, the richest man in the city.

In 2000, Lee helped to secure the release of the nine Malaysian hostages held in Jolo.

Over lunch that included canned milkfish from his Miko factory, I asked him how the economy of Zamboanga City was faring compared to a decade ago.

"Better," said the tycoon, "more jobs and investments are coming in."

The city's growth, said the 60-something businessman, was reflective of the country's five to six per cent growth forecast in 2012, making the Philippines one of the strongest-performing economies in Asia.

But, I said, except for the two new departmental stores and a new wing at the most luxurious hotel in the city, I felt Zamboanga had not changed.

Lee grinned and said: "Go to City Hall and nearby, there's a school with a billboard that records the number of killings in the city. It was put up after the dean of the school was killed this year."

The billboard stated: "Number of gunshot victims from January 1, 2012: 146 and still counting."

"Despite a gun ban in the city, people are still carrying guns," said Rodrigo Balbon, a 50-something aide of Lee, as we looked at the billboard.

The day before, at the newly-opened Gerry's Grill, Rodrigo told me that the city was the playground of warlords from Tawi Tawi, Sulu and Basilan.

"These politicians live in Zamboanga and they bring their family feuds to the city," he said, as he stabbed at his inihaw na pusit (grilled squid).

"There are so many killings because they have their fights here. One way to win an election is to kill your opponent."

A few minutes later, a 30-something mayor of a municipality in Tawi Tawi passed by our table and I was introduced to him, a scion of one of the three big families in the province.

"Please visit my island," said the mayor, who was guarded by two men armed with Baby Armalites (a short-barrel version of the M16).

Later, I was told that I would need "armed protection" if I ever planned to visit Tawi Tawi, which is closer to Sandakan than Zamboanga City.

"It has the best beaches in the Philippines. Better than Boracay as the white sands are untouched," said Rodrigo.

I asked the go-to man why my favourite hotel had deteriorated and I was told a story that was akin to a plot from a Filipino telenovela.

Editor's note: Next week the Zamboanga City story continues, with an illicit affair involving a businessman and the wife of a deputy mayor.

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