A weekend in the city of flowers, Zamboanga

I was in Zamboanga City over the weekend as it was a great opportunity to ride our big bikes to Zamboanga via Dipolog, after taking the ferry from Bato, Cebu to Dumaguete City. We were invited to Zamboanga City for the birthday of Mrs. Pilar Rojo-Tan, the mother of the twin brothers, Geo and Olay Tan. Geo married Karlie, my elder brother Bing’s daughter. With me on this ride was my brother Bing, Geo, my cousin Tony Segura, Boging Palacios, John Ruiz and John Yu. It is one of the longest bike rides we do, as from Cebu City to Zamboanga City; we got a total of 514 kilometers in the odometers of our bikes.

The longest stretch we experienced was the ride from Dipolog to Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay, which was our halfway mark. The weather was just cloudy until we entered Ipil where it rained hard. But thanks to the good roads, we had a very good ride, except for the flat tire that John Ruiz had on his Harley, which had to be loaded on the backup truck in Argao, Cebu.

Arriving in Zamboanga, Mrs. Pilar Tan treated us to a sumptuous dinner with a barrel of giant Talaba and King Crabs. It was her birthday last Monday and she treated us to a seafood lunch at the Lantaka’s Roof Garden, which boasts a terrific view of the island of Basilan. Of course Monday was Zamboanga’s Fiesta Hermosa 2010 where much of the streets in the downtown area were closed for a festive parade.

Few people remember that when Cebu wasn’t even on the tourism radar screen, Zamboanga was the tourist destination of choice, especially by Philippine Airlines (PAL). After all, Zamboanga is the City of Flowers and colorful Moro Vintas dot the seaside. Zamboanga then was a shopper’s paradise with the famous Barter Trade zone. In fact, I had my honeymoon in Zamboanga Plaza Hotel because my wife Jessica wanted to have a honeymoon and business at the same time… but that was a long time ago.

Today, thanks to the Abu Sayyaf and other Muslim extremists, we see few foreign tourists go to Zamboanga not because they are operating in Zamboanga City, but rather most news sources use Zamboanga as the staging area for their reports. It is akin to saying that Borongan, Samar is the place that’s always hit by typhoons, but the reality is Borongan is only the reference point used by PAGASA when a storm enters the Philippine area of responsibility.

But the domestic tourism in Zamboanga has improved a lot… after all; the Barter Trade zone (it has moved to another location since the fire) is still around selling imported items. Even the Garden Orchid Hotel owned by the family of Olay’s wife Lizette Go has expanded their hotel to ten floors already. Above all, the seafood in Zamboanga is still to die for!

Incidentally, I met a friend, Mr. Edward Chiong last August when we took a weekend retreat at the Opus Dei House in Bukidnon. Since he is from Zamboanga, I texted Edward that I was in town and he dropped by the Tan residence to see me. Edward reminded me that then candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III came to Zamboanga to discern his fate and ask God whether he should run for President or not? Then he told me that he was close to the Carmelite nuns in Zamboanga, hence I asked if I could go and talk to someone there.

So last Monday at 10:30 I met one of the nuns whom then candidate P-Noy had a dialogue with, but I’m not at liberty to divulge her name. I just wanted to know from her if P-Noy was a prayerful person. She said he was and that God talks to him. That information was quite comforting as it was the first time that I learned that we have a President who prays. So if P-Noy communes with the Lord, I just wish that he won’t go against God’s will.

I asked the Sister whether she still communicates with the President and I learned that every now and then they text each other. When I asked her if she advises him on certain things, this humble nun replied, “Who am I to give advices? P-Noy is a prayerful man and talks to God, so I’m sure that he listens to God.” We chatted for more than an hour, not about P-Noy, but about spirituality and how poorly educated are today’s Catholics, not only about Catholic doctrines, but also about life in general.

Later, Edward Chiong gathered some Zamboanga businessmen to hear two noted Manila businessmen, Aton C. Atillano of Kohl Industries (who originally came from Zamboanga) and Gerry Reyes of UFC, Phils to talk about current events and compare notes. Then without warning, they asked me to speak before the group on the ill-effects of the RH bill from the perspective of a layman who embraces Catholic doctrines. What I gave them was similar to what I talked about when Radio Veritas interviewed me last Friday morning, that we don’t need the RH bill just to please the US. That the Philippines should be unique, meaning no RH or divorce bills!

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