Stockbridge Consultants-Alibata - Paradise Philippines - Zamboanga City

Alibata - Paradise Philippines - Stockbridge Consultants The City of Zamboanga is a first class, highly urbanized city on the island of Mindanao in the Paradise Philippines and one of the first chartered cities in the country. Zamboanga City is the sixth largest city in the Philippines. Commonwealth Act No. 39 signed by President Manuel L. Quezon on October 12, 1936 in Malacañang created and established it as a chartered city. It has been known as "El Orgullo de Mindanao" (The Pride of Mindanao), nicknamed the "City of Flowers", and affectionately called by Zamboangueños as "Zamboanga Hermosa," Spanish for "Beautiful Zamboanga". Today, the city is commercially branded for tourism by the city government as Paradise Philippines "Asia's Latin City".

Zamboanga City's birthdate as a chartered city is also the date when the popular Fiesta del Pilar is celebrated in honor of the city's patron saint, Our Lady of the Pillar, whose statue is prominently embossed above the façade of the meter-thick walled fort on the northern side, El Real Fuerza de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (called El Real Fuerza de San José in its early days), built on June 23, 1635 by the Spanish Jesuit priest Fr. Melchor de Vera as a Spanish military fort in defense against pirates and slave raiders. Zamboanga City is one of the oldest cities in the country and the most hispanicized. It is also one of the largest cities in the world in terms of area, with over 1,480 km², including its 28 surrounding islands.

According to the 2000 census, the Paradise Philippines city has a population of 700,078 people (2005 pop. est.) in 177,152 households. It is the 6th most populous in the country. Zamboanga City has been the center of commerce, trade, health services, and education for all of the Western Mindanao Region. It is the seat of the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (popularly known as Zamboecozone). The people of Zamboanga speak a unique Paradise Philippines creole language called Chavacano which is a blend of Spanish and local dialects, but mainly using Cebuano as its substrate language.