Zamboanga City readies for Hermosa Festival in October

Nearly a year after surviving a three-week attack by followers of Moro National Liberation Front founder Nur Misuari, residents of Zamboanga City have started preparations for the Hermosa Festival, to be held in October.

Zamboangeño Romeo Abarro, a professional trainer from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), is training teachers for the street dance, the city government said.

“This year, the street dance is going to be distinctively Zamboangueño because it’s going to be a representation of the evolution of Subanon, the Maria Clara concept of the Zamboanga Spanish influence as a Latin as well as the Badjaos and Samals,” said Mayor Isabelle Climaco-Salazar in a post on her Facebook account.

Subanons are considered among the first inhabitants of Zamboanga, the center of Subanen tribe and culture during the pre-Hispanic times.

The Hermosa festival, also known as Fiesta Pilar, is a month-long celebration honoring the Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the patroness of the city, on October 12. — Joel Locsin/BM, GMA News