Pagadian

關於Pagadian

Pagadian, officially the City of Pagadian, is a component city and the capital of the province of Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. It is the regional center of Zamboanga Peninsula and the second-largest city in the region, after the independent city of Zamboanga. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 206,483 people. The city will be converted into a highly urbanized city by virtue of Proclamation No. 1247, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on November 8, 2021. But it shall still take effect after ratification in a plebiscite.

Pagadian began as a stop-over for traders who plied the road between the old Spanish fort-town of Zamboanga on the southwestern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula and other bigger towns to the north of the old Zamboanga Province. Except for its sheltered bay and good fishing grounds, it was not a promising site because it is situated on steeply rolling terrain. In the course of its local history, waves of different kinds of people came to stay and eventually called themselves "Pagadianons".

The iconic symbol of Pagadian is its uniquely designed tricycle built to adapt to the city's hilly terrain. It is the only place in the Philippines with a public transport vehicle inclined at about a 25-40° angle. In recent years, these iconic inclined public transport have been slowly being replaced by modernized tricycles that are locally called "bao-bao", a kind of auto rickshaw, due to the latter's fuel-efficiency, less noise and being environment-friendly due to its smoke-less emissions.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.