Speech by Mayor Maria Clara L. Lobregat at the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ Centennial Tribute to Zamboanga City, BPI Zamboanga Main Branch, 13 November 1998.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands, the Philippines’ oldest bank, is as much a part of Zamboanga history as are Fort Pilar and the City Hall. BPI came to Zamboanga in 1912 during the American regime. The bank has seen our community develop from a small town of calesas and wooden houses to the bustling modern city that it is today.

In the Zamboanga City of the present a bank can be found in nearly every corner of the urban center. In the early days, when a person thought of a bank it was the Bank of the Philippine Islands. The BPI was THE bank as far as the local residents of that time were concerned.

The BPI is close to my heart. This special affinity began when I was a child growing up in Zamboanga City before the war. I was a frequent visitor in the bank, spending many an afternoon and evening in this very building. The BPI officers of the time were good friends of my parents, and my father and mother were often invited to dinner and social functions in the manager’s residence on the second floor. I would be taken along in those visits, and I played with the officers’ children while our elders socialized.

One of BPI’s early managers was Mr. Carlos Dominguez, who was the grandfather of the former presidential assistant for Mindanao Paul Dominguez and the former Philippine Airlines President Sonny Dominguez. The Dominguezes are today a prominent family in Davao, but they used to be Zamboanga residents. Mr. Carlos Dominguez served as BPI Zamboanga manager before and after the Second World War. Our family, the Lorenzos, was very close with the Dominguezes. My mother was particularly fond of Mr. Carlos Dominguez’s wife, Doña Mary Ong Dominguez.

Another bank officer I remember from the days of my youth was Mr. Sainz, who was also my father’s good friend. After the war there was Mr. Rafael Paredes, who was succeeded by Mr. Perfecto Marquez. Good people have served as BPI executives in our city, including the present one, Mr. Enrique Yap Jr. I am proud to consider them as friends. Their high standing in the community reflects the bank’s own eminent position both as a business establishment and as an historic institution.

Zamboanga City is honored that BPI has chosen it to be one of the places where the bank is staging centennial shows and tributes. This ceremony is yet another testament to the significant role that Zamboanga has played in the evolution of the independent Philippine republic.

Zamboanga is one city that wears its history on its sleeves, in a manner of speaking. The relics of the past remain on our landscape, in our culture and traditions, and in the language that we speak. Zamboanga was the Spanish foothold on the southern tip of the archipelago. Under the American colonial government, it was the seat of the Moro Province that encompassed the whole of Mindanao. At the height of the Spanish presence in these islands, Zamboanga was el leal y valiente villa – the brave and loyal city – but it was here that the Spanish occupation of the Philippines came to an end.

For us Zamboangueños, the awareness of history does not begin and end with the centennial. History is a living presence in our territory. Today history, with all its violence and agony as well as its opportunities for gain and glory, continues to be made here – and the circumstances of the past are still shaping and influencing current happenings and choices. Only time can tell where it will lead us.

On behalf of the government and people of Zamboanga City, I wish to thank the Bank of the Philippine Islands management for giving this special tribute to our city, for the gift of the Philippine Centennial Maxi Swatch, for the distribution of Philippine flags to our local schools and for the presentation of the original music composition in honor of the city. These are beautiful and meaningful offerings that we shall treasure as much as we treasure our history.

Muchas gracias, BPI. Zamboanga and the bank have a come a long way together – and there’s still a long journey ahead for the both of them.

A good day to all.