Fort Pilar

Establishment

In 1635, upon the requests of the Jesuit missionaries and Bishop Fray Pedro of Cebu, the Spanish governor of the Philippines Juan Cerezo de Salamanca (1633–1635) approved the building of a stone fort in defense against pirates and raiders from the sultanates of Maguindanao and Sulu. The cornerstone of the fort, originally called Real Fuerte de San José ("Royal Fort of Saint Joseph"), was laid by Melchor de Vera, a Jesuit priest-engineer, on June 23, 1635, which also marks the founding of Zamboanga as a city.^[3][4]

The construction of the early fort continued under the Governor-General Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera (1635–1644), previously governor of Panama. Insufficient manpower drove the import of laborers from Cavite, Cebu, Bohol, and Panay to help the Spaniards, Mexicans and Peruvians in construction of the fort. This period also marks the emergence of Zamboangueño Chavacano as a pidgin that eventually developed into a full-fledged creole language.

Early attacks

Fort San José was attacked by the Dutch Republic in 1646, and was later abandoned by Spanish troops who went back to Manila in 1662 to help fight the Chinese pirate Koxinga who had earlier defeated Dutch forced. In 1669, the Jesuit missionaries rebuilt the fort after pirates and raiders had again destroyed it.

In 1718–1719, it was rebuilt by Spaniard engineer Juan Sicarra upon the orders of Governor-General Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda and was renamed Real Fuerte de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza ("Royal Fort of Our Lady of the Pillar of Zaragoza"), after the Blessed Virgin Mary’s title as patroness of Spain. A year later, King Dalasi of Bulig and 3,000 Moro pirates attacked the fort; the defenders repulsed the attack.

In 1798 the British Royal Navy bombarded the fort but again it proved robust enough to repel the attack. Fort Pilar was the scene of a mutiny by 70 prisoners in 1872.^[4]

Marian apparitions

It was in 1734 when a relief of Our Lady of the Pillar was set above the eastern wall of the fort, making it an outdoor shrine with an altar. According to tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a soldier on December 6, 1734, at the city gate. The soldier asked her to stop, but upon recognizing her the man fell to his knees.

A similar but distinct narrative is described by American Captain John H. McGee, who relayed the story he heard while training soldiers at Fort Pilar, then called Pettit Barracks.^[5] According to that version, while Dutch ships were besieging the fort, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a Spanish soldier and "assured him victory if the beleaguered garrison held out." Accordingly, the shrine was built in commemoration of that event. It is unsure whether the Dutch attacks mentioend referred to the 1646-1648 Dutch attempts to take the fort.^[6]

At 1:14 PM on September 21, 1897, a strong earthquake struck the western region of Mindanao. The Virgin Mary allegedly appeared, and according to visionaries, she was midair over the Basilan Strait. She had her right hand raised to command the onrushing waves to stop, thus saving the city from a tsunami.^[7] When another another tsunami-causing earthquake struck the Moro Gulf at midnight on August 19, 1976, Mary was allegedly "once again seen over the sea, protecting people from the disaster."^[8]