Traversing Zamboanga Peninsula was one of those unforgettable travels during the late 90’s. Driving through the rough roads from Ipil, Zamboanga , passing the towns of RT Lim, Siocon, Vitali then finally reaching the bustling city of Zamboanga. We wondered how our Mitsubishi L-300 Diesel Engine was able to overcome all those rugged terrains and unbearable ditches, passable only by trucks with engines like Fuso Fighters, 4BC2 Isuzu , that powered those Fish Cargo Trucks plying on the same road. On those travels, were only the roaring sound of our car engine and the music from our car stereo had interrupted the deafening silence of the inner forests of Vitali. There were instances that we had passed some trucks that were bogged down in the midst of that wilderness, some were abandoned to rot in the place. In such wilderness, some 200 kilometers away from the city, any chance of getting an early rescue and troubleshooting was next to impossible.
I can recall our death-defying climb on that notorious Tuktuk Kalaw, overcoming the slippy sludge that nearly disabled our tires' grip against the slimy unpaved road, a smoke of carbon had filled the place as our engine accelerated to counter the pull while moving upward through those slow and calculated uphill climbs.
Then another peculiar incident was when we had passed the town of Vitali, our attention was glued to a woman walking on the roadside, slung on her shoulder was an undetermined long firearm, and she was wearing a tunic and a shoal covered her face. I was wondering if she was a lady combatant, or what? Those were the days of the peaceful commencement of President Ramos’ Zone of Peace and Development of which Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) was reactivated through the leadership of Prof. Nur Misuari of the MNLF.
That long and difficult off-road driving from Ipil to Vitali lightens a little as we approached the town of Siocon, there the presence of a few and far between concrete paved roads were quite a convenience, we had accelerated our speed, rising up from the sluggish 20 kph. Upon reaching Zamboanga City, after those six-long-hours, body-beating driving, we rewarded ourselves with a budget meal from that famous fast food chain, at that time has not yet arrived in our place of origin. That off-road driving was indeed a morbid test of skills. I am lucky to get a clip of those similar travel, although 20 years ago the road trip from Ipil to Zamboanga was never as easy and comfortable as shown in the short film by another blogger. I give credit to the owner of this video: