City Profile

Pagadian, officially the City of Pagadian (Cebuano: Dakbayan sa Pagadian; Subanen: Gembagel G’benwa Pagadian/Bagbenwa Pagadian; Filipino: Lungsod ng Pagadian), is a 2nd class 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 and in the province, after the independent city of Zamboanga. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 210,452 people.  The city will be converted to a highly urbanized city by the virtue of Proclamation No. 1247, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte dated November 8, 2021, but shall take effect after the ratification in a plebiscite.

Pagadian began as 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 among themselves “Pagadianons”.

The iconic symbol of Pagadian is its uniquely designed tricycle built to adopt to the city’s hilly terrain. It is the only place in the Philippines with a public transport inclined at about 25-40° angle