170. THE PETIT CARNIVALS OF ZAMBOANGA, part 2

ZAMBOANGUENA HERMOSA. Her Royal Highness Margarita Macrohon, queen of the 1934 Petit Carnival of Zamboanga.

The election of the Queen of the 1934 Petit Carnival of Zamboanga started in the second quarter of 1933, and by September 1933, the first canvassing of votes for the candidates was already undertaken. The five leading candidates were Remedios Caballero (510 votes), Marietta Hamoy (450 votes), Margarita Macrohon (310 votes), J. Torres (280 votes) and J. Marin (120 votes).

On October 28, the 9th counting showed a change in leadership with Margarita Macrohon on top with a whopping 8000 votes, followed by newcomer Susie Galle, Marietta Hamoy, Adela Johnston, Ella Varian and Remedios Caballero at the tail-end.

More concrete plans were also drawned up by the Carnival committee and exposed to the public by November. Local residents, however, raised eyebrows at the idea of a cabaret-style pavilion as one of the attractions of the petit carnival. Inter-school dance and costume contests were also planned, using the Manila program as the model.

The final tabulation to determine the 1934 Zamboanga Carnival Queen was done six days before Christmas. Margarita Macrohon was the runaway winner with 47, 470 votes. Her elected princesses were Remedios Caballero (2nd, with 23,810 votes) and Susie Galle (a close 3rd, with 21,810 votes).

Margarita Macrohon was already a popular young woman of Zamboanga society when she became queen. She had participated in the 1929 fiesta of the city’s patron Virgen del Pilar, crowning the “Princesa Floral” of the fiesta. She also joined the the Declamation Contest, a talent that ran in her family (brother Jun was a champion orator of Ateneo de Zamboanga).

In the Fancy Ball dance contests, Tetuan Elementary School placed first with their “Clown Dance” (under Maria Rodriguez), while the City School came in second with “Fairies Dance” (under Mary Hampton). In 3rd place was the contingent from Sta. Maria Elementary School with their “Russian Dance”.

When the fabulous Carnival of 1934 ended, the organizers realized a net profit of PhP 3.77 for their business venture—not exactly a great profit, but Zamboanga certainly had fun. And that was all that mattered.