Zamboanga is a former province of the Philippines located in the western region of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

During the time of the United States' purchase of the Philippines of 1898, the Republic of Zamboanga had its own independence and jurisdiction on what is now Zamboanga City. After the dissolution of the republic, Zamboanga was eventually consolidated into one major administrative area by the American government of the Philippines, consisting of an enormous region that was the Mindanao island's western peninsula, Basilan island, and the entire Sulu archipelago, with the ancient namesake town–fort of Zamboanga as the seat of its government, and was called the Moro Province of the Philippines.

The Moro Province, in 1914 was replaced by the Department of Mindanao and Sulu. It was divided into Zamboanga, Sulu, Cotabato, Davao, Agusan and Surigao. The town of Zamboanga as its capital. Luis Lim was appointed as the first governor of Zamboanga.

In 1920, the Department of Mindanao and Sulu was officially dissolved and Zamboanga became an independent province and in 1922, elections were held for the first elected provincial officials of Zamboanga. Florentino Saguin was elected as first elected governor.

Roseller Tarroza Lim (February 9, 1915 – July 5, 1976) was a Filipino politician who served as a member of the Senate and House of Representatives from 1949 to 1963. He also served as Court of Appeals Justice from his appointment in 1973 until his death. Lim was known as the "Great Filibuster," after he filibustered for more than 18 hours in an attempt to prevent the election of Ferdinand Marcos as President of the Senate.

Roseller Lim was born to Antonio Lim and Mercedes Tarroza. He earned his law degree from Silliman University in 1940, and passed the bar the same year. He married Amy Schuck of Jolo, Sulu and had five children — Rosamy, Mercibel, Victoria, Roseller Jr., and Amy. Lim was the first Senator to served from the city of Zamboanga.

Lim was a member of the Nacionalista Party and was first elected as representative of the Lone District of Zamboanga in 1949. In his first term in office, he authored the law that divided the province of Zamboanga into the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur. He won another term in 1953, this time as representative of the Lone District of Zamboanga del Sur. Halfway through his term, he ran and won as senator in 1955, to complete the unexpired two years of Carlos P. Garcia's term, who was elected Vice President in 1953. Lim was instrumental in the election of the Philippines into the International Labor Organization governing body in 1957. He won reelection in 1957 for a full six-year term, but lost in his bid for another term in 1963. Lim also authored the Barrio Charter Law, which served as the basis of the current barangay governments.