EDGEDAVAO Serving a seamless society
Special Supplement
Old and new City Hall
Icons of Davao
C
LOSE to half a millennium after Sarangani found its way into Spanish chronicles, Davao, as a region, has slowly turned into a metropolitan hub. With six cities underscoring its socio-economic and demographic transformation, more urban settlements would rise in the next decade as the volume of investments shoots up.
The amazing makeover of Davao region, though, is best appreciated by the historical events, which serve as backdrop of its march towards progress. In particular, these episodes, brought together as a single catalyst, serve as the pedestal on which the region’s cultural heritage now stands proudly. To highlight this transformation, 20 places and 20 individuals, including groups of persons, have been chosen in no special order to give Edge Davao readers a broad perspective on how certain areas in the region were like in the eyes of foreigners, and what are the contributions of certain luminaries to the region’s impressive history. Landmarks
SARANGANI: This town, of then Davao del Sur and now Davao Occidental, is a cluster of islands, which takes pride as the first place in Davao region to have direct contact with the Spaniards. Antonio Pigafetta, the Venetian diarist of explorer Ferdinand Magellan, wrote that on October 16, 1521 “we entered a port between the two islands Sarangani and Candigar (Balut), and cast anchor to the east, near a village of Sarangani, where pearls and gold are found.” DAVAO GULF: In pre-colonial times, it was known as Tagalook, a rich source of biao (beeswax). The Dutch in the late 16th century called it Boutuan (Boetuan) Bay. When the Spaniards arrived, they renamed it Seño de Davao. The Americans
By Antonio Vn. Figueroa
later called it Davao Gulf. More importantly, it is the source of the country’s first pearl export (1907) and the original “tuna capital” (1929).
IYO (HIJO): As a kingdom, Hijo was the original trading center in the gulf and a vital link to the Agusan River headwaters at the eastern sector of Tagum. In the August 30, 1628 report of Dutch merchant-sailor Daniel Ottens, it was identified as one of the negeris (districts), while Englishman Thomas Forrest, in his 1775 travelogue, cited Eu (Iho), along with Lupon and two other areas, as a settlement. PANTUKAN: The town, which got its name from pantuk, or shortcut, was the customary home of the Mansaka, shared in part by the Mandaya and the Kalagan who live on the coastlines. During the American Occupation, it was considered as the “abaca plantation in the east,” as opposed to Malita, the “abaca plantation of the west.” Since colonial times, Kingking, a village under it, has been known for its gold deposit.
LAPANDAY: Formerly known as Belen, the place was the site the first-ever abaca plantation of Davao in 1893. When Datu Bago was defeated by Spanish conquistador Don Jose Oyanguren, it was here that he hid before escaping to Bincungan, in Tagum City. Similarly, during World War II, the area bécame the hiding place for evacuees, mostly prominent families, displaced by the entry of Japanese forces in Davao City.
LIGGETT ISLAND: The land mass known as Ligid Island in the Island Garden City of Samal, was named after Lt. Gen. Hunter Liggett of the U.S. 31st Infantry, the first American military governor of Davao. In his honor, Fort Hunter Liggett, a base on California, Hunter Liggett Army Airfield at Fort Stewart, Liggett Hall on Governors Island in New York, and USS Hunter Liggett, a passen-
ger ship, were named after him.
DAVAO PENAL COLONY: Established on Jan. 21, 1932, this sprawling 5,212 hectares of land was reserved under Proclamation No. 414 and was placed under the justice department and the corrections bureau to train and reform inmates and to arm them with vocational skills and higher literacy. During the war, it was home to around 2,000 prisoners of war (POWs) and had an operational 3.5-km railroad.
ISING: This patch of land in Carmen, Davao del Norte, was where the historic “Battle of Ising” was fought. The U.S. 130th Infantry Regiment launched an offensive to clear the national highway of enemy obstacles. The battle took 10 days. The final conflict was tragic; more guerrillas were killed than Japanese. Despite the casualty, they stopped the enemy advance, thus hastening the liberation of Davao City.
DIGOS CITY: One of its villages bécame the site of the carnage known as the “Digos or Rano Massacre.’ Thirty-nine Sunday mass churchgoers of a small Protestant church were killed by the New People’s Army (NPA) in sitio Rano, barangay Binaton, on June 25, 1989, many of them children. Its pastor, Ruben Ayap, and his brother, were beheaded. The reason for the slaughter was the refusal of leaders to cooperate with the rebels.
DAVAO PEARL FARM: Then known as Aguinaldo Development Corp., it hosted the first scientific cultivation of pearls in Davao Gulf. In 1958, a farm of 12,000 white-lipped oysters from the Sulu Sea was opened. The oysters could manufacture white, pink, or gold-lip pearls. It was owned by Daniel Aguinaldo, a Manila trader after whom the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School (DRANHS) is named.
Icons P2