DE NAVIGATIONE: The Voyage of Faith Begins (Part 1 of 2)

(This “History of Evangelization in the Archdiocese of Davao” is an ongoing project of the Archdiocesan Commission on the Cultural Heritage of the Church (ACCHC) under the supervision of Fr. Russell A. Bantiles, PhD, its current director.)

(First of two parts)

As American historian John Hope Franklin rightly observed: “The writing of history reflects the interests, predilections, and even prejudices of a given generation”. We may say, one generation has passed already since the first missionaries set foot in our beloved land. Today, as the Archdiocese of Davao celebrates its Diamond Jubilee, to raise our thanksgiving to God is our main interest, to express our gratitude to the missionaries, our basic predilection and to appreciate our history, our healthy prejudice. So, we take a look at our past to find direction and meaning to our present and to guide us into our future!

When Don Jose Oyanguren y Cruz, an entrepreneur and lawyer from the Basque territory, north of Spain, who stayed in Tandag and Bislig (ca 1830’s) and later served as juez de letrado (judge) in the first instance court of Tondo, Manila (1839-1846), obtained a special permission from then Governor General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua (1844-1949), on February 27, 1847, to organize an expedition and conquer the entire Taglooc Bay region (now Davao Gulf) and establish the Christian religion in the area, the evangelization of Davao became imminent.

Having earned the support of the Samales, the natives of Samal Island headed by Datu Daupan, who got interested with Oyanguren’s intention, Oyanguren waged war against the forces of the resistant Moro chieftain Datu Bago in 1848 and conquered the Moro settlement by the mouth of the Duhwow or Davoh river (now Davao River). Later, he established the Moro settlement with its surrounding high grounds as a town and changed its name into Nueva Vergara in honor of his own hometown. In the morning of June 29, 1848, gathering his men for thanksgiving prayers, Oyanguren dedicated the newly-established community to Saint Peter, the Apostle. At this point, the voyage of faith begun!

Immediately after Nueva Vergara was founded, Oyanguren deemed the presence of missionaries in the area to be of utmost importance. Initially, a Recollect missionary named Fray Francisco Lopez de San Antonio de Padua answered the first call to evangelize the area. Under his care, a bamboo and nipa church dedicated to San Pedro, Apostol was built for the celebration of the sacraments.

After Fr. Lopez passed away on April 20, 1849, another Recollect missionary, Fray Miguel Magallon de San Crispin, was appointed for Nueva Vergara. Accordingly, there were already 10,285 natives who embraced the Christian faith. They were the primary focus of the Recollect mission in evangelization and education. In 1860, the San Pedro Church was erected into a parish. In 1865, Nueva Vergara was placed under the jurisdiction of the newly-established Diocese of Jaro in Iloilo.

During the stint of the Recollect missionaries, the locals appealed for the change of the name from Nueva Vergara to Davao. Eventually, in 1867, the Spanish government officially gave Nueva Vergara its present name “Davao”, and the provincial name of Nueva Guipuzcoa was changed to “Davao Province”. Notwithstanding the signs of Moro resistance against the Spanish government in the new settlement, the evangelizing efforts of the Recollect missionaries yielded abundant fruits that succeeding missionaries would reap copiously as the Catholic faith continued to flourish in the land of Davao.

On June 1, 1868, upon the decision of the Recollect congregation authorities and in accordance with the Royal Decree, the Recollect Missionaries handed over the flock in Davao into the care of the Society of Jesus, who were sent as missionaries for the entire Davao province, the 4th military district of Mindanao, consisting of Cape Catarman (between today’s Surigao del Sur and Cateel, Davao Oriental), extending southwestward to Malaluna Point (in the present, South Cotabato). The Jesuits – Fr. Ramon Barua, Fr. Domingo Bove, Fr. Ramon Ramies, and the Coadjutor, Fr. Antonio Gairola – arrived on October 7, 1968 and continued what the Recollects had begun. Like the missionaries before them, they also experienced both resistance, like the disinterest of the natives of Samales, and steady progress, like the conversion of the Bagobos of the hinterlands of Apo and the locals along the Southern part of Davao coast from Piapi to Malalag. In the late 1800’s, Fr. Mateo Gisbert, SJ came and contributed a lot to the Jesuits’ evangelizing efforts, so that he was numbered among the most zealous missionaries in the Christianization of Davao.

With the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1898, the evangelizing activities in the region halted as missionary priests and some friars in Mindanao were recalled to Manila. Needless to say, the newly established missions were affected. In 1904, Fr. Gisbert returned to Mindanao, particularly to Davao, only to find out that some of the natives had already returned to the mountains and embraced their old beliefs. Far from being disheartened, the missionaries began the work of re-organizing and adjusting to the new situation, despite the scarcity of priests.

As the work of evangelization took its persistent strides, suggesting that it was the Lord who really worked hard, the first decade of the 20th century ushered in new developments in Davao. On April 10, 1910, Zamboanga became a diocese, the first in Mindanao. The mission in Davao was placed under the jurisdiction of the new diocese. Despite their reduced number, the Jesuits continued the work of evangelization in Davao delighting in the auspices of the new diocesan bishop.

In 1933, Bishop Luis del Rosario, SJ, the first Filipino bishop of the Diocese of Zamboanga, felt the need to request for additional missionaries to work in Davao. After several requests addressed to various missionary institutions and societies, finally, the Canadian-based missionaries known as the Société des Missions-Étrangères du Québec or the Foreign Mission Society of Quebec (PME), accepted the challenge to attend to the spiritual needs of the vast Zamboanga diocese. As the capital town of Davao became a chartered city on March 1, 1937, the Society prepared to send their first batch of missionaries.

When the first batch of priests, known today as the PME Fathers – Fr. Clovis Rondeau, Fr. Clovis Thibault, Fr. Conrad Cote, Fr. Omer Leblanc and Fr. Leo Lamy – set foot for the first time on the Philippine soil in October 1937, heaven beamed with joy. Heaven must have known then, that a new and very prolific chapter in the history of evangelization of Davao was unfolding in its arms.

(to be continued…)