79TH Founding Anniversary special
In  8 decades (1936-2016)
By Antonio V. Figueroa
SINCE Davao became a city in 1936, a total of 22 local chief executives have come and gone, leaving the city with different legacies.
During the Commonwealth era, four city mayors, related either by birth or appointment to Zamboanga City, managed the affairs of the city.
When war broke out, the Japanese Imperial Army turned to prominent city figures for help in administratively running the city’s affairs, and Davao region, as a whole. The new colonists wanted to tell local residents that the Japanese were committed and trustful in the capability of Filipinos to run the local government even under foreign control.
However, the brutality that surfaced days after the invaders bombed the city was not lost on the local population. Many able-bodied men were rounded up and executed, while public officials, who made life difficult for the Japanese before the war, were hunted, tortured, and killed.
One of the local figures tapped to take over the post of city mayor was lawyer Antonio Habana II, whose father was former governor of Capiz (1915-1919) and assemblyman of Capiz (1922-1939). He turned down the offer and, along with his family, left Davao to escape persecution from the Japanese forces.
On the other hand, Alfonso G. Oboza, Sr., a former city engineer, was the first wartime city mayor, one of three that served under the Japanese regime. After the war, nine other luminaries, both appointed and elected, served as Liberation mayors. When the Martial Law declared by the Marcos administration collapsed in 1986, six individuals served as city mayors, either as officer-in-charge, in acting capacity, or as elected official.
Commonwealth Mayors (1936-41)
Nicasio S. Valderrosa (Nov. 20–Dec. 5, 1936)
A native of Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Nicasio S. Valderrosa, together with Santiago Artiaga, a former acting city mayor of Manila who was installed as mayor of Zamboanga City, was appointed by President Manuel L. Quezon on Nov. 20, 1936, as the first city mayor of Davao. As fate would have it, the President swapped their appointments on Dec. 5, 1936, after the residents of Zamboanga City clamored for his installation instead. This historical twist, which ended with Artiaga being sworn in during the inauguration rites held in March 1937, made Valderrosa de facto mayor of Davao City. As public servant, he became acting governor of Zamboanga Province, mayor of Baguio City, and first Basilan provincial governor.
Santiago Artiaga (Dec. 3, 1936 – Oct. 12, 1939)
Formerly acting mayor of Manila, Santiago Artiaga was Zamboanga City mayor before his appointment was recalled; as a result, he became Davao City’s second local chief executive. He was one of the early government scholars, the pensionados, sent to the US to pursue studies, finishing Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan. Decades later, he was appointed city engineer of Manila and also became a dean of the University of Santo Tomas. He was charged with bribery as acting mayor but was exonerated of the suit in 1931. On Oct. 13, 1939, Malacanang announced his appointment as the new governor of Bukidnon, replacing Agustin L. Alvarez who would take over his Davao posting.
Agustin L. Alvarez (Oct. 13, 1939 – Sept. 30, 1940)
A native of Zamboanga, Agustin L. Alvarez, a lawyer, was then regarded as a rising political star. When the Department of Mindanao and Sulu was created in 1914, he was appointed governor of Zamboanga but left for the US to study government administration. In 1922, upon his return, he reclaimed the governorship, and in 1928 won as second civil governor of Zamboanga. In 1931, he was appointed senator of the 9th Philippine Legislature, representing the first district of Zamboanga, while during the Commonwealth, he assumed as Sulu governor. On Oct. 13, 1939, given his numerous credentials, he was appointed mayor of Davao City, serving the post until September 1940. A month later, he was installed governor of Lanao province.
Pantaleon A. Pelayo, Sr. (Oct. 1, 1940 – Jan. 2, 1942; May-December 1945)
Born on Aug. 31, 1901 in Zamboanga City, Pantaleon A. Pelayo Sr. earned his Law degree from the Philippine Law School in Manila in 1925. A year later he migrated to Davao where he set up a law office. In 1935, in his first political try, he ran as delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention and won. In September 1940, during a Davao visit, President Manuel L. Quezon surprisingly appointed him as Davao’s city mayor. When war broke out, he joined the underground and installed himself as governor of ‘Free Davao.’ After the conflict, he reclaimed his position as city mayor but later returned to his birthplace to become mayor of Zamboanga City; he resigned in 1946. On Jan. 13, 1953, he rejoined public office as undersecretary of Labor. He also helped draft the bill reorganizing the Court of Industrial Relations.
Japanese-Era Mayors
(1942-45)
Alfonso G. Oboza, Sr. (Jan. 3, 1942–1943)
Born on Feb. 7, 1899 in Bani, Pangasinan, Alfonso G. Oboza, Sr. finished Civil Engineering at Cornell University in New York, in 1922. Fresh from finishing his studies, he joined the NY State Bureau of Highways as assistant engineer until 1925. On his return to the country, he joined public service as assistant engineer (Leyte), district engineer (Davao Province), city engineer (Davao City), and city and district engineer, in concurrent capacity, of Zamboanga. He was appointed Davao City mayor on Jan. 3, 1942 by the Gunsei Kambu, the Japanese military administration, and represented the city in the National Assembly under Japanese rule. After the war, he retired from public service, went into contracting, became a coconut planter, and became active in socio-civic activities. He died on Nov. 3, 1992 at age 93.
Juan Melencio A. Sarenas (1943-44)
Born in Cabanatuan City, on March 5, 1891, Juan A. Sarenas studied at UP where he finished Law. In 1916, with his wife in tow (she accepted an offer to become principal of Kapitan Tomas Monteverde Elem. School), he migrated to Davao where he permanently settled and later installed as deputy governor. In his first political foray, he won as Davao governor but lost in the 1934 elections to Gov. Sebastian T. Generoso. In 1938, he landed third place in the National Assembly elections. Under Japanese rule, he was appointed city mayor and represented the city in the National Assembly. In 1954, he became judge of CFI Cotabato. His eldest son, Rodolfo, became Davao City mayor in 1953, while Celso, another son, became town mayor of Pantukan, Compostela Valley Province. He died on Oct. 4, 1989 at age 98.
Donato C. Endriga (1944-45)
His first foray in politics was in 1935 when he ran for delegate in the 1935 Constitutional Convention; he failed, though. He was elected as city councilor twice but his second term was not completed. On April 15, 1940, President Manuel L. Quezon dismissed him from the service after being found “guilty of serious misconduct which renders him unfit to hold any public office.” The dismissal stemmed from the case filed by the city attorney for his alleged engagement in prostitution, tolerating illegal gambling, and receiving bribe from a Chinese gambling society. When war broke out, he was accused as an informer of the Davao Kempeitai, which eventually took root after the local Japanese administration installed him as city mayor in 1944.
Liberation Era Mayors (1946-1986)
Apolinario C. Cabigon (January-February 1946)
A post-war lawmaker, Apolinario C. Cabigon is credited for commencing the initiative to create Digos, then a barrio of the municipality of Sta. Cruz, into a town. This was realized when President Elpidio Quirino issued Executive Order 236 on July 19, 1949, placing the villages of Tres de Mayo, Goma, Bansalan, Matanao, Darapuay, and Poblacion under the new town with Benito Rabor as first mayor. He briefly served as acting city mayor for two months, the shortest in local history. As a congressman, he served in the 2nd Congress of the Commonwealth (May 25-July 3, 1946) and earned a full term in the 1st Congress of the Second Republic (July 5, 1946-Dec. 13, 1949).
Fundador R. Villafuerte (Feb. 18, 1946-1947)
The son of Cipriano Sr., Fundador R. Villafuerte took oath as a lawyer on Dec. 13, 1937. Four years later, in the 1941 elections, he was elected city councilor. His term, though, was cut short with the coming of World War II. After the conflict, he returned to his elected position but not too long thereafter second Commonwealth President Sergio Osmeña appointed him acting city mayor of Davao on Feb. 18, 1946, serving the post until 1947, shortly before the first post-war elections were held. He returned to private law practice where he distinguished himself.
Leon Ma. A. Garcia, Sr. (1947-49)
Born in 1898 in Tanauan, Batangas, Leon Ma. Garcia finished law at the Philippine Law School in Manila as a working student. After passing the Bar, he migrated to Davao in 1926 to work in his cousin’s law office. After marrying a scion of the Monteverde clan, he entered politics in 1928 as a municipal council bet but his candidacy, which was a bust, nearly ended in tragedy because he figured in a stabbing incident where he was seriously wounded. Eighteen years after the incident, President Manuel A. Roxas appointed him Davao City mayor in 1946, serving the position for three years.
Bernardo B. Teves (1949-1953)
A native of Cebu, Bernardo B. Teves finished Liberal Arts at the University of the Philippines; he later passed the Bar. He was appointed provincial fiscal and city attorney ex-oficio of Davao City, and figured in the celebrated Ang Liongto murder case as prosecutor. In 1949, he was appointed as city mayor by President Manuel A. Roxas and efficiently held the position for five years. After his stint as city chief executive, he became provincial fiscal of Cebu and later, in June 1971, was appointed as concurrent presiding CFI judge of the province of Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City.
Rodolfo B. Sarenas (1953-1954)
The lawyer-son of former Gov. Juan A. Sarenas, Rodolfo B. Sarenas graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ateneo de Manila in 1934; he proceeded to take up Law and passed the Bar. After the war, just as the city was starting to rebuild its tattered landscape, his brother, Raul, an engineer, was offered the position of city mayor but declined; instead, he recommended his younger brother to the position. On May 27, 1952, Rodolfo was sworn in as the sixth post-war appointed mayor of Davao City. After his stint in government, he went on to become Vice-President for Sports of Rizal Memorial Colleges, serving it until his retirement.
Julian A. Rodriguez Sr. (1954-1955),
Born on Jan. 9, 1891 in Montalban, Rizal., Julian A. Rodriguez Sr., younger brother of former Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez, was the city’s last appointed mayor. After earning his credential as a lawyer, he accepted the offer to join the Mindanao and Sulu Commission as technical assistant. Attracted by the prospects the new job presented, he migrated to Davao in 1919, where he settled permanently and acquired lands. Four years later, he was appointed justice of the peace. He was also the last representative of Davao to the pre-war 10th Philippine Legislature. His leadership and good-natured persona led to his appointment as city mayor in 1954, at age 63.
Carmelo L. Porras (1956-65)
A city engineer by profession before deciding to join politics, Carmelo L. Porras defied the odds by becoming the first elected city mayor, serving the position for 12 uninterrupted years (1956-1965) and three terms. In his electoral wins, he defeated Fermin Abella and Gaudioso M. Tiongco in 1955, Tiongco and Ramon S. Morada in 1959, and Manuel ‘Noli’ Sotto and Abella in 1963. Given his engineering background, he made the improvement of city roads his flagship project, and worked on public works that would define the landscape of the city. He sought a fourth term in 1965 but Elias B. Lopez, who was No. 1 city councilor in 1955 and 1959 and later vice-mayor in 1963, trounced him. He retired from public service thereafter.
Elias B. Lopez (1966-70; 1981-86)
The only full-blooded Bagobo mayor of Davao City, Elias B. Lopez, a lawyer, was former president of the UP Student Council, said to the first one to have come from Mindanao, and was voted “Most Outstanding UP Student Leader of the Year” in 1955. His first foray into politics was in 1955, winning the top slot in the City Council; he duplicated the feat four years later. In 1963, he ran for vice-mayor and elected. Optimistic of his winning streak, he challenged the incumbent mayor in 1967 and triumphed. He sought reelection in 1971 but was upset by Luis T. Santos, a former chief of police. A decade later he returned to trounce his tormentor. During the post-Marcos period, he was elected thrice as congressman of the city’s third district but he failed to finish his last tenure. He died in 1997. He is the father of the Datu Bago Awards, which he instituted in 1969. He built the Ramon Magsaysay Park, started the Araw ng Davao celebration, established the Mutya ng Davao yearly pageant and ordered the creation of the “Tayo’y Dabawenyo” anthem, all envisioned to created a distinct Dabawenyo identity.
Luis T. Santos (1971-1975; 1976-81)
A wartime guerrilla leader in Nueva Ecija, Luis T. Santos moved to Davao as a trader engaged in scrap iron. With his wife, he established the L.T. Santos Timber Co. after the conflict. In the sixties, given his background, he was appointed city chief of police and made a name as the archenemies of criminals. His first foray into politics was in 1965 when he ran for Congress; he lost. In 1969, he again ran for a Congress seat but failed. Two years later he returned to trounce city mayor Elias B. Lopez, and was reappointed during Martial Rule. During the first Aquino administration, he was appointed Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government. After leaving public office, he accepted a consultancy job, but later retired to private life. He died on Aug. 3, 2011, at age 87.
Post-Martial Law Mayors (1986-2016)
Zafiro L. Respicio (Apr. 4, 1986 – Nov. 2, 1987)
As one of the most visible campus leaders to emerge in Davao City in the sixties was Zafiro L. Respicio. A lawyer by profession, he led high-profile protests and when martial law was declared, he was arrested and subjected to military torture. Before passing the bar exams in 1971, he ran under the lineup of Mayor Santos and won. In 1980, he ran for mayor against Santos, Lopez and Councilor Victorio Advincula Sr. but finished a close third in the four-cornered fight. In 1984, he ran and won as assemblyman of the Batasang Pambansa, representing the city. When military rule folded up, he was installed as OIC-city mayor for a year and a half. He ran for city mayor in the 1988 polls, but lost. He later assumed as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration, but was embroiled in a case that earned him a conviction before the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court in 2011. He died on Mar. 10, 2014 from diabetes and end-stage kidney failure while his guilty verdict was being appealed.
Jacinto T. Rubillar Jr. (Dec. 17, 1987–Feb. 1, 1988)
Born in Bilar, Bohol, Jacinto T. Rubillar Jr., a lawyer, was a former Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government before he was appointed OIC-city mayor of Davao by Pres. Corazon C. Aquino. Prior to this, he was installed OIC-city councilor, serving the City Council for one and a half years. The son of former Maribojoc mayor Jacinto Rubillar Sr., he pursued a low-profile status while employed in the local government under then city mayor Luis T. Santos. In private, he was engaged in law practice and attended the family business. (No OIC or acting mayor was appointed on February 2-4, 1986.)
Rodrigo R. Duterte
(1988-92; 1992-95; 1995-98; 2001-04; 2004-07; 2007-10; 2013-16)
Born in Maasin, Southern Leyte, on Mar. 28, 1945, Rodrigo R. Duterte, a lawyer, briefly taught at the PNP Academy Regional Training Center, Region XI, in 1973 before joining the government as special counsel and assistant city fiscal of Davao City. He was OIC-city vice-mayor for nearly two years before deciding to seek a full term as city mayor. Except for single term in Congress and as vice mayor, he has been the city’s chief executive for over two decades. The Time magazine labeled him “The Punisher”, but the New York-based Human Rights Watch accused him of human rights violations. Despite the controversies, the city still earned from Asiaweek the distinction as “one of Asia’s most livable cities.” He filed his candidacy for President in 2015.
Dominador B. Zuño Jr. (Nov. 12, 1990–Jan. 11, 1991)
A lawyer like his father, Dominador B. Zuño, Jr. first ran for the City Council in 1971 when councilors were voted at-large and served the local legislature for 15 years. In 1988, he ran for a higher position and won as vice-mayor. During his incumbency, he served three months as acting city mayor when city mayor Duterte tendered a leave of absence. Four years later, he vied for a seat in Congress but fell short. During the Arroyo administration, he returned to public service as presidential assistant with a rank of Undersecretary, at one time heading the Southern Philippines Development Authority-Deactivation Task Force (SPDA-DTF). To his credit, he conceived and implemented the Media Village at Bangkal, Davao City.
Benjamin C. de Guzman (1998–2001)
Born in Davao Oriental, Benjamin C. de Guzman graduated with highest honors from the Ateneo de Davao University’s College of Law in 1969 and passed the Bar a year later. His first government job was as CFI legal researcher and later as special counsel. He became president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Davao Chapter. He was elected city mayor in 1998 and awarded ‘Best Mayor of the Philippines’. Prior to this, he was city administrator and vice mayor. In 2001, he sought reelection but lost. Three years later, he ran for Congress in the third congressional district, but fell short. In the 2010 elections, he teamed up with House Speaker Prospero C, Nograles but they lost.
Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio (2010–13)
Born in Davao City in 1977, Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio, a lawyer, is a graduate in BS in Respiratory Therapy in 1977 before pursuing Law at San Sebastian College in Manila. She started work as legal researcher and management trainee before passing the Bar. She later joined a sugar corporation and a security service agency as legal counsel. Her first government stint was as court attorney in the Supreme Court before opening her own law office with her lawyer-spouse. In 2007, she was convinced to join politics and won as vice-mayor. Three years later she succeeded her father as mayor. Overtaken by pregnancy, she did not seek a reelection.
(The author is the founder and executive director of the Philippines Industrial Archaeology Society and is currently a trustee of the Manila Railroad Club.)
