By Antonio V. Figueroa
Alien contributions
(UNBEKNOWNST to most Dabawenyos of today are the contributions of foreigners to the socio-economic development of Davao City and neighboring areas in Region 11 which used to be the undivided Davao Province. As a special feature in the celebration of Araw ng Davao marking the 79th founding anniversary of Davao as a chartered city, Edge Davao has commissioned journalist-historian Antonio V. Figueroa to write articles on foreigners, chiefly from the Middle East, who settled in Davao and started many ventures that helped shape Davao’s future as the virtual capital of Mindanao.—The editor)
There’s a maxim, though unpopular, which goes: ‘There are more Italian-inspired restaurants in Davao than actual Italian residents.’ In fact, close to two dozen food houses in the city offer cuisines with authentic Italian culinary twists.
But Davao’s link with an Italian dates back to the year Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan rediscovered the Philippines. On Oct. 26, 1521, while on their way to the Spice Islands in Indonesia, the remnants of the Magellan crew, which included Venetian diarist Antonio Pigafetta, were marooned at Sarangani Island due to a storm.
Pigafetta, the expedition’s chronicler, wrote of the incident: “Continuing our voyage [from Batulaki island] 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… The inhabitants are Gentiles and go naked like the others.”
That makes Pigafetta to first Italian to reach Davao region in colonial times. Whether he alighted from his vessel and set foot in Sarangani, it’s unclear. But who is he?
Scholar and explorer
A native of Venice, Italy, Pigafetta (1491–1531), an Italian scholar and explorer from a rich family, joined the Magellan expedition, which was in search of Spices in the Indies, as an assistant, returning to Spain in 1522 with 17 other survivors. He is credited for documenting the Cebuano language and introducing it to global consciousness.
As a young man, Pigafetta studied the nuances of cartography, astronomy and geography, served on board ships of the Knights of Rhodes, and had the privilege of accompanying the papal nuncio to Spain.
In the Battle of Mactan, where Magellan was killed, Knights of Rhodes was injured but recovered to join the trip back home on board the vessel Victoria, this time under the leadership of Juan Sebastian Elcano via the Spice Islands. He later reconnected with the Knights of Rhodes and became a member of the Order.
Pre-war period
That there were Italian businessmen in Davao before the World War II broke out in 1941, is something that’ not very clear. At the time, there was a good number of Americans with Italian-sounding names but they were naturalized Americans.
Davao-born John Russell Frank, the grandson of Davao Light & Power Company founder P.H. Frank, in ‘On The Road Home: An American Journey’ (2010) wrote about local residents as a “cosmopolitan and friendly mix of Visayans, Bicolanos, Tagalogs, Zamboangueños, Cebuanos, Japanese, Americans, British, Egyptians, Italians, and Arabians in the market centers of Davao.”
The Arabians cited by Frank from copious family letters written from Mindanao could have referred to the Middle Eastern migrants from Lebanon-Syria, among them the Awads, Borgailys, and Sasins, who were close relatives.
The Awads, who once owned the first pre-American abaca plantation in Davao, were Lebanese Maronite Christians from the Beqaa Valley, in Lebanon. From Jan. 1 to June 30, 1908 nine pearling licenses were issued in Davao, two of them granted to Assyrians (Syrian-Lebanese).
(Today, the most prominent Davao family with an Italian-sounding surname is the Ferrazzinis, owner of the iconic Merco ice cream and cake houses.)
Authentic Italian restos
The rise of Davao as one of the world’s most livable cities in the first decades of the 21st century gave rise to sophistication and authenticity. In food business, largely dominated by Filipino-inspired cuisines, copycats of culinary concepts from Europe, the United States, and other first-world regions started to evolve.
Trip Advisor, in its online review, identified some of the trendy Italian-inspired eateries in Davao as the Spirale, Italianni’s, La Toscana, Sbarro, Don Beppe, Gelatomania, Picobello, Caffe Vivere, Cafe 52, Pasta Sopresa, Pastanni, and il Cammino Italiano Pizza, to name just a few.
A standout in the local scene is Morisco Ristorante Italiano, founded by Chef Giuseppe Morisco, a finalist of the popular US reality show ‘MasterChef’, in 2013. Managed by his father, Gaitano Morisco, now a Davao resident who once owned restaurants in Hong Kong and Chicago, the Italian food house sources its vegetables and meats locally, but imports its ingredients like pasta, cheeses, salami, and Parma prosciutto from Italy.
Italians among us
Like most Filipinos, in particular Roman Catholics, an Italian is often associated with Rome, Vatican, and the Pope. While this perception may be true, Davao has largely been the destinations of American and Canadian missionaries, with Italian priests associated with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), a congregation founded in Milan, Italy, in 1850, assigned outside Southern Mindanao.
Over the decades pastoral visits to the city by Italians are far and between. On Aug. 20, 2013, two Italian lay missionaries from Naples, Italy, belonging to the group San Mattias, namely Dario Barbieri and Francesco Calise, conducted an outreach mission in Lumondao, Davao City, giving out medicines and foods to over 200 indigent families.
Their missionary work in the city was coordinated with the Society of Divine Vocations (SDV), a religious congregation with station at Catalunan Grande, Davao City.
There is, however, a gourmet house at Barangay Buda, about 90 kilometers southeast of the city, called the Bosco Center for Hope for Integral Development for Lumad Youth and Children. This is run by Fr. Franco Uras, an Italian priest of the Salesian Order of Don Bosco.
Papal nuncios
Established in 1902, the country’s Apostolic Nunciature, the official residence of the personal representative of the Pope in the country, has always been the home of the papal nuncio, Vatican’s ambassador to the Philippines.
Interestingly, the nunciature, located at 2140 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, has hosted about a dozen Italian nuncios since it opened in Manila over a century ago. Except for Placide Louis Chapelle, a French-American and the first nuncio; Edward Joseph Adams, an American; and Ambrose Agius, a Maltese, all the other papal representatives were Italian padres.
The Italian nuncios that have stayed in Manila include Donato Sbaretti (1901-02), Guglielmo Piani, S.D.B. (1922-48), Egidio Vagnozzi (1949-58), Salvatore Siino (1959-63), Carlo Martini (1963-67), Carmine Rocco (1967-73), Bruno Torpigliani (1973-90), Gian Vincenzo Moreni (1990-99), Antonio Franco (1999-2006), Fernando Filoni (2006-07), and Giuseppe Pinto (2011-present). █
