One hundred seventy years since Davao’s rise from a rural pueblo to a highly urbanized city, the economic boom that has characterized its growth can largely be classified as cosmopolitan and, in simplistic term, the product of different migrant clusters.
Centuries before Don Jose Oyanguren subdued local Muslim hero Datu Bago in a conquest spiced by betrayal on either side, ancient sailors and foreign adventurers had made unscheduled visits to the region, especially in areas around the gulf of Davao.
In the 17th century, the Dutch, who subjugated Indonesia, sourced their beeswax, gold, and cinnamon from Davao, while the mariners from Europe, in their quest for the Spice Island, also had spontaneous drop-bys, expressing wonder of the region’s natural resources.
Four factors have actually helped shape the economic landscape of the city since 1848. These are (i) the colonists, (ii) the rise of plantation economies, (iii) the migrants, and (iv) the socio-cultural legacy of indigenous communities.
The colonists
The old Davao pueblo had roots in colonial provenance. Among the major contributions the Spanish colonizers introduced locally were Christianity, town planning, local governance, education (chiefly, by rote), uniformed service, the guardia civil, and Hispanic culture.
Improvements, though, were adopted with the arrival of the Americans who taught local leaders another form of learning (chiefly, by critical thinking), Protestantism, wireless communication, urban and regional planning, maritime trade and commerce, concept of plantation, and a host of other innovative ideas.
Intertwining with the rise of American hegemony in Davao was the Japanese domination of abaca hemps at a time when world demand for hemp fiber was at its all-time high. Unlike the Spaniards and Americans, the Japanese established communities exclusively dedicated to the propagation of their own products, practices, and cultural idiosyncrasies.
The economic growth experienced due to colonial interaction was not entirely the input of the colonists. Other alien players, exploiting the chances of enriching, introduced their own legacies in ways still visible and tangible to this day. The Syrian-Lebanese, for instance, opened Davao to cultural intricacies of the Middle East and its highly-sought appurtenances.
On the side, the industrious Chinese population handled financing with cleverness that would control funding in rural agricultural economies. Over time, their influence would be felt in education, business, housing, and other engagements.
Plantation economies
Juan Awad, who built Davao’s first skyscraper in 1917, may be known as the city’s ‘father of abaca plantations’ but he was only one among many others who amassed wealth from hemp cultivation. In 1905, Japanese Kojo Oshiro brought with him hundred Japanese contract laborers to plant abaca, a year before K.S. Ohta, also known as Ohta Kyosaburo, opened a plantation, followed by Yoshizo Furukawa, now known as the ‘father of Ecuadorean hemp.’
But by 1925, the roll of plantation owners had greatly expanded. By this time, the leading abaca plantations in the gulf included the American-owned Luayon Plantation at Caburan, Jose Abad Santos; Basiawan Plantation at Santa Maria; Mindanao Estates Co. and Christensen Plantation at Padada; and Digos Plantation at Digos.
The Japanese-owned abaca farms in the list include the Ohta Development Co. at Talomo; Bunawan Plantation at Bunawan; Lasang Plantation at Lasang; Madaum Plantation at Tagum; Southern Cross Plantation at Pangasinan; Furukawa Company at Daliaon; Piso Coconut and Cattle Co. at Lupon, and Magnaga Plantation at Pantukan. Only the Talagutun Plantation at Don Marcelino was Filipino-owned.
At Don Marcelino, Davao Occidental, the plantations included Lamidan Plantation, Kalian Plantation, Lopuan Plantation, Talagutun Plantation, and Mount Apo Plantation. At Malalag, now under Davao del Sur, the plantations were Lais Plantation & Trading Co., Culaman Plantation Co., Lacaron Plantation, Comassic Plantation, and Malalag Plantation.
In Davao City and the northeastern sector, the flourishing plantations included the Piedad Plantation at Daliao; Talomo Plantation Co., Inc. at Talomo; Madaum Plantation at Tagum; Pindasan Plantation at Mabini; Mampising Plantation at Mabini; Tagnanan Plantation at Pantukan; Bongabong Plantation at Pantukan; Tagdangua Plantation at Pantukan; and Gulf Plantation at Pantukan.
More than the job placements the farms created, the revenues that went to government coffers, and the rise of a plantation economy propelled Davao region to the global map as the source of the world’s strongest plant fiber, a distinction rivalled only by the region’s achievement as an international banana producer.
The migrants
Davao’s original migrant population was chiefly comprised of individuals who joined the Oyanguren expedition. These are new settlers who depended on the promise of the colonizer to be rewarded for their efforts. True enough, with government help, they carved out a settlement that now forms part of the city’s central business district.
The first waves of migration that helped improve Davao City’s economy mainly came from the Visayas region. This was understandable given the proximity of the region to Mindanao. It was only during American occupation when Luzon migrants, at the invitation of the State, started to explore the potentials of Davao.
Finding good opportunities and marriage with local maidens resulted in permanent residency for many of the newcomers, many of them imbued with the traits to confront the challenges and make good their quest for success. The more industrious and creative cluster acquired lands, by marriage or purchase, and later titled them in their names.
In pre-war times, migrant communities were already identified by their original origins such that there were villages known as Caviteño and Batangueño.
But there were also those families identified with specific engagements. The Floirendos brought to Davao the first Ford cars (as opposed to trucks) and gave the world the famous Chiquita banana. The Carriedos pioneered movies in Davao, followed by the Sasins. The Borghailys introduced Arabian carpets, delicate silk and muslin from the Middle East.
The Chinese, meanwhile, paved the way for the concept of retail and small business. The Japanese gave us the katol, odong, tansan, and haba. The Americans introduced machine-based stripping machines, canned goods, ice plants, cable, transistorized radios, interisland shipping, and a host of modern amenities unheard of during Hispanic times. The Hindus, in later decades, developed the concept of ‘five-six’.
The Robillos, Dalisays, Sarmientos, Maglanas, Lugas, Arabejos, Valderramas, Almendrases, Alcantaras, Mundas, and Valencias, to name a few, introduced logging which encouraged the boom in residential structures and edifices, and the opening of new roads that created new settlements populated by migrants. To anti-logging pundits, the rise of the concessions also started ‘the systematic destruction of Davao.’
Indigenous tribes
The role the natives played in the transformation of Davao City into a cosmopolitan center is something that is least appreciated and often restricted. From the first year of Spanish conquest, their contributions were largely overlooked. Even in missionary accounts, their involvement was confined to ecclesiastical rather than socio-economic.
In fact, the rise of migrant communities can be attributed to the idiocy and submissiveness of the indigenous population to the intention of new settlers. Marrying the newcomers was not actually an edge but an indirect surrender of their lands. As a result, strangers, who had nothing but guts, would become part of the landed gentry.
Adding impact in hastening the transfer of ownership of tribal lands to migrants was the introduction of fanciful things. The natives, amazed at the new tools, articles, and products the newcomers brought, were willing to give away part of their lands for a roll of tobacco or cans of delicious American-made sardines.
On the other hand, the dispersal of former ancestral assets in the hands of migrants speeded up development in many fronts. By way of donation through the new owners, economic centers and residential hubs started to alter the geographic landscape, eventually creating new population clusters that would today become busy suburban destinations.
While business success of the first-generation members of the homegrown tribes was very limited, their descendants, having acquired higher learning and married into prominent migrant families, have become the foundation of the new Davao, although nothing of the original surnames would strike an observer as indigenously.
One can always revisit the names given to our streets and he is sure to discover that, one way or the other, the honorees are part of the larger universe of tribal people that continue to dominate the city’s political, social, and economic landscape, even if indirectly.
