If the international tilt known as the Davis Cup sounds familiar to you, it’s because it was named after its founder, Dwight F. Davis, Sr., an American tennis player who was US assistant secretary of war (1923-25) and for four years the governor-general of the Philippines (1929-32).
Davis, in August 1930, visited Davao town and penetrated its jungles, finding two significant problems, which he identified as the “alien agrarian population acquiring the coastal hinterland and penetrating inland, the other of the [neglect of] primitive minorities.” His observation found space in the September 1930 issue of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal.
Along with his namesake and junior, Davis spent nearly a month crossing the Davao-Agusan territory “from the mouth of the Tagum on Davao gulf on the south, up the [Saug] to the divide and the headwaters of the Agusan, and down the Agusan to Butuan, the provincial capital and metropolis at the mouth of the Agusan on Butuan bay.”
On one occasion, his group had to negotiate a rough country trail for almost ten hours, and another four hours to climb the rock-strewn stream bed. The trip was the first for an American politician across the wilds in an area that now forms parts of the old Ventura reservation plan, so named after Honorio Ventura, who was then Philippine interior secretary (1925-33).
Davis, the article said, “discovered that Davao is something more than two fingers of coast around Davao gulf, that it is really an area of 7,574 square miles, 4,847,185 acres, with 16 people to the square mile; and that Agusan, too, is more than a yellow place on the map, being an area of 4,360 square miles, a little matter of 2,780,365 acres, with 10 people to the square mile.”
What surprised the governor-general most was the utter neglect the natives suffered, which he called as the “blackest page in American history in the Philippines.” He promptly conveyed his observation to Ventura, commenting that the pursuit of a reservation plan would likely stop the Japanese from further intruding the internal regions, which was described as “international problem,” and save the lands belonging to the aborigines. The journal article further reported:
“Davis, hiking through the Davao-Agusan wilderness, held nightly powwows with the tribes. They range from pygmies up; this region is a veritable laboratory for the ethnologist. One tribe is as modern as an army, it bestows sartorial insignia for every man one of its braves exterminates: the dress of one chief… attested a total bag of 134—evidently with no more observance of the game laws than a Christian army would exercise, when God got on its side, and with plenty of orthodox potting from cover.”
Using poison as a tool of vengeance, the natives usually potted Japanese poachers by ambushing them with toxic arrows or spearing them from behind. Davis did not approve this kind of vendetta but understood the tribesmen’s quandary after their lands were grabbed and turned over to “strange immigrants.”
As a politician, Davis was not hesitant to accept the Manila assignment as 9th governor-general in the Philippines given his wife’s health then. Eventually, though, he had to accede to the wishes of US President Herbert Hoover. He arrived in Manila in July 1929 just as the national legislature was opening its sessions.
In one of his annual messages to the law-making assembly, he narrated the extent of the domestic issues affecting the colony and the problems confronting the collection of revenues. Aside from urging the legislature to enact laws that would raise taxes, he recommended the arrest in the rise of production of agriculture outputs with oversupply in the world market.
Davis’ grittiness underwent legislative test when the legislature held back by not approving his appointments. But he was unfazed and refused to yield to any compromise. To get out of the tight fix, he “waited until the legislature adjourned when he could give his nominees interim appointments.” He decently opposed also the use of his appointment as springboard to higher position given his long and illustrious career as diplomat and manager.
Like his early predecessor, Leonard Wood (1921-27), he supported the cause of returning the administration of the Philippines to Filipinos under the Jones Law and “was unconvinced that American interests in the Philippines justified indefinite retention.”
Historically, as colonial administrator, Davis made one of the most extensive reconstructions of Malacañan, the presidential palace. He practically rebuilt it from a wooden Spanish colonial structure to a large concrete mansion. On Jan. 9, 1932, for personal and family reasons, he resigned from office. In tribute to his contributions, U.S. President Hoover declared:
“Governor General Davis accepted the appointment to the Philippine Islands at great personal sacrifice. His resignation is based upon personal and family reasons, the force of which must, I feel, receive every consideration, particularly in view of the very generous sacrifices which he has already made in consenting to remain in the Philippine Islands much longer than his personal interests warranted. I have accepted his resignation with the greatest reluctance.
“His administration of the affairs of the Philippine Islands has been eminently able and successful and constitutes a fitting continuation of the distinguished service he previously rendered as Secretary of War. The two years during which he served in the Philippine Islands have been marked by exceptionally cordial and satisfactory relations between the American chief executive and the legislative and other local authorities.
“Governor General Davis relinquishes office with the deep regret of all concerned, and with a further claim upon the gratitude and affection of both the American and Filipino people.”
