Signs of Davao to becoming a future bustling city were now evident in 1927. Known globally for its abaca fiber, its Santa Ana wharf, which became a port of entry only a couple of years earlier, was already host to over 200 sea crafts, foreign and interisland ships included.
A big part of this draw is Davao Gulf, which, historically, has been a trading destination of mean ocean liners, mostly European in origin. The Dutch, English, Spanish, Japanese and American vessels were among the notable visitors to the gulf.
F.M. Woodside, writing for the Zamboanga-based Mindanao Herald in an article titled ‘Davao Lades 82 Ocean Ships: Plantations Thrive’, noted:
“With eighty-two foreign vessels and ninety-two coastwise vessels calling at the port of Davao during the year 1927, besides the continual operation of a fleet of sixty launches, ranging from powered bancas to larger modern launches of one hundred tons and more, including the latest types and of Diesel power plants, development is fast increasing in the Davao region.
“Foreign tonnage for the year moved a total of 168,985 bales of the finest hemp produced in the Philippine Islands 4,057,174 kilos of copra, and 334,992 board feet of lumber.
“Custom house valuations show a total value of exports of P10,759,866, with custom house receipts totalling P175,380.
“Imports for the same period amounted to 1,245,856 kilos only, as this is a new port of entry and local merchants have not completed arrangements with foreign firms for direct imports.
“Direct hemp exports increased 6,582 bales, with the increase of copra amounting to 11,000 piculs over 1926 shipments.”
1927, given the encouraging prices of hemp in the global market, also saw the cultivation of new farms planted with abaca. New plantations were opened with the world demand for fiber on the rise. Other crops also showed promise. Copra price was steady and given the expected bumper harvest from new fruit-bearing coconut trees, harvest the following would be bigger.
Woodside also observed the adoption of new technologies, which was crucial to achieving bigger yields and bountiful returns for agricultural venturers. He wrote:
“Purchase of machinery and implements for plantation use has shown up well. At the present time three large central stripping plants are in operation, as well as several mechanical driers for copra. Much is expected from a new type natural draft drier now being installed on one of the large coconut plantations. The quality of copra has greatly increased with the use of the driers, which no doubt will have its effect on the market…
“During the last few months two shipments of logs and considerable sawn lumber have been exported by direct steamers to Japan. This industry is the newest of exports and a big field is offered in this commodity as large stands of timber meet the water edge at several places in the northern end of the Davao gulf.”
The diversity in agriculture also added new dimension to an area that was on the road to becoming a boom town. The raising of silk worms and mulberry trees was done scientifically with strong promise of selling them abroad. An expert from Hawaii was brought in to see the potentials of pineapples and canning them for exports. Agriculture, in a manner of saying, was soaring high in terms of productivity.
That same year, according to official records, there were “159 [farm] applications, covering more than 11,500 hectares of land for purchase, were made, but only 117 were awarded, totalling 2,000 odd hectares. There were 80 odd applications for leases made covering 45,900 hectares and only one award made for 425 hectares.”
To accommodate more vessels, the Santa Ana pier was extended with concrete drives reaching a depth of about thirty feet of water. Upon completion, the wharf provided space for two more huge ships and allowed the docking of large ocean liners. Loading and unloading of cargoes, as a result, improved dramatically with the expansion. Woodside wrote:
“Eleven large lighters, including a water barge, a ten-ton lift and two big tugs, afford quick dispatch to foreign vessels calling at the port and assure the producer the full value for his produce, as the gross of the production is loaded direct from plantation piers into lighters, thence direct into the ship that is to take it to its foreign market. This assures but one handling which greatly reduces stowage and handling charges to the producer. Loading at the port is often done in record time for out-port loading, five thousand bales loaded in one ship in a day is not unusual.”
Beyond the port, the construction of new roads and bridges that cut travel time and provided convenience was feverish. Some of the roads were built across unspoiled areas, allowing traffic of people to settle in sprawling fertile lands in the interior regions.
As a testament to its frenzied rise as a major settlement and marketplace, Davao was gifted with a concrete municipal structure that was fronted by an extensive public plaza that served as recreational area, arena for social events, place for family picnics, and open space for public convergence. Urban planning, as it is called today, was becoming a priority among developers.
Alongside the improvement of the waterfront, the opening of streets, and the rise of settlements was the mushrooming of commercial establishments in the town proper, many owned by expatriates and migrants. In a way, the old town was becoming a cosmopolitan hub.
