The Local Government

The local government during the Spanish time was headed by a gobernadorcillo and four cabezas de barangay. The first cabezas de barangay in 1853 were Don Teodorico Bustamante, Don Macario Maglano, and Don Vicente Balmore.

In 1858 the province of Nueva Guipuzcoa was abolished and in its place two politico military commandancias were created – Bislig and Davao. A military government was established in Nueva Vergara and was made the Fourth District of Mindanao. The two politicos – military commandancias were included in the district of davao. About this period Nueva Vergara became known again by its native name DAVAO as clamored by the natives.

The Fourth District, according to a Royal Decree of July 20, 1860, comprised the territory that extends from the Bay of Caraga up to the Cape San Agustin until the Gulf of Davao where the capital of the District is located, and from this point extending along the western coast and passing by the Island of Sarangani until the Ilana Bay. The boundary of the District on the North is the District of Surigao; on the northwest, the District of Cotabato; on the midway the Lake Buluan and the territory named Boayen; and on the east and south, the Pacific Ocean.

For its govenmental set-up and administration, the District had a politico-military Governor from the rank of an Army Major, assisted by a secretary. The governor exercised gubernatorial and military functions hand in hand with the economic, administrative, judicial, and even maritime duties and also served as the Captain of the Port and sub-delegate of the Navy.

The District had no system of colonization because, although furnished with a company of Police Tercios (usually composed of individual deserters of the army sentenced to a number of years of imprisonment) it could not carry out orders and discipline because these police were ready to desert once they found out that they were obliged to do any kind of work. They usually revert themselves into disorderly elements. There was no internal means of communication. If there were ever communication from the outside it was rather late, irregular and unreliable. The movements of the chief of the District were only confined and limited to the cabecera. Because of this condition, the Fourth District of Mindanao had a very lamentable situation.

There was an infamous incident during this period where the politico-military governor, Don Jose Pinzon y Purga, was murdered when the Davao Muslims played tricks against him during the feast prepared for the inauguration of a settlement in Tagum. Pinzon was stabbed violently at the back with a kris by one Datu and another Datu cut off his head. (Some sources maintained that was done because there was an earlier attempt on the part of the Spaniards to assault the daughter of one of the datus).

On December20, 1871 the Politico-Military Governor Jose Marina reported that the Fourth District of Mindanao was much behind in many things and could not be placed on the road to progress unless a system of colonization could be established. He proposed that the only way to produce results was to send more Christian Families to the Fourth District (coming from the other places) in order to develop friendly relations with the natives which would help the latter’s way of living and to let them submit themselves to the established government.

The report of Governor Gijou on December 21, 1890 stated that the Christians numbered 4,000; Moros, 2,000; Bagobos, 5,500; Tagacaolos, 3,000; Mandayas, 8,000; Altuas (atas), 2,500; Manobos, 3,500; and Samales, 1,500 with the total of 30,000 inhabitants.

The economic condition of the people did not improve at all during the Spanis reign. In fact Davao then was more of a liability than an asset to the Manila Government, economically speaking. Although Davao had a great economic potential – forest and agricultural – no industry was developed. The missionaries were busy attending to the conversion of the natives to Christianity. The Spaniards did not give full attention to food production like that of the staple food, rice. This had to be imported from Manila and other Luzon provinces. There was no economic organization. Commerce was not all given importance that the natives did not even know the value of money.

In the twilight of Spanish rule in the Philippines Mindanao had not yet been fully integrated into the rest of the Philippine archipelago. So, when the revolution against Spain broke out the reaction of the people in Mindanao, especially Davao, was that of indifference.

To quote Fr. Jose Arcilla, S.J., in his Philippine Revolution and the Jesuit Missions in Mindanao, he said…. “Thus, while in around Manila the Revolution was catching fire, the ideal of an anti-Spanish movement had not even entered the mind of the people in Southern Mindanao.”

Davao did not play any significant role in the Philippine revolution against Spain unlike most provinces in Luzon, Visayas and some provinces in Northern Mindanao.

Although there were already discontent in Luzon and even in the Visayas people of Davao were not all bothered and had no inkling at all of what was happening there. There was no need for people in Davao to rise to revolt because the Dabawenyos, native and migrants, did not experience at all persecution by the Spanish government. Spanish officials in Davao were not tyrannical unlike those in Luzon. Olivero D. Suazo, scion of prominent Dabawenyo family who now lives in Spain, wrote to a former colleague here saying that “the Spaniards then - civilian and clergy – were not abusive in Davao. Even Moros love them.”

When the Spaniards left Davao in January 1899, Dabawenyos established an interim form of government. The title of gobernadorcillo was changed into Municipal President, Don Antonio Matute, A Spanish hacendero, was elected president only to be overthrown by recalcitrants. Later, the people held another election and Antonio Joven was elected as president. This was again toppled by the group of Samuel Navarro, a native with Muslim father (the father of Alejandro Navarro who married a Japanese and in whose memory an elementary school in Lasang was named). In the next election Estanislao Palma Gil (forebear of Carmen Palma Gil Inigo Carriedo) was elected president. When the American military forces arrived on December 14, 1899 which ended the Spanish regime in Davao, the people peacefully surrendered to the Americans.