Samales aid Oyanguren
DATU DAUPAN, CHIEF OF THE
SAMALES, MET WITH Don JOSE Oyanguren and furnished him information concerning
the Moro settlement under Datu Mama Bago at the mouth of Davao River. Fr. Mateo
Gisbert, S. J. recounts the proceedings;
Oyanguren had
a very small force to fight the many Moros who were manning the bay, for if
Datu Bago wished, he could gather together more than 400 fighting men. But the
Christians counted upon the superiority of their arms and in the protection of
God whom they worshipped. All was favorable to them from the beginning, as even
before they entered the bay, they captured a dugout [banca] of
Moros at doubling the Cape of San Agustin, which prepared them, without doubt,
for more important victories.
Another thing
that animated them more was the friendly welcome the inhabitants of this bay
[Samales] extended to them….
When the
Samales saw that Oyanguren’s intention was to end the oppressive Moro
government and to establish a new Christian government, all liked the idea and
decided to join him. Their courage to fight their oppressor was enkindled by
Oyanguren who was unafraid and equipped with soldiers, firearms and cannons to
attack their common enemy. The Bagobos, residing on the mainland, had
courageously fought against the Moros and had succeeded in holding them off for
generations. Now, the Datu thought, with a well-armed ally it was time to fight
the Moros and put an end to their cruelty.
The conquest
of Davao was a matter of difficulty at the beginning. The Moros had cannons in
abundance. In the part which is today called the Old Town they had a fort which
could impede the entrance to the river of any of the boats which Oyanguren
brought. A little above this point, called Tagum, where the cemetery is today
(Adjacent to the present Bankerohan Market) the Moro datu had another
fortification with cannons and men who were under his immediate orders, all of
them… free to communicate with the Moros of Ma- a and Lapanday,.. they worked
continuously as they could to prevent the success of Oyanguren.
He
[Oyanguren], however, was not sleeping. His people were not as many…. But they
were very faithful and truly resolved to conquer or die in the attempt.
A turn of the century play
reconstructs Oyanguren’s first encounter with the Moros at the Davao River
bend.
The Españoles were worried. In
their overconfidence and rashness, they had suffered immediate casualties –
three dead and two wounded – in their first attempt to enter the mouth of the
Davao River. Their three vessels, followed by many barotos of Mandaya allies
from Samal Island, had to turn back out to sea, beyond the reach of Datu Bago’s
lantakas (Small cannons? Emplaced near the entrance of the Davao River to guard
against any unfriendly incursions.
Oyanguren realized that it was
not prudent to continue the fight in the narrow channel of the Davao River
where his boats could not maneuver. Also, he was doubtful about the river’s
depth, which might around his brigantine. He realized, too that he must first
overcome the Datu’s men on both sides of the river area to bring his forces for
the assault on Datu’s Bago’s settlement. Prudence dictated that he must
withdraw to plan another move.
Should he abandon his mission
and lose face? Or should he move elsewhere to set up his settlement? Should he
employ another strategy temporarily avoiding a direct confrontation with an
adversary he came for to subdue? Any move to get out of the place was anathema
to his Spanish character and personal honor if not to his commitment to the
Governor General and the expectations of the principales [leaders] in
Manila who had invested in this venture.
His situation required fast decision
and immediate action. He called upon Capitanes Antonio Cervantes and
Juan Alzate as well ashis ally, Datu Daupan of Samal, to drop anchor at the
nearby shores of Piapi, just off the mouth of Davao River, far enough from Datu
Bago’s lantaka emplacements.
The place was protected from
the enemy by a thin line of forest trees along the Piapi shores. It was
separated by a wide swampland and covered with thick mangroves to the north and
the northwest. Further, it was backed by the open sea to the south, commanding
a view of the river’s mouth. Oyanguren felt that he could, by blockading the
mouth of the river, forces the Moros to come and fight him on favorable
grounds.
The bakhaw and mantalisay
trees as well as the aipo palms along the shores of Piapi proved handy for the
construction of a palisade and provisional shelter for his people. The
colonizing party knew they had to accomplish their tasks with speed and
dedication considering the predicament they were in. While most were engaged in
the construction of their protective structures, some were sent out to explore
possible land approaches towards their enemy’s settlement and defense
installation.
It was finally decided that a
dike had to be constructed across the nipa grove if the heavy cannons from the
ships were to be used in attacking Datu Bago’s position. The construction that
followed amidst the nipa swamp-land soon came to Datu Bago’s attention, and
this began the second phase of their fighting. It was characterized by sneak
attacks intended to impede workers from carrying on their dike construction.
The Spanish sentries were alerted to stop the Moros’ attempts to reach the
working area of their allies, the Samales who carried out the major part of the
task.
The layers upon layers of nipa
palm leaves were made thick and stable enough for a pair of cannons with
caissons to be pulled through. The tide inundating the nipa grove made the
project difficult, but it was at last completed after nearly three months of
labor, including same moonlit nights when the Moros would rather stay home.
Meantime, at the campfire of
his settlement, Datu Bago decided belatedly to convene his council of advisers,
composed of his courageous and temperamental son, Datu Malano Bago; a grandson,
Datu Edno Bago, just as brave but self-controlled; the pandita
[Moro priest] and chief adviser Datu Bagacay; and several others. Datu Bago did
not reckon the Spaniards’ presence as a grove threat to his community,
believing they would eventually withdraw for lack of food to sustain them in
their swampland base. Datu Bago, however, doted the presence of a large boat
spewing dark columns of smoke in the Gulf. It meant no other than assistance
for the Spaniards.
Datu Bago’s council discussed
whether they should seek their allies’ assistance, noting the shortage of
gunpowder and the enemy blockade at the river’s mouth. They could have gotten assistance from the
different settlements of Davao Gulf – Datu Pagpogosan of Lupon, Datu Mataoof
Matiao, Datu Casigaman of Hijo, Datu Cando of Tagum, Datu Barodto of Inawayan,
and the Datu of Padada. Obviously, it was too late, considering that the ship
Elcano with soldiers from Zamboanga was docked at the shores of Piapi, ready to
intercept any vessel sent out of the Davao River.
The Rebel Ruler
Much controversy surrounds
Datu Bago. One thing is clear though: he was the defiant leader of the Moros in
the Davao Gulf territory who fought Don Jose Oyanguren in 1848 (Majul 1973,
264).
Known as Datu ,ama Jul
Karanain while he was still in Taglibi, Jolo, Sulu, he was born of a datu of
Maguindanao and a dayang-dayang (princess) of Jolo. His clan worked towards
overthrowing Sultan Qudarat Funda who strengthened his position by succumbing
to Spanish superiority. Fearing possible reprisais from the Spaniards, Datu
Bago established his own territorial enclave in Davao sometime in 1838.
Whether or not emissaries were
sent to seek such aid from his Moro allies is still unknown. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
Battling for Supremacy
Datu Bago was not surprised to
see the morning after Oyanguren’s emissary had come to demand his surrender
that Spanish cannons had been drawn up the meadows poised to attack him. He had
prepared for that eventuality, but not to fight the invaders in an open battle
of cannonading because he knew that his lantakas did not have sufficient
gunpowder. His only recourse was to find relatively safe hiding places for his
men to be able to ambush the enemies.
The battle for control of
Davao’s major settlement began. Cannons from Oyanguren’s position had been
targeted against the settlement’s mosque, the most prominent structure in Datu
Bago’s community. For two days, a sporadic exchange of fire between the
hide-and-seek types of combatants took its toll, but the unheard swish of
kampilans (swords) must have made the invaders wary in their advance.
Cannonading towards the settlement was sparse because no evident targets
remained from the earlier conflagration, and the supply of gunpowder had
dwindled.
Datu Malano was the favorite
target of the invaders because of his fearlessness in combat. On the third day
of combat, Datu Malano was hit by artillery shot while leading his men to ward
off the Spanish advance to the heart of town. He died on the spot, at the site
of the mosque (now within the compound of the Philippine National Police)
burned down at the start of the cannonading. His death must have caused so much
demoralization that his men hid and maintained a defensive posture instead of
bravely meeting the advancing enemy, ready only to ambush the enemy at
nightfall.
Earlier that day, in the upper
section of the old settlement called Penagorasan, the redoubt and place
of worship of Datu Bago, sedentary artillery are hit the chief ‘s residence,
killing Bai Gomogonop, his primary wife. Although he had two younger wives, the
old ascetic Datu was greatly saddened by his losses. He knew he could no longer
stand up against the invaders, even if his brave followers maintained their
stand. The chief must have thought of another occasion in the future, when the
Spaniards would acknowledge Moro primacy in this region.
By nightfall, Datu Bago and
what remained of his followers went their separate ways, but not without the
chief giving instructions to carry on with their resistance against the
invading Spaniards.
Datu Bago led his entourage up
the Davao River to Lapanday from where he proceeded to Tagum. Some of his men
sought refuge in the other Moro communities scattered along the coast. Others
went as far as Sarangani Lake Buluan.
Datu Bago’s influence in the
Davao Gulf region must have been highly regarded by the Moros because
Oyanguren, as well as his successors, found continuing signs of Moro resistance
as Spanish governance was being consolidated in the province. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
Setting up the Christian
Settlement
Aware of the Moro evacuation
in the night, Oyanguren gathered his men for thanksgiving prayers on the
morning of 29 June 1848. He dedicated the new community to Saint Peter the
Apostle, the day being his feast day. Since then, 29 June has been the patronal
feast day of Davao, the first Catholic settlement in the Davao Gulf territory.
Having suffered many months of
privations, Oyanguren decided to hasten the rebuilding of the settlement they
had burned and captured. Located along the deep and gently flowing.
Having suffered many months of
privations, Oyanguren decided to hasten the rebuilding of the settlement they
had burned and captured. Located along the deep and gently flowing river and
accessible even by large faluas (sloops) (especially since ocean tides
also reached the river even up to Lapanday), the place was an ideal trading
post. It had the protection of tall trees from strong north winds in the
morning and from the southeast in the afternoons. Its large meadows were fit
for the cultivation of crops and the raising of cattle, which they had intended
to do except that the cattle they had originally brought with them had been
butchered and eaten during the three-month interregnum in the final conquest of
Datu Bago’s settlement.
While reconstruction was going
on, Oyanguren felt the need for a priest, for the spiritual guidance of the
inhabitants of his new settlement. He knew that only a religious missionary
would be capable of developing spirituality in the inhabitants, which he must
harness into viable groups to produce foods and products for commerce and
promote his dominion’s economic growth. The promotion of religion was a major
part of his contract with the government.
In search of a parish priest
for the Davao Gulf settlement, Oyanguren went to Tandag where the Recollect
head mission was located. He found Fr. Francisco Lopez of the parish of
Siargao, who readily came with Oyanguren.
For six months, Fr. Lopez was
father confessor, community development worker, medical practicante,
friend and adviser, and especially, confidence-builder of the settlers who must
have invariably experienced the trials and difficulties of frontier life. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
First Baptism in Davao
Church records show that on 2 August 1848, Fr. Lopez
baptized Maria Concepcion Guide, born to Don Bernardo Gide and Maria Abad,
Españoles. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
Campaigning among the
Natives
Oyanguren busied himself going
around the villages of Davao Gulf to assess their potentialities, which might
be brought into the mainstream of trade and commercial life of the region. He
enjoined the native inhabitants to live together in reducciones for
convenience in reaching these inhabitants and their products for commerce. He
gave incentives in the form of material assistance and premiums for their
accomplishments.
When he returned, however, to
those villagers to check on the progress of the plans discussed with them, he
was to realize that nothing was ever accomplished at all. The Moros had
interfered, telling the natives not to follow with them; he was to realize that
nothing was ever accomplished at all. The Moros had interfered, telling the
natives not to follow his instructions. Collaborating with the Spaniards was a
crime deserving of brutal punishment, they warned.
An incident that showed how
the Moros felt towards the Spaniards happened to Oyanguren himself during one
of his pacification campaigns.
A very short distance from
Madaum lays the Rancheria of Hijo, famous for its having been the last bulwark
of the Moros at the time of the conquest. Señor Oyanguren and distinguished
chief of our militia went there in the steamboat Elcano.. After the Moros had
surrendered, and while Oyanguren and the Datus were arranging the conditions of
submission, a young Mohametan (sic) snatched the sword from (Oyanguren’s)
hands… and took to his heels… That was a boldness that gave the Christians much
to think over.
Oyanguren never recovered his
sword. Fr. More reports in 1885 that the Moros still preserved thehilt of that
sword. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
Oyanguren’s Sword
Sometimes
in 1946, Cong. Artemio Loyola, reported that part of Oyanguren’s sword was
still in the possession of the family of Sultan Navarro of Lasang, through it
was already very short. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
First Expedition to Mt. Apo
Before he lft office, Oyanguren organized in 1852 an
expedition to scale Mr. Apo. His party og 67 men included the lieutenant of the
army, an alferez (naval officer), 30 soldiers (one-third of the guardia civil
force of the region), 20 penal exiles, 13 Bagobos and two Christian civilians.
They walked from the sea coast up to Tagulaya River (Corono, Sta. Cruz). They
“met so many hardships and so much suffering that they had to return without
accomplishing their mission.” Rains mist and the cold winds, which buffeted
them, proved too much to bear. Shortly after their return to Davao, 20 members
of the expedition died. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
Oyanguren’s Disillusionment
Although Oyanguren was
credited with the peaceful possession of the Davao Gulf territory by the end of
1849, such was merely a nominal reality. An insidious campaign by the Moros
drove the other native tribes deeper into wilderness to avoid placing themselves
between “the horns of two bulls”.
The Moro problem that impeded
Oyanguren’s plan was aggravated by hid business partners in Manila who failed
to come up with the support expected of them. He felt abandoned because a year
had passed after conquest, yet no ships or small vessels arrived in the new
settlement.
Oyanguren’s spirit to
persevere must have been buoyed up only by the encouragement of his friend and
confessor, Hr. Lopez and his successor, Fr. Magallon de San Crispin. He needed
to bring the natives products into the mainstream of commercial intercourse to
be able to support the nascent Davao government through the business of trading
and its economic benefits.
For as long as his reducciones
did not materialize, it would almost be impossible to derive benefits out of
his colonization venture. Oyanguren could not start taxing his nearby friends,
the Samales. He had assured them previously that they were exempted from
tributes (taxes) because of their assistance in wresting the Davao settlement
from the Moros. As a man of honor, he could not renege on that policy. He was
thankful that the Samales were still around to provide him with the basic needs
he required whenever asked to do so.
Despite the lack of Christian
settlers and of the funds to develop his domain, Oyanguren nevertheless pressed
on with his pacification of the territory. He investigated the entire coast of
Sarangani, the Davao Gulf, and beyond Cape San Agustin up to Cape Cauit (near
Tandag) on the Pacific coast.
Fr. Juan Bautista Heras,S.J.,
who visited the place around 1860, describes early Davao thus.
“Nueva
Guipucoa is noted for its varied forest products and by the variety of native
tribes… called Tagacaolos, Monobos, Mandayas, Bagobos, Guiangas, B’laans,
Tagabolis, Atas, Samals and Moros.The last group generally occupied the mouths
of the rivers, especially those of Tuganay, Tagum, Hijo and Sumlug.
The tribes lived submerge on the
crassest of ignorance and gross idolatry, and the Bagobos even sacrified human
victims to placate the wrath of Mandarangan, a malevolent divinity who demanded
bloody holocaust.
“They did not accept currency,
and instead bartered their wares with paltes, garnet, yards of yellow wire.
Which they used for arm and leg bracelets, cloth beads for necklaces, etc.
Their main items of barter were beeswax, tortoise shells, balate, mastic,
cinnamon, unhusked rice, bird nests, cacao, coffee, abaca and sugar. Gold was
extracted from alluvial deposits coming from the mountain of Quinquin.
They growth their jackets and
dagmai or vests with abaca fiber, embellishing them with various tints and
designs, such as alligators, little idol figurines, etc. …attractive because of
their neat craftsmanship.
The growth of the mission was
slow at the beginning, with about 800 or more souls in the headtown of Nueva
Vergara, and in one of the mission outposts, there were 24 baptized pagans,
among them Manobos, from Cape San Agustin who settled in Samal.
Despite the difficult
circumstances, the lone Recollect Father continued the shepherd that small and
divided fold, occasionally adding one or other pagan.”
In 1852, barely five years after his conquest of Davao,
Oyanguren was summarily relieved of his command. His trading rights were
cancelled, following Gov. Claveria’s return to Spain and the Assumption into
office of Antonio Maria Blanco.
The was the time when incoming
governors were zealous of their prerogative to investigate anomalies that might
have been committed by their predecessors. Gov. Blanco strived to fing fault
with Claveria’s “unusually liberal” grant to Oyanguren. Should Claveria be
found guilty of some anomaly during his administration, Blanco’s stock would
rise among his supporters in Spain.
Oyanguren was an innocent victim of politics at the
highest level. Even if he were faultless, the injustice done him could not be
corrected. Intrigues were also engineered by his enemies in Manila,
particularly those jealous of Claveria’s concessions.
Fighting hard for justice, Oyanguren remained in Davao to
recoup the privileges granted him in the contract with Gov. Claveria. His wentrenched
enemies, however, ensured that nothing came out of his protestations.
But Gov. Blanco’s successors regarded Oyanguren highly.
In 1855, Oyanguren was commissioned to survey the Sultanate of Maguindanao and
the adjacent territory. He provided statistics and made recommendations as
regards their administration, economic prospects and politics. He was candid in
pointing out the decline in the general welfare of the people as the consequence
of the monopolistic practices of the government. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
He considered monopoly as a factor encouraging piracy. He
urged the authorities to exempt the poverty stricken tribes from taxes for
humanitarian reasons. His recommendation was echoed twenty years later by Fr.
Pablo Pastells, S. J. who worked among the Mandayas of Davao for some ten
years. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
|
Unlucky Strike
Fame and
fortune continue to elude Oyanguren to his day. Some years back, the Davao City
Council changed the name of the street named after Oyangurens- the only
landmark honoring Oyanguren’s labor in Davao- to Magsaysay Avenue. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
Oyanguren’s End
Don Jose Oyanguren y Cruz died on 10 October 1858 at one
o’clock in the afternoon. According to A. Santayana, Oyanguren’s biographer, he
died a despondent man, ruined and broken in spirit, “not suspecting perhaps
that in the history of the colonization of Mindanao he will be assured of a distinguished place.
He played an important role in helping Christianity take root here, preventing
the dominance of the Moros in the Davao Gulf territory.
He was buried’ in the old
cemetery of Nueva Vergara by Fray Celedonio Pardos on 11 October 1858. That
cemetery was located at the end of present day San Pedro Street intersected by
Tomas Claudio (now Quirino) Street. Later, however, the cemetery was
transferred to what later became the site of the University of the Immaculate
Conception along Fr. Selga Street. (Davao History by Ernesto I. Corcino, 1998)
Note:
The Old Town apparently encompassed the
area between Trading, the terminal of San Pedro Street, which intersects Quezon
Boulevard, and that portion bounded by Bolton Street, up to its end towards
Davao River.
Updated on April 13, 2017@7:54pm by Rhey Mark H. Diaz
Updated on April 13, 2017@7:54pm by Rhey Mark H. Diaz
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