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| Name's history | |
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Local historians of Davao claim that the word davao came from the phonetic blending of the word of three Bagobo subgroups when referring to Davao River, an essential waterway which empties itself into Davao Gulf near the city. The aboriginal Obos who inhabit the hinterlands of the region called the river, Davoh; the Clatta or Guiangans called it Duhwow, or Davau, and the Tagabawa Bagobos, Dabu. To the Obos, the word davoh also means a place "beyond the high grounds", alluding to the settlements located at the mouth of Davao River which were surrounded by high rolling hills. When asked where they were going, the usual reply is davoh, while pointing towards the direction of the town. Duhwow also refers to a trading settlement where they barter their forest goods in exchange for salt or other commodities.
[edit] Tags:City,Phonetic,Bagobo,Aboriginal,Forest, | |
| Conquest of the area | |
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Spanish influence was hardly felt in the Davao until 1848, when an expedition of 70 men and women led by Don Jose Cruz de Uyanguren, a native of Vergara, Guipuzcoa, Spain, came to establish a Christian settlement in an area of mangrove swamps that is now Bolton Riverside. Davao was then ruled by a chieftain, Datu Bago, who held his settlement at the banks of Davao River (once called Tagloc River by the Bagobos). The chieftain was the most powerful datu in the area during that time. When Uyanguren met with the Mandaya chieftain Datu Daupan, he allied with the chieftain to help defeat Datu Bago, who treated their neighbors Mandayas as tributary barangays. Uyanguren attempted to defeat Datu Bago, but failed when their ships were outmaneuvered in crossing the narrow channel of the Davao River bend, where the Bolton Bridge is now located. Three months after the battle, he was forced to build the causeway that connects to the other side of the river, but Datu Bago's warriors raided the causeway and harassed the workers. However, a few weeks later after the battle, Don Manuel Quesada, Navy Commanding General of Zamboanga, arrived with a company of infantry and joined in the attack against Datu Bago’s settlement.
[edit] Tags:Barangays,Guipuzcoa,Spain,Zamboanga, | |
| Establishment of the town | |
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After Uyanguren defeated Datu Bago, he renamed the region Nueva Guipúzcoa and founded the town Nueva Vergara, which was Davao, in the year 1848, in honor of his home in Spain, and became its first governor. He himself was reported to have peaceful conquest of the entire Davao Gulf territory at the end of the year, despite lack of support from the Spanish government in Manila and his principals during the venture. He attempted to make peace with the neighboring tribes -- the Bagobos, Mansakas, Manobos, Aetas, etc. -- to urge them to help develop the area; his efforts to develop the area, however, did not prosper.
[edit] Tags:Manila, | |
| The region under a new governor | |
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By 1852, due to intrigues by people in Manila dissatisfied with his Davao venture, Marquis de Solana, under Governor General Blanco's order, took over Uyanguren's command of Nueva Guipúzcoa (Davao) Region. By that time, the capital town, Nueva Vergara, which is Davao, had a population of 526 residents and while relative peace with the natives prevailed, population expanded very slowly that even in the census report of 1855, the Christian inhabitants and converts increased to only 817, which included 137 exempted from paying tributes.
In 1867, the original settlement by the side of Davao River (end of present Bolton Street) was relocated to its present site with the Saint Peter’s church (now San Pedro Cathedral) as the center edifice on the intersection of San Pedro and Claveria Streets.
In the meantime, in response to the Davaoeños persistent demands, Nueva Vergara was renamed "Davao". The name is derived from its Bagobo origins: the Tagabawa who called the river "Dabo", the Giangan or Diangan who called it "Dawaw", and the Obo who called it "Davah", with a gentle vowel ending, although later usage pronounce it with a hard "v" as in "b". The pioneer Christian inhabitants of the settlement understandably were the proponents behind the official adoption of the name "Davao" in 1868.
The arrival of a group of three Jesuit missionaries in Davao in 1868 to take over the mission from the lone Recollect priest in the Davao Gulf area, marked a systematic and concerted effort at winning souls over the native inhabitants to the folds of Christian life. Through their zeal and frequent field work, the Jesuit fathers gradually succeeded in winning souls over the different indigenous tribes to live in reducciones, or settlements, thus easily reached for instructions in Christian precepts and practices.
By the 1890’s, even the Muslims were starting to become Christian converts, through the efforts of their own datus, Datu Timan and Datu Porkan, although many others remained steadfast in their faith to Islam. Fr. Saturnino Urios who labored among the Moros of Hijo in 1892 further swayed the latter’s faith that led to the splitting of their population. Those who wanted to live among the Christians left Hijo and were resettled in Tigatto, Mawab, and Agdao, under the supervision of Don Francisco Bangoy and Don Teodoro Palma Gil, Sr. respectively. These separatist groups generally refer to themselves today as Kalagans.
[edit] Tags:Muslims,Christian Converts,Islam,Moros, | |
| Initial growth of the town | |
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A few years after the American forces landed in 1900, private farm ownership grew and transportation and communication facilities were improved, thus paving the way for the region's economic growth.
During the early years of American rule which began in late December 1898 the town began to mark its role as a new growth center of the Philippines, which it will be a city for the next 38 years. The American settlers, mostly retired soldiers and investor friends from Zamboanga, Cebu, Manila and the U.S. mainland immediately recognized the rich potential of the region for agricultural investment. Primeval forest lands were available everywhere. They staked their claim generally in hundreds of hectares and began planting rubber, abaca and coconuts in addition to different varieties of tropical plants imported from Ceylon, India, Hawaii, Java and Malaysia. In the process of developing large-scale plantations, they were faced with the problem of lack of laborers. Thus, they contracted workers from Luzon and the Visayas, including the Japanese, many of whom were former laborers in the Baguio, Benguet road construction. Most of these Japanese later became land-owners themselves as they acquired lands thru lease from the government or bought out some of the earlier American plantations. The first two decades of the 20th century, found Davao one of the major producers of export products --- abaca, copra and lumber. It became a regular port of call by inter-island shipping and began direct commercial linkages abroad - US, Japan, Australia, and many other countries. Some 40 American and 80 Japanese plantations proliferated throughout the province in addition to numerous stores and business establishments. Davao saw a rapid rise in its population and its economic progress gave considerable importance to the country’s economy and foreign trade.
Japan-town, Davao City circa 1930s.
A Japanese entrepreneur named Kichisaburo Ohta was granted permission to exploit vast territories which he transformed into abacá and coconut plantations. The first wave of Japanese plantation workers came onto its shores in 1903, creating a Little Japan. They had their own school, newspapers, an embassy, and even a Shinto Shrine. On the whole, they established extensive abaca plantations around the shores of Davao Gulf and developed large-scale commercial interests such as copra, timber, fishing and import-export trading. Filipinos learned the techniques of improved cultivation from the Japanese so that ultimately, agriculture became the lifeblood of the province's economic prosperity.
[edit] Tags:Philippines,American,Cebu,U.s. Mainland,Ceylon,India,Hawaii,Java,Malaysia,Luzon,Visayas,Japanese,Abacá,Coconut,Newspapers,Embassy,Filipino,Copra, | |
| From town to city | |
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Because of the increasing influence of the Japanese in the trade and economy of region, on March 16, 1936, Romualdo Quimpo, the congressman from Davao filed Bill no. 609 and was subsequently passed as Commonwealth Act No. 51 creating the City of Davao from the Town of Davao (Mayo) and the Guianga District. The bill further called for appointments of the local officials from the President.[3]
Davao was formally inaugurated as a chartered city on October 16, 1936, by President Manuel L. Quezon. The City of Davao then became the provincial capital of the then undivided Davao Province. It was one of the first two towns in Mindanao to be converted into a city, the other being Zamboanga. By that time the city's population was 68,000.
[edit] Tags:Mindanao,Chartered City, | |
| The city at war | |
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Main article: Battle of Mindanao
On December 8, 1941 Japanese planes bombed the city. Japanese occupation started in 1942.
In 1945, American and the Philippine Commonwealth forces liberated Davao City from Japanese forces. The longest and bloodiest battle during the Philippine Liberation occurred in the city; it was during the time of Battle of Mindanao. World War II brought considerable destruction to the new city and numerous setbacks to the earlier economic and physical strides made prior to the Japanese occupation. Davao was among the earliest to be occupied by the invading Japanese Forces, and they immediately fortified the city as the bastion of Japanese defense. It was subjected to constant bombing by the returning forces of Gen. MacArthur, long before the American Liberation Forces landed in Leyte in October 1944.
[edit] Tags:Battle Of Mindanao,Gen. Macarthur,Leyte, | |
| Philippine administration | |
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After the Second World War, though the forces of the Empire of Japan inflicted a heavy toll over the city and its citizens during the war, the city still continued on its economic growth. Its population rose to 112,000 in 1946; its Japanese inhabitants, which consist 80% of the population of the city that time, were incorporated to the Filipino population. The city resumed its role as the premier agricultural and economic hub of Mindanao. Logs, lumber, plywood, copra and banana products gradually replaced abaca as the major export product.
Thirty years later, in 1967, the Province of Davao was subdivided into three independent provinces, namely Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental. The City of Davao was grouped with Davao del Sur and was no longer the capital. However, it became a center of trade for Southern Mindanao. Over the years, Davao has become an ethnic melting pot as it continues to draw migrants from all over the country, lured by the prospects of striking it rich in the country's second largest city.
From the 1970s to present, Davao became the Regional Capital of Southern Mindanao and with the recent reorganization, became the regional capital of the Davao Region (Region XI) and the Highly urbanized city in the Province of Davao del Sur.
[edit] Tags:Urban,Largest City,Second World War,Forces Of The Empire Of Japan, | |
| Rebels' control of the city in the 1980's | |
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During the 1980's parts of Davao City, including parts of Calinan and Mintal districts, was used as a rebel base by two different guerrilla groups, the Communist New People’s Army and the Moro National Liberation Front, a Muslim separatist movement. Government forces eventually drove the insurgents from the city, but the two movements continued on Mindanao. However, as the city continues its industrial growth, now only a few rebels patrol the entire Davao Region.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Population | |
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Population Census
Census
Pop.
Rate
1980
614,124
—
1990
849,947
3.3%
1995
1,006,840
3.4%
2000
1,147,116
2.84%
2007
1,363,337
2.41%
Est. 2010
1,464,301
27.65%
The estimated population of the city is 1,464,301 in 2010 according to 2010 LGPMS Census; Metro Davao, with the city as its metropolitan center, has about 2,274,913 people in 2010, making it as the third most populous metropolitan agglomeration in the Philippines and the most populous in Mindanao. However, an estimated number of between 2-4 million people are present in Davao City during the daytime owing to work or business activities. Davao City is the only city to hit the one-million mark outside Metro Manila since 1995, making it the country's second largest city.
[edit] Tags:Metro Manila, | |
| Language | |
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Davaoeño, a dialectal variant of Cebuano, is the most widely spoken language in the city, while the Tagalog itself comes a distant second. English is the medium of instruction in schools and is widely understood and spoken especially in the business community and for all official documents. Bistaglish, an informal mixing of the above languages, is spoken as well.
A variant of the Chavacano language is the Chavacano de Davao or Castellano Abakay. This language was first recorded by Keith Whinnom in 1956, at which the said language was spoken around 1900 and he considered it as "offshoot" of Chavacano language (see link here: 1). The creole is spoken in 2 styles: (1)"Chino" - Chinese style, because it is spoken in Chinese accent; (2)"Japon" - Japanese style, because it is interspersed with Japanese words. As of today, there is no exact data about its total speakers.
For further information, please read the following articles:
Chavacano language
Names given to the Spanish language
Other notable languages are Boholano and Hiligaynon or known as Ilonggo. The city's inhabitants speak six of the country's main languages: Cebuano, Tagalog, Hiligaynon(Ilonggo), Kapampangan, Boholano, and Chavacano; Bagobo, T'boli, Maranao, and many more dialects were also spoken from other denominations of people, especially those who are living in the western part of the city, like the Lumad tribespeople; this makes the city as the most multilingual city in the country.
[edit] Tags:Languages,Tagalog,English,Boholano, | |
| Religion | |
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The largest group is the Roman Catholic at 95% of the population, other Christian groups such as Protestant churches (Evangelicals, Born Again, Members Church of God International (MCGI), Kingdom of Jesus Christ) comprise 3%, the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) comprises 1.5% of the population and the remaining .5% belong to other non-Christian faiths (Islam, Buddhism, animism)
[edit] Tags: | |
| Culture and heritage | |
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The weeklong Kadayawan Festival, is dubbed as 'King of festivals'.
Easy assimilation is an integral essence of multi-cultural Davao. Being a chartered city, it has grown appreciating differences in culture and tradition by numerous ethnic groups that integrated easily to the local tribes already present during its infancy as a city.
Like most cities in the Philippines, Christians largely populate Davao. Christian churches and chapels dot the city's landscape along with some temples, mosques, and other places of worship.
Another Spanish influence that remains up to this day is the observance and celebration of barrios, or villages, of the day of their respective patron saint called "Fiesta". It is in these celebrations wherein songs, dances and other forms of arts and merrymaking from various cultures have evolved creatively into the sights and sounds of Davao now. Such showcases point to its ultimate climax as the celebration of all celebrations - the weeklong Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival.
The first inhabitants of Davao are the different Lumad groups. At present time, every year, the Kadayawan Festival is celebrated as a way of thanks giving for the bountiful harvest. It is also a way to honor the tribes of Davao. Unfortunately, for whatever reasons some of the tribes are not in the list at all. The Mandaya and Mansaka tribes are now regarded as inhabitants of Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte only. The recognition of the tribes of Davao today is based on the organized ethnic groups now residing in davao city. A deputy mayor is appointed for each organized group. Since the Mandayas and Mansakas are apparently not that organized in Davao City they are not represented in the Hiyas ng Kadayawan pageant at all. The tribes of Davao now include tribes which are not original Davaoeños like the Maranao, Tausug, and Maguindanao. Ironically, the two tribes that has "MADAYAW" word in their dialect are regarded as not one of the tribes of Davao.
[edit] Tags:Cities In The Philippines, | |
| Geography | |
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Mt. Apo overlooks Davao City
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The land area of Davao City is 2,443.61 square kilometers, It is divided into 3 congressional districts, which are further divided into 11 administrative districts containing a total of 184 barangays. Almost 50% of its total land area is classified as timberland or forest. Agriculture utilizes about 43%. This is reflective of the fact that agriculture is still the largest economic sector. Big plantations that produce banana, pineapple, coffee, and coconut eat up a large chunk of the total land area. Although 82% of the city's inhabitants live in the city's urban center, 6.93% of the city's land area only covers its urban area; however, as the population is rapidly growing, its urban landscape is also rapidly increasing.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Location | |
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Davao City is approximately 588 miles (946 km) southeast of Manila, 971 kilometres (524 nmi) by sea.
As of 2010[update] built-up areas used for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial purposes represent about 10% of the total land area. Under the approved land use plan built-up and settlement area will cover 15% of the total area, while agricultural will be maximized with 67.19%. The remaining 17.68 will be devoted to forestry and conservation.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Climate | |
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Davao City is typhoon-free due to its location. The city enjoys a weather that remains balmy all year round. It is characterized by a uniform distribution of rainfall, temperature, humidity, and air pressure. It has no pronounced wet or dry season. Weather predictability makes it highly conducive to agricultural production. Temperature ranges from 20 to 32 degrees Celsius and average rainfall is up to 2,000 mm yearly.
Climate data for Davao City, Philippines
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °F (°C)
108
(42)
101
(38)
102
(39)
100
(38)
99
(37)
109
(43)
101
(38)
102
(39)
103
(39)
100
(38)
93
(34)
100
(38)
109
(43)
Average high °F (°C)
86
(30)
87
(31)
88
(31)
90
(32)
89
(32)
87
(31)
87
(31)
88
(31)
88
(31)
88
(31)
88
(31)
87
(31)
88
(31)
Average low °F (°C)
74
(23)
74
(23)
75
(24)
76
(24)
76
(24)
76
(24)
75
(24)
75
(24)
75
(24)
75
(24)
75
(24)
75
(24)
75
(24)
Record low °F (°C)
66
(19)
68
(20)
68
(20)
70
(21)
72
(22)
72
(22)
71
(22)
70
(21)
70
(21)
71
(22)
72
(22)
69
(21)
66
(19)
Source: Weatherbase[4]
[edit] Tags: | |
| Accessibility | |
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Davao City is very accessible and is the gateway to the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area or BIMP-EAGA.
[edit] Tags: | |
| By land | |
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Davao City also offers a wide bus network connection to major cities and provinces, not only in Mindanao but even as far as Manila and Pasay City in Luzon. Davao City is connected to Manila by a series of roll on roll off or inter-island ferry connection. Davao City is accessible by bus to and from points in Mindanao like Cotabato, Monkayo, Kidapawan, Midsayap, Digos, General Santos, Koronadal, Isulan, Tacurong, Tagum, Cagayan de Oro, Surigao, Butuan, and with Manila in Luzon.
The DPWH is now proposing to build the Tagum-Davao City-Digos Light Rail Transit, which will be the first in the entire Mindanao island; and the construction of the Davao-Samal Bridge, which will be like the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge in the United States, to begin in 2017.
[edit] Tags: | |
| By sea | |
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The city is also served by domestic passenger ferries at Sasa Port and Sta. Ana Wharf, both of which are the international seaports of Port of Davao, the busiest port in Mindanao. This port could service both interisland Tags: | |
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