28. THE TWO NUEVAS OF OYANGUREN

THE TWO NUEVAS OF OYANGUREN

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

04 April 2017

After barely five months, I’m back in the country’s biggest city in terms of land area to attend the 21st Philippine Local Budget Officers (PhilLBO) Annual Convention at the SMX Convention Center located in SM Lanang Premier in Davao City. This is my first time to attend this kind of assembly. Finance Teams and Bid and Awards Committees (BAC) in all LGUs of the country are invited to hear lectures related to budgeting and to accumulate best practices and experiences from other Finance Teams and BAC of other LGUs from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Everybody is familiar with the name “Davao” and the Duterte phenomenon made all Filipinos know the exact location of Davao in the map. But most Davaoeños and almost all Filipinos are not familiar of the names, Nueva Guipuzcoa and Nueva Vergara. Sad to note that in my numerous interactions with the locals, almost none remembers the name Don Jose Cruz Oyanguren (1800-1859), the Christian founder of this prosperous settlement. 

Marciano R. De Borja’s book entitled “Basques in the Philippines” narrates about Oyanguren. “He was born in Bergara, Gipuzkoa, at the end of the 18th century and gained fame as a lawyer. In 1825, however, after becoming a target of political persecution because of his liberal views, he took refuge in the Philippines, where he dedicated himself to business. Active, robust, and enterprising Oyanguren decided in 1830 to explore the coast of eastern Mindanao, reaching the Gulf of Davao, and other remote islands. Initially, he did well in his legal profession. He registered as a lawyer in Manila in 1837 and in 1840, he became a judge in the district of Tondo, Manila, a position he held until 1846 when judges were appointed from Madrid. An agreement between the sultan of Sulu and the Spanish authorities in Manila had ceded the region of Davao to Spain. Oyanguren conceived the idea of colonizing the area. Before Oyanguren’s pioneering effort, Mindanao was a vast unexplored island for the Spaniards that it remained a frontier territory throughout the Spanish colonial period. Spain has only a token presence, in the Dapitan on the northwestern tip of the island, after reconnoitering the Davao area for the second time, Oyanguren petitioned Governor-General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua for permission to undertake a mini conquista on terms not much different granted by the Spanish kings to conquistadors during the 16th and early 17th centuries. Claveria was receptive to the idea. Although he was born in Gerona (Catalonia), he had spent his childhood in Bizkaia, and his familiarity with the Basques could have influenced his favorable decision that by a decree of February 27, 1847, Governor-General Claveria bestowed on Oyanguren jurisdiction for a ten-year period, and exclusive trading rights for the first six years, within the limits of the territory he might conquered in the Gulf of Davao that he also let him have some artillery, muskets and munitions, and authority to organize a company of territorial troops. Oyanguren sailed for Davao with a small squadron of vessels. He had fitted out at his own expense, or more precisely at the expense of joint stock company he had organized that on the other hand he promised to subject to the Spanish authorities the territory comprising the Cape of San Agustin to Sarangani Point; to expel the Muslims, or at least reduce the number residing there; to establish Christian settlement in order to facilitate the cultivation of fields; to raise livestocks of all types; and to establish friendly relations with the natives in the interior and attract them to civilized life under Spanish tutelage. In just a little over a year, the lawyer-turned-conquistador achieved the almost impossible mission of colonizing a frontier territory. By January 1849, Oyanguren obtained a decree from Governor Claveria constituting the district as a province by the name of Nueva Guipuzcoa, with its capital Nueva Vergara (today the city of Davao) named after his native town that in December 1853, another decree of the colonial government divided the territory of Nueva Guipozcoa into two politico-military districts – Bislig and Davao. The name of Nueva Guipozcoa and Nueva Vergara remained in use until 1862. In time “Davao” came to be used for both the capital and the district. After a new governor-general, the marquis of Solana, assumed office, Oyanguren was relieved of his post in the territory he bizarrely conquered and was replaced by an army captain. Oyanguren would desperately appeal his case to the Audiencia, spending both time and money, but to no avail. Desolate and financially ruined, he died in October 1859 in Davao and was buried in the “cemetery of Bergara”.

Oyanguren’s hometown Bergara (Vergara in Spanish) was founded in 1268 and is located in the Province of Gipuzkoa in the autonomous community of Basque Country in the northern part of Spain. The name Bergara is old and ancient and was first mentioned in a document in the year 1050. Tungsten was discovered here.

On the other hand, Gipuzkoa (Guipuzcoa in Spanish) is the smallest province of Spain with 89 municipalities including the capital Donostia-San Sebastian and a land area of 1,980 square kilometers. The first recorded name of the province was “Ipuscoa” in a document from the year 1025. In various documents, several similar names appear, such as Ipuzcoa, Ipuccha, Ipuzka. The Basque word “Giputz” containing the root ip, which is related to the word ipar (north), ipurdi (back), ipuin (tale). According to this, ipuzko might refer to something “to the north” or “in the north” probably referring the location of the locality in the Iberian peninsula.

The present name of the region and the city was derived from its Bagobo origins. The word “Davao” came from the phonetic blending of three Bagobo subgroups' names for the Davao River, a major waterway emptying into the Davao Gulf near the city. The aboriginal Obos, who inhabit the hinterlands of the region, called the river “Davah” (with a gentle vowel ending, although later pronunciation is with a hard v or b); the Clatta (or Giangan/Diangan) called it “Dawaw”, and the Tagabawas called it “Dabo”. To the Obos, “Davah” also means "a place beyond the high grounds" (alluding to settlements at the mouth of the river surrounded by high, rolling hills). When asked where they were going, the usual reply was “Davah”, pointing towards the town. Many historians also believe that the name Davao is the mixture of the three names that three different tribes, the earliest settlers in the region, had for the Davao River. The Manobos, an aboriginal tribe, referred to the Davao River as Davohoho. Another tribe, the Bagobos, referred to the river as Davohaha, which means "fire", while another tribe, the Guiangan tribe, called the river as Duhwow.

Today, Davao Region or Region XI is comprised of five provinces and six cities including the highly urbanized city (HUC) of Davao. The whole region was originally one province called Davao. In 1967, RA 4867 divided the vast province to three: Davao del Norte with Tagum as capital, Davao del Sur with Digos as capital and Davao Oriental with Mati as capital. In 1998, Compostela Valley was created through RA 8470 out of Davao del Norte with Nabunturan as capital. In 2013, by virtue of RA 10360, the country’s newest and 81st province, Davao Occidental, was created out of Davao Oriental with Malita as the capital. The suffix “oriental” means “eastern” while “occidental” means “western”. “del norte” means “northern” while “del sur” means “southern”.

Don Jose Oyanguren probably envisioned that the area now known as Davao region would be a potential hub for trade and industry. Though he was short in implementing significant economic ventures due to the sudden cut in his tenure as governor, he in all probability saw a future HUC when he founded Nueva Vergara on June 29, 1848 by maximizing the abundant natural resources of eastern Mindanao and proper utilization of the promising Davao Gulf.