PERIODIC HISTORY
To the modern-day Tagumenyos, much of the history of Tagum
began when migrant settlers started their exodus down south to the territory in Mindanao, more particularly in the undivided Province of Davao. The migration of Christian Filipinos from places in the north, such as the islands of Luzon, Cebu, Bohol and Leyte, was predicated on the encouragement by the Insular Government for migrants to settle down and work within the vast lands of the southern island, including that of the Municipal District of Tagum that used to encompass what are now Davao City’s Lasang, and Panabo City at the south, Maco on the east and a portion of Mawab on the north. This state-sponsored immigration was hinged on the implementation of the government policy of developing and civilizing the Muslim and Tribal communities that dotted the municipal district of Tagum.
For the descendants of the Kagan Muslims and the Indigenous
people, such as the Mandaya and the Mansaka who were the original settlers of Tagum, however, their people’s part of Tagum history happened before the turn of the 20th century, several decades earlier than when the migrant settlers came in droves from the north. SPANISH PERIOD
The oldest accounts of the happenings in Tagum were
encapsulated in various letters of the Jesuit priests to the Father Superior of the Jesuit Mission to the Philippines. These letters were compiled to form several volumes of books published within a 20-year period and wholly written in Spanish.
A letter of Fr. Quirico More, S.J. to his mission’s Father Superior,
written in January 20, 1885 was translated in English and included in
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KAGIKAN: Tracing the Flow of Tagum’s Rich History
