The Historic Shrine City of Dapitan

Artistic rendering of Datu Pagbuaya

The beginnings of the settlement now known as the city of Dapitan predates the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores on the island of Mindanao.  The Subanens, a nomadic tribe of Indo-Malayan stock, were the earliest known settlers who lived along river banks or "suba", from which word they received their present tribal identity as Subanen. However, it is believed that the timid Subanens were forced to move further into the hinterlands of the Zamboanga peninsula out of fear that pirates may seek shelter during foul weather in the natural harbors of Dapitan’s irregular coastlines. They are now mainly found in the mountainous areas of Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental.

Early cartographers of the Philippines showed Dapitan’s location in their maps of Mindanao using a variety of names by which they had known the settlement, such as  “Dapito”  in Kaerius’ map of 1598, “Dapite” in Dudley’s map of 1646, “Dapyto” in Sanson’s map of 1652, and “Dapitan” in Moll’s map of the East Indies of 1729 and in Murillo Velarde’s map of 1734.

There are two versions of how Dapitan got its name. The first, from an account attributed to Fr. Urdaneta, infers that the name evolved from the original reference to it as "Daquepitan", which later became "Dacpitan" and finally "Dapitan" to make it easier to pronounce.

The second version, which is more widely accepted according to folklore, says that the name derives from the Cebuano word “Dapit”, which means “to invite”. Local tradition tells of the early settlers from Panglao in Bohol who were invited over by Datu Pagbuaya,  the acknowledged founder of Dapitan, to join him in "Dakung Yuta", or literally the big land that is Mindanao. The invitation or pag-dapit that he extended to Boholanos is said to be how Dapitan got its name.

Various historical accounts also indicate that trading voyages and commercial relations existed with the nascent but thriving settlement of Dapitan. This interaction with traders from the different cultures in the region may have had some influence on the cultural evolution of Dapitan itself. The influence of the Spaniards, the Americans, the Japanese, and the different Visayan ethnolinguistic groups that settled here could not also be discounted in their contributions toward the evolution and emergence of a distinctly Dapitanon culture.

Gov. Florentino Saguin

Dapitan was already a thriving settlement when Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived in 1595. It is believed that with Legaspi in the expedition were some Augustinian friars who converted the natives to Christianity. Among the early converts were Pedro Manooc, son of Datu Pagbuaya, and Manooc’s daughter, Maria Uray.

Before the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines in 1768, they had already established mission stations in Zamboanga, Dapitan, Iligan and Butuan. Outside of these strategic beachheads for the faith, however, the hinterlands of Mindanao remained untouched by the Cross.

The permanent Dapitan mission was founded in 1629 and headed by a Jesuit missionary, Father Pedro Gutierrez. With the foothold established by the Jesuit mission, the Spanish colonial authorities adopted the local form of government that already existed in Dapitan but placed the local officials under their complete control. The settlement came to be known as the “pueblo”, and its head variously called either “Datu”, “Capitan” or “Cabeza de Barangay”.

The politico-military commandancia of Dapitan remained dependent on Misamis until the end of the Spanish era in 1898 and it was only during the revolutionary period that Dapitan became an integral part of the Filipino forces in Zamboanga.

During the American occupation, Dapitan continued to be a part of Zamboanga, one of the two districts comprising the Provincia Mora. Dapitan remained a part of Zamboanga province until 1952 when the peninsula was divided into two provinces, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.

The first election for the Provincial Governor of Zamboanga  took place in 1922 and Atty. Florentino Saguin, a Dapitanon, won over two opponents who were leading citizens and political veterans of Zamboanga City. Governor Saguin later served as a Justice of the Court of Appeals, and thus a street in Dapitan is named Justice Florentino Saguin Street in his honor.

In the second regular  election in 1925, another Dapitanon, Don Jose Aseniero, was elected governor of the province.

Dr. Jose Rizal, Exile in Dapitan

From a small town replete with history, Dapitan took a giant step forward and became a chartered city by virtue of Republic Act No. 3811 which was signed by then President Diosdado Macapagal on 22 June 1963, thus becoming the first city in the Province of Zamboanga  del  Norte. By virtue of its historical link to Dr. Jose Rizal, who was exiled in Dapitan for four years, it is officially referred to as the “Shrine City of the Philippines”.

Dapitan is one of the four cities of Region IX, that includes Dipolog, Pagadian and Zamboanga. Today, it strives to maintain its serene character and subdued charm while finding its rightful place in the global village.