MUSEO DABAWENYO [muːsejɔ dabawenjɔ]

Gloria P. Dabbay, first prize winner in the History Writing Contest sponsored by the Araw ng Dabaw Golden Anniversary (1987) Celebration Committee, is a General Education Supervisor of Social Studies in the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, Region XI; Curriculum Writer-Researcher, Social Studies Center, UP Diliman (Summer of 1978 and 1979), Training Grantee to the 26th INNOTECH three-Month Training Program sponsored by the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization held at UP Diliman, Quezon City from April 6 to June 26, 1981; Officer of the Davao Historical Society; accepted by the United States Information Agency in Washington D.C., U.S.A. to participate in the New York Multi-National University Summer Institute titled “American Studies for Curriculum Developers and Textbook Writers” (July-August 1986) whose central theme was the Quest for Community in American Culture, supported with lectures and field trips to local community organizations in six different states in the United States of America.


Macario D. Tiu is the Editor of Tambara, the official journal of Ateneo de Davao University where he is a professor of English and Literature. A political detainee for four years during the Marcos dictatorship, Tiu has had wide experiences in Grassroots organizing, research and media production. A multi-awarded fictionist with two Palanca golds, he has published three other books: Sky Rose and Other Stories (Davao Writers Guild, 2003); Philippine Literature, A Mindanao Reader, as co-editor (Research and Publication Office, Ateneo de Davao Universaity, 2005); and Davao 1890-1910: Conquest and Resistance in the Garden of the Gods (University of the Philippines-Center for Integrative and Development Studies, 2003) which was a finalist in the National Book Award 2003 in the history category.

Ernesto I. Corcino is a newspaperman by training but a historian and farmer by preference. He worked for 29 years with the United States Information Service (USIS) in various supervisory positions in Manila and Davao.

He joined the USIS in 1948 and was sent for study and training in the United States. He was assigned for cultural research assistant at the US Embassy in Manila and there edited the official publication of the Philippine Fulbright Scholars Association-the Exchange News Quarterly. In Davao, he organized and co-founded several organizations: Coordinating Council of Organizations of Davao, Konsumo Dabaw, the Environmental Conservation Society, the Fulbright Scholars Association-Mindanao Chapter, among others. For two years, he also served as information officer of the Mindanao Development Authority.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte tapped him as consultant on cultural and historical affairs in 1992, a position he holds to the present. He is a public relations officer of the Davao Beautiful Foundation. He is also adviser of the Davao Historical Society after being the president for seven years.

He received an Honor Award for “Outstanding Service in Cultural Exchange Program” from USIS. He was conferred the Datu Bago Award in 1997. The Rotary Club of Davao presented him with a Plaque of Recognition for “dedicating his lifetime to the study of the rich cultural heritage and traditions of Davao and its people.” His latest award is from the National Board of Governors for “commitment ans service” to the Philippine National Red Cross.

Born in Manila on 22 October 1923 of parents from Antique, he migrated to Davao on 2 September 1938.

Prof. B. R. Rodil is a member of the faculty of the Department of History of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology in Iligan City, the Philippines. Born in Maguindanao Province and a resident of Mindanao since birth, Prof. Rodil grew up among the Tiruray, Lumad indigenous community, taught for almost two years in the southern island of Jolo in the Province of Sulu, and is now a resident of Iligan City, Lanao del Norte. He has made extensive study of the history and contemporary situation of the indigenous peoples oof Mindanao and Sulu since 1973. His major works include A preliminary Study of the National Cultural Minorities of Mindanao and Sulu and as (Rad D. Silva) two Hills of the Same Land. He has also written, in Filipino, Kasaysayan ng mga Pamayanan ng Mindanao at Arkipelago ng Sulu (History of the Settlements of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago) from 1596 to 1898, thereby contributing substantially to the unraveling of the complex and delicate issue of ancestral land claims in the region.

Dr. Heidi K. Gloria earned her doctorate in History from the University of the Philipppines in Diliman where she also finished her college studies with a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service. Her first graduate degree in History was completed in the University of San Carlos in Cebu City where she first started to teach History and Political Science as a Senior Instructor. Her first published work, “The legends of Mactan Island” was published in the Philippine quarterly of Culture and Society of the University of San Carlos.

In 1985, she became a Professor of History in the Ateneo de Davao University where she taught History and the Social Sciences beginning in 1976. In her 25-year domicile in Davao City she focused on writing the history of the indigenous peoples of Mindanao completing five major works. Her doctoral dissertation on the Bagobo of Davao became her first book published by New Day Publishers in 1987. In the same year she finished the research project, “The Indigenous Learning System of the Bagobo” for the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education (SEAMEO). The following year, she completed another research project, “3 Ethnic Groups of Davao: Majority-Minority Perceptions and Relations.”

This was followed in 1993 by the publication of the Kaingin, Ethnological practices of 7 Highland Communities in Mindanao for the Toyota Foundation. “A Cultural Baseline for 10 Indigenous Communities Around Mt. Apo” was a project completed in 1994 for the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) which put up a geothermal plant in Mt. Apo. Her most recent work, Mindanao andSulu: History, Peoples and Institutions was co-authored with Dr. Samuel K. Tan for the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) which provided the research grant and sponsored the book’s publication.

Gloria was the founder of the Tambara, the Ateneo de Davao University Journal and was its editor until 2000. She continues to teach in the Graduate School of the Ateneo de Davao and perform supervisory work for the college faculty. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Historical Institute.

Dr. Samuel K. Tan is a native of Siasi, Sulu of Tausug-Samal-Chinese parentage. He finished two years of Business Administration at Silliman university where he was a consistent scholar, obtained a B.S. Theology from Ebenezer Bible College and an A>B> in History degree from Zamboanga A. E. College. He earned his first graduate degree, an M>A> in History from the University of the Philippines, summa cum laude and later a Ph.D. in the Social Sciences at Syracuse University. He was an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Hisatory of the University of the Philippines. During his term, he pioneered the use of oral historical methodology and promoted the writing of local history as a significant branch of Philippine historical studies. In 1997, he became the Chair and Executive Director of the National Historical Institute.

A well-known scholar and educator, he has published several works in Philippine History most of which focused on Tausug historical literature. Among his most significant works are “Sulu under American Rule, 1899-1913”, “The Hasan Uprising”, Cession of Sibutu and Cagayan de Jolo” and “Unity and Disunity in the Filipino Muslim Armed Struggle.”