Datu Bago is a controversial figure in Davao history because different people use different lenses in looking at him.

For the Spaniards, and for Filipinos who adopt the colonial view, Datu Bago is a pirate.  For the Moros and nationalist Filipinos, Datu Bago is a hero, who had fought long and hard in keeping Davao Gulf free from foreign control. But like all of those other Filipino heroes, he would ultimately be vanquished by the superior arms of Spanish colonialism on June 29, 1848 when Basque adventurer Jose Oyanguren finally overran the Bankerohan kuta of Datu Bago.

Datu Bago's origins and fate are also shrouded in mystery.

One version say Datu Bago was a Tausug, son of a Sulu datu who was a warrior who fought the British and the Spaniards.  Another says he was a Maguindanaw datu who came to settle in Bankerohan because he found the Davao River with the same quality of water as the place of his birth. And in Mayor Elias B. Lopez's version, he was a Bagobo since Datu Bago lived in a territory traditionally held by the Bagobos.

Historical research revealed that Datu Bago's lineage was both Tausug and Maguindanaw and that he settled in Bagobo land, which makes him, like most residents of Davao today, a true Dabawenyo.

When his Bankerohan kuta fell in the hands of colonial Spain, there were also different versions of what happened to Datu Bago. One version reported that he retreated towards Kabacan in Cotabato, whose chief was his son-in-law. Another version provides a grim end for Datu Bago which tells us that he was overtaken by the Spaniards at the area in Lapanday as he fled upriver towards Maa and Waan. Upon capture, he was reported to have either been killed by a firing squad or beheaded.  This supposedly happen at the site now called Oyanguren in the Tigatto area. If this version were true, the Spaniards would have recorded it, but there are no records of that anywhere to prove it really happened.

What seems to be the accepted version is that Datu Bago fled towards the north, specifically towards Tagum (Bingcungan). That was where he died and was buried in what is now Pagsabangan.

There may be different versions of Datu Bago's origin and fate, but what is certain is that he was a true Dabawenyo and he was a genuine hero who fought against Davao's foreign colonization.

So in 1969, the City Government of Davao, under the leadership of Mayor Elias B. Lopez, a Bagobo, created the Datu Bago Award as the highest award to be bestowed on a Dabawenyo 'who has contributed to the development of the City of Davao with exemplary competence and dedication and who best serves as a model of excellence and an inspiration to the residents of Davao.'

To date, a total of 146 distinguished Dabawenyos have been bestowed this highest honor and automatically inducted as members of the Datu Bago Foundation, Inc.  The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors and they create a Search Committee every year to help the City Mayor of Davao select the awardees.

The Datu Bago Award is being conferred in a formal ceremony every Araw ng Dabaw celebration where it is one of the highlights. #