Evolution of a cathedral

The present-day San Pedro Metropolitical Cathedral, during the prewar era, was already a significant landmark that defined the town and where the central business district.

Historically, the original church, built in the late 1840s under the Spaniards, was made of nipa and bamboo, later replaced with wood and stone as the settlement grew. By the early American era (1900–30), the church was a modest wooden structure with a gable-style roof and a simple façade. It had a single central nave, small windows with wooden shutters, and a bell tower. The altar was elaborate for its time, with statues of San Pedro and other saints brought in by Spanish missionaries.

The parish grounds of San Pedro hosted one of the earliest Catholic schools in Davao. It was run by the sisters of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM). Adjacent to the school building was the convent or dormitory of the sisters, a two-story wooden structure with Capiz windows and wide corridors. The layout followed the typical mission school setup, which includes the classrooms below and nuns’ quarters above, with a chapel nearby.

One travelogue reported; “During the American Occupation and before WWII, the San Pedro Cathedral was a modest wooden church with a plaza in front, adjacent to the municipal hall and rectory, and surrounded by acacia trees, Japanese shops, and a shoreline much nearer than today. It was the nucleus of both religious and civic activity in early Davao.”

The church, moreover, sat on an elevated area overlooking the Davao Gulf. It was fronted by a wide plaza (Plaza de Oyanguren, later Plaza de Davao, now San Pedro Square), where civic events, parades, and fiestas were held. Around the plaza, there were acacia trees and benches where townsfolk gathered. Located near the church, serving as the seat of government, was the Casa Real, which hosted the provincial administration at the second floor and the municipio (before the present-day city hall was built in 1926) on the ground level.

Beside the church, where the parish priests lived, was a two-story wooden structure that hosted the rectory and the parish house. The gulf was much nearer than today, so the church area was not far from the coast. By the 1930s, many shops and houses around the plaza were owned by Japanese settlers who dominated commerce.

Right after the 1848 conquest of Davao, the church was the spiritual hub of Nueva Vergara (Davao town). Baptisms, weddings, and fiestas were held here. The plaza and church grounds were the focal point of the annual fiesta held every June 29. The plaza adjacent to the church was also the center of civic life during the American era, hosting flag ceremonies, musical bands, and public gatherings.

The front area where a massive monument now stands, used to be part of the church estate. On it was a concrete crucifix planted on an elevated circular pedestal. Later, when the property was donated to the local government, the rood and the platform gave way to the construction of a fountain, which, over time, would become a popular backdrop for posterity photos. The font was surrounded by a circular bar that allowed people to lean on or hold.

Old photographs show a simple wooden church with a triangular pediment, not yet the concrete, ark-inspired structure designed by Arch. Manuel Chiew in the 1960s. The prewar San Pedro Church looked more like a large provincial parish than a cathedral, humble but central to Davao’s community life.

Today’s cathedral, however, carries a design that some observers describe as ecumenically inspired given the blend of Christian symbol and Moro motif. How this fusion of two Filipino cultures stimulates, affects, or motivates Catholics is more of a personal engagement and religious direction.