Timan, the Moro martyr

The start of the massive conversion of the Moros in Davao to Catholicism took place in 1894-95, just years before the end of Spanish colonial rule. On September 28, 1894, for instance, Father Urios baptized 127 Moros, many of them datus and panditas. By October, the number of Moro converts breached the 1,000 mark, including leaders from Santa Cruz, As-torga, and Daliao.

Overwhelmed by the event, Father Urios wrote Fr. Juan Ricart that the leader of Moro pack who sought out the missionaries was Datu Timan, later the appointed village captain of Cristina (Darong), noting “the big number of Korans and leaflets with prayers in Arabic which they surrendered to us.” At the time the Moro residents of Madaum, were ready to leave Islam. Days later, over a thousand Moros were baptized in Samal.

But the success of missionary efforts was sealed with the blood of a sacrificial victim—sellarla con la sangre de un martir. Datu Timan, who was baptized as Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus), with Davao Governor Jose Tomaseti as godfather, expressed his desire to visit relatives in the Tagum area where their was conflict among the Moros, Mandayas and Atas.

The datu told his baptismal sponsor, the governor, about his plan but Tomaseti and Urios warned him against pushing through with his intention because of the mutinous condition prevailing in Tagum.

Being well-known among the residents of that area, Datu Timan proceeded with his trip without an iota of suspicion, hoping he would be able to act as intermediary between the Moros and the pagans. But upon reaching the river bar of Tagum, he was approached by Masungut, a Moro datu who headed the Daliao rancheria, confronting him of the news the Moros received that he had converted to Catholicism.

Furious, Datu Masungut turned his back on the convert and sought out Dindin, a pagan Mandaya, who was standing not too far away on the prow of a small baroto, which Datu Timan planned to use in going upstream where his cousins Porcan and Lansan were residing. The Daliaon chief ordered Dindin to kill Datu Timan but he initially resisted because he knew the convert’s relatives and he knew him to be a respected Moro leader in Darong.

Incensed at the refusal, Masungut kicked the Mandaya and “accused him of being indolent, a coward and a weakling.” The Mandaya, visibly insulted by the action of the Moro datu, did not have any option but to do the unthinkable. He went straight to Datu Timan, his lance already raised, and fatally stabbed the convert three times. “Without expecting it,” Fa-ther Pastells wrote, “the victim went straight to heaven, getting an enviable reward so soon after being baptized.”

Datu Timan’s martyrdom did not deter the Moros from leaving Islam. By the middle of December 1894, the number of Moros and pagans recruited over the last five months had hit the 5,000 marks. The conversion continued until the following year when Father Urios successfully established Christian settlements populated mostly by Moro converts in Ilang, Lasang, Madaum and Hijo. He also baptized 170 Moros in Belen (Lapanday), a good number of them were residents of the hacienda owned by Juan Awad, the Syrian-Lebanese abaca plantation owner.

Contrary to their former war-like trait, “the new Christians were very docile, attentive, spontaneous and friendly with the missionaries and were also faithful and devout in attending the Mass, the sermons and instructions of the priests in their little chapels.”

The extraordinary effort to face the adversarial Moros and converting them to the faith was one of the most daring challenges the missionaries had to face in the face of threats of being killed. But the resolve of the priests to bring the tribes and the Moros to the altar of con-version was far more significant than their lives. The successes gained underscored this sacrifice.