HCDC and the Chinoy Community: A Shared History of Faith and Education

In an area known to be one of Davao City’s primary trade centers (Chinatown), bustling with noise and history, stood the Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC). For decades, this Catholic educational institution located at Sta. Ana Avenue corner C. De Guzman Street, has opened its doors to the families living and working in this district. While it welcomed everyone, it became a special place for a group that stood right between two cultures.

These were the “Half-Chinese” or the Chinoys. They grew up in families that ran the city’s businesses, yet they chose a different kind of education. Unlike their peers who went to schools for Chinese culture, these students wanted to blend in. They sought an education that prepared them for life in Davao, side by side with their Filipino neighbors.

“Many of the Chinese then were already Chinoys – Chinese-Pinoy, Chinese-Filipino. So they were already Christians,” the Head of the Institutional Quality Assurance Office and among the longest serving employees of the school, Dr. Jean Legaspi, recalled.

This shared belief made the school feel like a second home. They were not outsiders looking in; they were part of the community, celebrating the same mass and holding the same values as everyone else.

Because of this, they didn’t need a curriculum that focused on Mandarin or Hokkien. In fact, the school did not even offer Chinese language classes, yet they came anyway. They were there to master the same subjects as the local students. They spoke the local language in the hallways and made friends, proving that heritage isn’t just about the language you speak but the community you choose. However, in the classroom, their distinct background often shined through their work.

“In terms of academics, most of the Chinese then excelled in Science and Math even during those days,” Dr. Legaspi noted. They played and laughed like everyone else, but they also had a special knack for numbers, perhaps sharpened by the business environment they grew in.

Despite being of foreign heritage and coming from business families, they never acted differently. Dr. Legaspi observed that their attitude was just the same with the common students from Davao. There were no walls between them and their classmates. They wore the same uniform, ate at the same canteen, and faced the same struggles. They were not defined by the shops their parents owned outside the gates but by the friendships and connections they built inside them.

Today, HCDC stands as a witness to that shared history. While the trading district outside continues its endless cycle of buying and selling, the presence of those Chinoy students remains a vital part of the school’s identity. They proved that one could step out of the busy markets and find a second home in this place of faith. In the middle of all that noise, they found a space where they didn’t have to choose between two worlds – they simply belonged. (Ana Patricia R. Bargio | BA Communication Intern, Holy Cross of Davao College)