PME trials, suffering, and sacrifice

The PME Fathers (Société des Missions-Étrangères du Québec), Canadian missionaries sent to Davao, played a crucial role in the Catholic evangelization of the region before and during World War II. Their mission was relatively young: they had taken over from the Jesuits in Davao in December 1939. But the outbreak of war brought tremendous hardship, suffering, and loss. Many of these foreign missionaries, being from a country allied against Japan, were treated as enemies by the occupying forces. Some faced imprisonment, death, disappearance during the war but they later contributed to the postwar reconstruction.

The PME Fathers began arriving in Davao in 1937. The first group included Fathers Clovis Rondeau, Clovis Thibault, Conrad Côté, Omer Leblanc, and Léon (Leo) Lamy. Subsequent batches followed: the second in 1938 under Father Joseph Geoffroy, and other groups arriving in 1940 and November 1941. They took over parishes formerly managed by the Jesuits, and they began establishing new ones. Fr. Conrad Côté founded the parish in Kingking (now Pantukan), and Father Poirier founded St. Joseph Parish in Santa Cruz.

With the Japanese attack and the subsequent invasion of the country, the parochial work of the PME Fathers was severely disrupted. On Dec. 8, 1941, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Davao was bombed by the Japanese, and missionary activities came to a near halt. By then, there were about 23 PME Fathers in Davao. Because the priests were Canadian, they were immediately considered adversaries by the occupying Japanese forces.

When the war intensified, some of the PME Fathers managed to escape. According to historical accounts, seven of them fled into the hinterlands and sought refuge among the indigenous tribes along the eastern seaboard of Davao. These remote communities offered protection but the conditions must have been extremely difficult, given the terrain, the scarcity of supplies, and the danger. The rest of the priests were not as fortunate.

Many were captured by Japanese forces and sent to internment camps. Specifically, they were imprisoned in the concentration camps at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila and University of the Philippines, in Los Baños, Laguna. These internment camps held many civilian and religious detainees during the Japanese occupation.

The war years exacted a heavy toll on the PME Fathers. According to the records, Fr. Lamy died of malaria while assigned to San Pedro Church. Father Desjardins disappeared mysteriously while traveling from Manay to Caraga. Historical accounts suggest he may have drowned.

Fr. Leo Poirier and Fr. Omer Leblanc, who were doing missionary work in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, were held prisoner by Japanese soldiers and taken to Pikit, Cotabato. Tragically, they were killed there during their captivity. These deaths highlight both the physical dangers and the targeted violence the missionaries faced from the occupying forces.

After liberation, the surviving PME Fathers returned to Davao to rebuild their mission. Some of the first to come back were Fr. Clovis Thibault and Fr. Gerard Campagna. Those who survived but were physically or mentally exhausted returned temporarily to Canada for rest; then, in 1946, they came back with new missionaries to renew and expand their work.

Father Thibault would go on to become a pivotal figure. After the war, he became regional superior of the PME Fathers in Davao, then later bishop–and eventually Archbishop of Davao. Their mission expanded significantly in the postwar years, and they helped establish new parishes and educational institutions. The essence of their ordeals bore fruits in the small church communities that survive to this day.

The legacy of enduring pain during the war shaped, in a way, their deep love for the Davao people who, in their times of ordeal and struggle, were the ones who provided them shelter.