Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) has taken a historic step in preserving Mindanawon legacy with the turnover of the Davao Museum Collection to the university, marking the establishment of a new cultural heritage center. 

University President Fr. Karel San Juan, SJ, emphasized that the turnover is both a cultural and academic milestone for the university and the wider Mindanawon community.

“Turning it over to Ateneo is significant because we will manage it well, we’ll develop it, we’ll share it [with] the big public… To preserve the heritage, to further develop it, deepen it, for the people of Davao to continue loving the culture of Davao,” Fr. Karel stated.

Davao Museum Foundation, Inc. President Judy Ann Carpio-Prantilla expressed confidence that the university is ideally positioned to continue the legacy of the collection, ensuring that it is not only preserved but also made more accessible to the community.

“We are very much assured that the artifacts, the whole collection of Davao Museum, will be in good hands. I believe that…Ateneo will sustain, and even, it will be good for the students,” Prantilla affirmed.

Symbolizing the transfer of stewardship, Davao Museum representatives entrusted AdDU with a betel quid box, a traditional emblem of bonds and agreements.

SALAM – The Ateneo Muslim Society member Haben Musa considered the turnover as a cultural landmark and an opportunity for developmental growth.

“The turnover of the Davao Museum Collection to Ateneo is meaningful because it preserves not only tribal heritage but also Moro traditions…I’m glad to see that this development, this [partnering] partnership of both organizations to improve the awareness, to improve the artifacts, to improve the development sa—our own community,” Musa shared. 

With the collection’s relocation, Architect Jim Palma presented the architectural concept for the planned Davao Museum, which will be constructed at the rear side of Rodriguez Hall.

Palma further emphasized that the integration of cultural motifs in the design is intended to recreate and relive the region’s cultural history and bridge the connection between past and present.

“For the facade of the museum, we wanted it to reconnect with the modern building [CCFC] here, but also reconnect it to the past. We took inspiration from the facade of the old houses in Davao, but also to connect the campuses together, we’re going to use the okil pattern of the Tausug ‘Tree of Life’ which signifies growth, eternity, and interconnectedness,” he explained.

Previously managed by the Zonta Club of Davao, the collection will now be housed within the Jacinto Campus following its recent transfer.

The ceremony took place on August 28, 2025, at Rodriguez Hall, G/F CCFC Building.