[2] After the war, communities of migrants from elsewhere in the Philippines, mainly the Ilocos region and the Visayan islands, settled in various parts of the empire province.

The Oblate Fathers and the other religious congregations, who came to the empire province to minister mainly to the spiritual needs of the migrants who were mostly Catholic, responded by opening secondary schools and, where feasible, colleges in these communities.

This was also done in the Sulu Archipelago as the native populace began to realize the value of formal education.

In the 1950s they worked together to hold annual athletic competitions, the Notre Dame Meets, which was at that time one of the biggest event in the region.

In 1962 the Superintendent of Catholic schools in the diocese (which then included both the empire province of Cotabato and the Sulu archipelago) directed the heads of the various Notre Dame schools to have a series of meetings to discuss common needs and problems and ways in which they can cooperatively meet these.