The Municipality of La Trinidad

I. BRIEF DESCRIPTION
La Trinidad is a first-class municipality that serves
as the capital of the province of Benguet which is
part of the Cordillera Administrative Region. The
municipality consist of 16 Barangays with a total
population of 129, 133 people and a positive
growth rate of 3.61%. This represented 29.07% of
the overall population of the province of Benguet
or 7.50% of the total population of the Cordillera
Administrative Region. Most of the people who live
in the area are mostly Ibalois and Kan-kanaeys
who are known to be the first inhabitants of the
area and it has been confirmed by the National
Organization of Indigenous People in the Philippines that they have been
present during the Pre-Spanish Colonization era.
La Trinidad is located three kilometers south of Baguio City and is 256
kilometers south of Manila which is the capital of the Philippines. In addition,
it is bounded north by the municipality of Tublay, on the south by Baguio and
on the west by Sablan and Tuba. La Trinidad has a land area of 8273.80
hectares representing 3.16% of the provincial land area. The terrain is
generally mountainous and dotted with springs, rivers and creeks. In terms
of economy, the municipality is known for its strawberry harvests and ethnic
products that came from the rich and preserved culture of the municipality
that originated from the different aspects of the mountains of Benguet, in
2019, the annual revenue of the municipality is Php 314,459,930.16. La
Trinidad is currently headed by Honorable Romeo K. Salda who is known to
be the mayor of the municipality and Roderick C. Awingan who is the Vice
Mayor respectively.
II. HISTORY
The natives of La Trinidad were generally Ibaloys who trace their ancestry to
the Kalanguya Tribe (forest people) of Tinek, Ifugao, who, due to the need to
survive in a less hostile environment in different waves and paths of
migration, followed mountain ranges or the course of rivers and then finding
a suitable environment, usually along the river, or an open clearing, settled
in Kabayan, Itogon, Tuba, Atok, Kafagway (Baguio) and La Trinidad.
 Finding earlier settlers in those areas, these tribes then mingled with the
former and through intermarriage, settled among them.

The first settlers of La Trinidad, Benguet

They established farms along the hillsides, carved terraces along the
mountain slopes along rivers creeks and streams and rice fields in marshy
valleys. The tribe’s pasturelands were located in hillsides where herds of
cattles and horses grazed. In their backyards, the natives domesticated
animals such as pigs chickens and dogs. As the Cordilleras was mainly
undiscovered by the Spaniards, small settlements of the area were found by
them.
Spanish Period
The name “Benguet” was once limited to the area of what is now the La
Trinidad Valley. Benguet is a native term which refers to a lake where water
does not drain, referring to the former swamp area where no natural drain
existed.The first account of La Trinidad was when Don Q.M. Quirante saw its
beautiful valley in 1624. More than a century later, in search for gold,
Spanish explorers led by Galvey discovered the valley on 1829.
Trivia : La Trinidad is so named after his discoverer, Lt. Col. Guillermo
Galvey’s beautiful wife, in April 21, 1874 when Commandant Manuel
Scheidnagel arrives in Benguet and names the capital in the so-called
Benguet Valley, La Trinidad. (Scott, 1975).
However, the Ibalois did not receive the
Spaniards gladly, they threw their spears
and stood up for a battle, but they were
outnumbered. In 1846, when La Trinidad
was considered pacified, Guillermo
Galvey passed through the area more
than 10 times burning the native’s
houses every time there was resistance.
By the time they established a
Spanish government; the people
had already left the valley to the
outskirts of La Trinidad where they could
more or less enjoy their much-wanted Ibaloi’s Struggle for
freedom. Independence

In 1852, La Trinidad served as the capital of the administrative settlement of

Benguet during the Spanish Era, Galvey established the Commandancia
Politico-Militares de Benguet composed of 31 Commandancia. Its
headquarters was located at present-day Puguis. Galvey notes that the
“Ibalois attitude towards the Europeans is one of reluctance such that only a
few Christian Converts lived near the five Spaniards and 20 low landers in La
Trinidad and many migrated into the interior.
The general representation during the Spanish rule was forced labor,
beatings, cruelties and exorbitant taxation.
The Revolutionary Period (1899-1900)
The Philippine Revolutionary period of 1896 against
the Spaniards reached Benguet by the mid-year of
1899. The Katipunan came in Benguet, united the
Ibalois, looted and burned Spanish buildings at the
Commandancia and established the Benguet
Province under the Government Republic of the
Philippines.
In the late 1899’s through the leadership of Juan
Carino, Mateo Carantes and Piraso the Ibalois rose at
500 strong men with 500 other Katipuneros, they
looted and burned the Commandancia. The last
Commandante fled for Bontoc. In the 1900’s, La
Trinidad continued to be the seat of government.
Military government was established by virtue of
Gen. Order #43.
American Period (1900-1941)
Several social changes occurred
during the American period. Freedom
of religion was granted to the
indigenous Ibaloi people of La
Trinidad. This enabled them to enjoy
their old customs and traditions
without any inhibitions.
They were also granted suffrage and
slavery was abolished. Education was
introduced. The American introduced
both iron tools and vegetables. Private
property was introduced. Political
organizations among the residents
began to be organized. Labor began to
be paid and money became an
important feature in the economic
lives of the people.
D. Japanese Occupation (1941-1945)
Almost immediately upon occupation the Japanese started their fearful
“Kempeitai” where many loyal Filipinos were imprisoned and were pitilessly
tortured. As Japanese atrocities increased through the years, guerilla
activities intensified. After the war La Trinidad was devastated. Roads and
craterized holes, houses and forests are burned and farms became massive
burial grounds.
Timeline of events (Alfonso,2005)
December 8, 1941: Chaos breaks in
La Trinidad as Camp John Hay was
bombed
December 7, 1941: La Trinidad was
declared as an open city
October 6, 1942: The merciless
execution of Igorots triggered the
guerilla movement named “Bolo”
October 15, 1942: Through the
leadership of Dennis Molintas and Bado
Dangwa, they joined forces with the
USAFFE.
May 4, 1945: La Trinidad was liberated. The Japanese Kempeitai
E. Contemporary Period
Reconstruction efforts immediately started after the war. La Trinidad started
from a vegetable producer to a producer of high-value crops, strawberry and
cut flowers. From a classless town, it has emerged as first class, urban
municipality and the center for education, marketing and trading for the
province of Benguet.
Timeline of Events (Alfonso, 2015)
June 16, 1950- La Trinidad is a regular municipality by virtue of RA# 531.
The seat of the Municipal Government is the present-day Justice Hall at
Poblacion.
April 1969- The construction of La Trinidad Municipal Hall started and
inaugurated in October 10, 1970.
1970- La Trinidad became known as the “Salad Bowl of the Philippines.
1981- La Trinidad became a third-class municipality.
March 18, 1981- The first joint La Trinidad Patronal Town Fiesta and
Strawberry. Festival celebrated;
July 13, 1984- La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post Construction is
completed
July 1, 1986- La Trinidad becomes a first-class C-municipality.
1990’s- La Trinidad is tagged as the “Strawberry Fields of the Philippines”
and “Rose Capital of the Philippines”.
March 18, 2002- La Trinidad gets country-wide praises for baking a 5ft
high, 6ft wide and 7ft long Giant Strawberry cake.
2007- Census population is 97,810, with a growth rate of 5.1%. The
municipal revenue generated is P110 M. The Municipal Gymnasium is
constructed.
2013- Hon. Edna C. Tabanda makes a comeback as mayor, emphasizing on
the principles of good governance: transparency, accountability, and
honesty. She pledged to give focus on the peace and order situation, traffic
problem, and school dropouts.
III. LAND AND CLIMATE
La Trinidad is located at 16° 28' North,
120° 35' East at the central portion of
Benguet. It is bounded by Tublay on the
north-east, Sablan on the west, Baguio
City on the South, Itogon on the South-
east and Tuba on the South-west.
According to the Philippine Statistics
Authority, La Trinidad has a land area of
8273.80 hectares.
The terrain is generally mountainous
with springs, rivers and creeks. The town
has a valley which encompasses several
barangays. The valley’s floor elevation is
at 1,300 meters above sea level and
elevation ranges from 500 to 1,700
meters above sea level. Balili River is the municipalities’ main water
drainage which carries upstream water from Sagundin River in Baguio City.
Table 1.0 GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS
TYPE: Municipality
ISLAND GROUP: Luzon
REGION: Cordillera Administrative Region
PROVINCE: Benguet
BARANGAY COUNT: 16
COASTAL/LANDLOCKED: Landlocked
MARINE WATERBODIES: None
PHILIIPPINE MAJOR ISLAND: Luzon
COORDINATES: 16° 28' North, 120° 35' East
ESTIMATED ELEVATION: 1318.3 meters (4,324.1 feet)

La Trinidad has a dry-winter sub-tropical highland climate featuring a

menacing wet season. The municipality belongs under type I climate by the
Coronas System of classification with distinct wet and dry seasons. The dry
seasons is from November to April while the wet season occurs during the
rest of the year. The climate is cool with temperatures ranging 11.7 degrees
Celsius during the month of December as its coldest and 23.2 degrees
Celsius at its warmest during the months of March, April and May. The
average daily temperature is 18.55 degrees Celsius. Wind velocity is 1.43.
During the rainiest month of August, the rainfall average is 850.70
millimeters.
IV. CULTURE
La Trinidad has a rich and diverse culture that came from the different
provinces of the Cordilleras as well as the municipalities of the mountains of
Benguet. It has dated back during the Pre-Spanish colonization through
which their highest in the social strata are the wealthy or bacnang and the
mambunong (local priest). Wealth was measured by ownership of land and
cattle where redistribution of wealth was done by holding prestigious feasts
or peshit.
Religion was based on the The Mambunong
belief in a supreme being
called Kabunian. Prayers were
done during rituals and
festivities. Rituals are based
largely on agriculture. Canaos
or festivities are accompanied
by chants (bad-ew) and dance
with gongs (gansa) and drums
(solibao) as the basic musical
instrument.
People of La Trinidad during
the early years are wooing
spirits through the help of their spiritual leader (mambunong) who are said to
be ancient servants or native priest who are regularly consulted because of
their innate spiritual wisdom. Their main responsibility is to discern the
spirits, in order to keep up with the conventional cultural traditions left by
their ancestors since time immemorial. Moreover, the sacred and holy
process of spirit discernment is being done by means of a ritual or series of
spirit communication, through sincere and fervent prayers. Sometimes there
are rituals in form of gifts. Thus, if those spirits feel glad with those things,
they do provide good fortunes and clean a bill
of health to those people who are spiritually
deserving on those future rewards.
THE CUSTOM LAW
In the early stages, La Trinidad folks like any
other groups have no written law though
unwritten, however, research reveal that laws are incorporated in the
customs and traditions which are observed with percepts, as rules and
regulations. Celebrating a thanksgiving for instance, when a neighbor is
mourning is taboo. This is a customary law.

The law also includes that when a husband who divorces his wife
without any valid reason will have to leave all properties to the
children and the wife. There are several other laws but they are
overshadowed by present government laws.

TRADITIONAL AND RITUAL ETHICS

The people of La Trinidad strongly abides to their traditions and rituals
before and after the Spanish, American and Japanese regime, each of their
unique ways of living is guided through the means of doing it the right way
through which there are instances in the performance of rituals that compel
both the rich and the poor to
observe ritual ethics.
The taboos observed as do’s and
don’ts in performing the ritual forms
part of the ritual ethics like for
example, Opening the jar of “tapey”
when requested by the native priest.
A violation is considered unethical
and the person who may have done
it is censured.
Main Scenarios of Applying both
Ethics Ibalois Performing the Canao in a
The playing of gongs follows wedding
appropriate ritual patterns. The first
who hold the gongs and other ritual instruments are the elders in the
community. The celebrating family are the first to start the ritual dance
Succeeding dancers are the elder kin of the celebrating family. After which
the community joins in.
During ritual feasts pigs are offered as sacrifices. According to custom the
catching and goring of the pig has to be done by selected persons. A
widower or a divorcee is not given these tasks. The belief behind is not to
prematurely have the celebrant widowed or divorced. Slicing and distribution
of meat has to be done and/or supervised by elders, possibly those who had
been celebrating ritual feasts. In cases in where there is excess of meat, it is
shared to the neighbors who failed to attend the feast.
These ritual ethics were carried from generation to generation through the
performance of the ritual. Traditionally, the ritual performance itself reminds
the people to conduct themselves in the observance of the taboo.
V. LIVELIHOOD/PRODUCTS
La Trinidad commerce takes place
between its unique and wonderful
products; it has plenty of livelihood
activities. One of the major business
dealings in the community between
buyers and sellers is La Trinidad’s sweet
popular product known as “strawberries”
it had been the cornerstone of the place
since it had been attracting tourists from
the different locations of the Philippines.
Strawberry production has been the
source of livelihood of thousands of
farmers living in the different parts of the valley giving the place its title “The
Strawberry Capital of the Philippines. It had also been used as the main
ingredient by manufacturers or innovated to create a product out of it.
Besides from strawberry, farmers had also been focused on growing
vegetable crops as it had been dominant throughout the years. Common
crops that are seen in the valley are cabbage, carrots, radish, onion leaks
and potatoes and are being shipped after harvest into one of La Trinidad’s
famous landmark, “The Trading post” where they are sold to the buyers as
well as being transported into the lowlands since their is a high demand of
vegetable products outside the region. Several organizations have created
several livelihoods for locals and non-locals. The table shows the different
organizations and their respective livelihood activities.

Table 1.1 MAIN ORGANIZATIONS AND LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES

NAME OF ADDRESS LIVELIHOOD/BUSINESS/COMM
ORGANIZATION ODITY
La Trinidad Poblacion, Strawberry gardening farmers
Federation of La Trinidad, and caretakers
Strawberry Growers Benguet
Strawberry Longlong, Fruit wines and strawberry
Processors Puguis, preserve processing
Association La Trinidad,
Benguet
LA ORGANICA Pico, La Trinidad, Organically grown vegetable
 Benguet farmers
La Trinidad P4MP Pico, La Vegetables, strawberry,
Trinidad,Benguet cutflowers, coffee, livestock
research workers and farmers
La Trinidad Rural Pico, La Trinidad, Food Processing and Vegetable
Improvement Club Benguet Production

The Trading Post, one of the famous land marks of La Trinidad where
vegetables and fruits harvested from the different municipalities of
Benguet are being sold as well as transported to other regions.

Flower gardening had also been

one of the most significant products
and livelihoods of the residents of La
Trinidad. It had been the source of
income of the people in the different
barangays of the municipality
including Barangay Bahong which is
known for its beautiful flower
gardens that have attracted tourists
throughout the years. These flowers
The Beautiful Flower Garden of
played a major role on Baguio’s only
Bahong
Panagbenga festival where the
municipality has been supplying flowers for the designs and decorations of
floats and attire of participants of the parades of the event.

VI. TOURIST SPOTS

La Trinidad is now a growing eco-tourism destination. Its banner slogan
“Valley of Colors”, speaks truly of the different tourist spots to see and
experience there. From breathtaking mountain views, beautiful farms, and
colorful occasions, La Trinidad offers a varied set of eco-tourism attractions.
A. MOUNT YANGBEW
Mount Yangbew is one of the best
hiking spots in La Trinidad that is
near Baguio City. Its grass covered
summit resembles that of Mount
Pulag. Hiking to the top is relatively
easy and the path is well-established.
Entrance Fee: 30 php for locals
50 php for tourists
Jump-Off Point: Sitio Binat, Tawang
Trekking Time: 20-30 minutes
Elevation: 1648 m (5407 ft)
B. BINANGA FALLS
Binanga falls is one of the remotest
tourist spots of La Trinidad. It
measures 15 feet high and it carved
a very deep pool that resembles the
shape of a cooking pot. Thus, the
waterfall is named Binanga which
means pot. Its waters are icy-cold
and crystal-clear.
Entrance Fee: None
Jump-off Point: Brgy.Shilan Hall
Trekking Time : 30 minutes

C. MOUNT KALUGONG
Mount Kalugong is one of the rising
tourist spots in La Trinidad. It is
named as such because its summit
resembles the shape of a hat (the
local term for this is Kalugong).
Getting in the mountain is relatively
easy since there is a road leading
straight to the top.
Entrance Fee: 120 php
Jump-off Point: Barangay Cruz
Trekking Time: 20-30 minutes

D. STRAWBERRY FARM
Strawberry farm is one of the most
famous tourist spots in La Trinidad,
Benguet. It speaks for the tourism of
the municipality. During weekends
and holidays throngs of tourists
arrive. There are also numerous
stalls selling locally-made souvenirs
items such as strawberry jams and
wines.

E. BENGUET MUSEUM
The Benguet Museum is one of the
cultural spots in La Trinidad. It
showcases various pictures, artifacts
and materials, depicting the
traditional practices and belief’s of
Benguet’s different tribes. Located
within the provincial capitol.
compound, the museum has no
entrance fee. There is also a nearby
souvenir shop in the area.

F. PUGUIS COMMUNAL FOREST

It is on of the few remaining
watershed areas in La Trinidad and
Baguio City. Pine forests dominate the
landscape, hosting some endemic
species such as civet cats and birds.
Location/Jump-off: Brgy. Puguis
Entrance Fee: None

G. LILY OF THE VALLEY ORGANIC

FARM
The Lily of the Vallry Organic Farm is
one of the agricultural tourist spot s in
La Trinidad. Tourists have all the
chance to learn the practices of
organic farming and pick organically
grown vegetables and herbs. A
homestay offers modest
accomodation to those who would
like to spend the night in the farm.