By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
In this article, we digress from the usual fare of this column. We will delve into a bit of history. I have always been fascinated by history. My mini-library contains a good number of history books, biography and novels based on historical facts. This historical fondness prompted me to complete a post-graduate studies on Low Countries Studies after I finished my doctorate degree at the University of Ghent in Belgium.
You ask somebody where Baguio City is and you will immediately elicit an answer. Ask where Benguet is and the retort will be a question, “Is it a part of Baguio”? Same is true with La Trinidad. Thanks to the Americans for making Baguio a household name.
Fact is, Baguio City was once just an underdeveloped barangay (a “rancheria” as the Spaniards called it) compared to the then flourishing La Trinidad community.
This time, we will try to see La Trinidad, where I am based, in light of historical accounts as studied by others. This piece however will somehow still dwell on some agriculture-related matters.
I decided to devote a little piece on La Trinidad’s history in this column when I read the book, “The Cordillera Valley of La Trinidad. In time and place: Early history (1572-1896)” published in 2015. It was written by James N. Paw whose great, great grandmother hailed from Buguias. It is the first and only book I read dedicated to the early history of the town. At the time he wrote the book, Paw was a senior official of the International Maritime Organization of the United Nations based in London. He graduated from the Baguio Patriotic High School. Of course, I have been reading also at least 5 other books on the history of Cordillera but mentioning La Trinidad only as a small part of a chapter.
It appears from historical accounts that La Trinidad valley was formed after a great earthquake that hit it on Jan 4, 1641. This could be proven by the absence of any report from all Spanish missions conducted before the year 1641, that reached the present Quirino Hill. From that hill, they could have seen the scenic valley as was described much later.
During the Spanish regime, Benguet and La Trinidad were already known and Baguio was then almost a non-entity. The name Benguet was the original name of the present municipality of La Trinidad. To be more precise, the name was Valle de Benguet. It was used since 1755 until 1874 when it was changed to La Trinidad by Don Manuel Schneidnagel y Serra.
Even before the Spaniards set foot in the area, La Trinidad was already a significant community center in the Cordillera. A Spanish friar by the name of Fray Pedro Vivar found this out when he first arrived in the area in 1755. He noted that it was used as a transit point for commerce between the localities and the coastal areas of Ilocos.
In May 5, 1781, the tobacco monopoly was declared in the Philippines by the then Spanish Gov. Gen. Jose Basco to encourage the development of agriculture and make the Philippines attain fiscal autonomy. Tobacco was widely planted in the Philippines since it was introduced in the early 1660’s.
La Trinidad came into much prominence starting in 1829, because of that monopoly imposition. La Trinidad produced good quality tobacco but because of the law, it was not one of those cleared to continue tobacco production. Nevertheless, Igorot farmers continued to plant and trade the important leaf with the lowland people. Thus, the area, together with some parts of the Southern Cordillera like Tonglo (Tuba) and Kapangan became one of the major sources of tobacco contraband. This did not sit well with the Spanish colonialists.
Gov. Gen. Basco sent punitive expeditions into such areas, choosing Valle de Benguet as the main target area in Cordillera. The expedition to the Valle was headed by Lt. Col. Guillermo Galvey, starting in 1829. This is the same man who was pictured as a “berdugo” of Igorots by some authors. Was he? It is safe to say that Galvey played a very vital role in the history of La Trinidad not because he gave it its name (he did not!) but because he dreamed that the place will become his highroad in the Cordillera.
When Galvey arrived in Valle de Benguet, he found a place with well-organized agriculture. In fact he saw wide fields planted with gabi, sweet potatoes and sugarcane but no rice.**
To be continued
