La Trinidad Foundation Day 2024

The municipality of La Trinidad dubbed as “The Salad bowl of the Philippines”, manifested on the Benguet Profile, 1970.

The following are related stories on how La Trinidad got its name:

La Trinidad was one of the municipal districts created in the Cordillera. Galvey, awed by the beauty of the valley, named the valley after his wife, Doña Trinidad, this story reflected on the book Clemente Laoyan : his life, his family.

Another account on how La Trinidad got its name is from the book written by James N. Paw entitled The Cordillera valley of La Trinidad in time and place: early history 1572 – 1896 published, 2015 states that: Apart from his agricultural projects and books, one of Scheidnagel’s enduring legacies was the renaming of the Valle de Benguet to La Trinidad in 1875 during the administration of Governor General Jose Malcampo y Monge (1874 – 1877). Contrary to popular tradition, La Trinidad was not named after the wife of Don Guillermo de Galvey. Galvey was unmarried (soltero) and died in late 1939.

In changing the name of the Cabecera, Scheidnagel must have considered the possibility that having the same name for the District and its Capital would create confusion and he must have inspiration to rename the Valle as La Trinidad. Santissima Trinidad (Holy Trinity) was an important religious icon among Spanish explorers and the military. Hence, the first fort in the Cordillera established by Garcia y Cabrera being named as Real de la Trinidad. However, Scheidnagel must have been inspired by the three small hills (in effect, a trinity) overlooking the Poblacion church, where the seat of the Cabecera was established and changed the name, Valle de Benguet to La Trinidad.

Indeed, Happy Foundation day La Trinidad with the theme “Pemidbid ni Edafuan, mangibahed ni Kabasan” (Recognizing our Roots, Building a resilient Future)