BENGUET

HISTORY
Early in the 19th century after the Spanish explorer Guillermo Galvey's report of his expedition,
the Spanish government organized the mountain region into six commandancias politico militar",
namely: Benguet in 1846, Lepanto in 1852, Bontoc in 1859, Amburayan in 1889, and Kayapa
and Cabugaoan in 1891. The Province of Benguet, as now constituted, has portions which were
parts of the Districts of Lepanto, Bontoc and Amburayan.
The early commandancias were divided into rancherias. The commandancia of Benguet was
divided into 41 rancherias, with La Trinidad as the capital. It was named in honor of Don
Galvey's wife Trinidad. The first "Kapitan" of Benguet was Pulito of Kafagway, now Baguio
City, which was then a minor rancheria of about 20 houses.
As of 1899, the Katipunan came to Benguet and united the Igorots into establishing Benguet
under the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. This was short lived for in the early
1900's, the American colonizers took over.
Under American Rule, local civil government were established on November 22, 1900 under Act
No. 48 in the following townships of Benguet: Baguio, La Trinidad, Galiano, Itogon, Tublay,
Atok, Kapangan, Balakbak, Palina, Ampusongan, Loo, Kabayan, Buguias, Adaoay, Bokod,
Daclan, Sablan, Kibungan and Ambuklao. Under the same Act, the Provincial Government of
Benguet was officially established.
When Act No. 1876 was passed on August 13, 1908, Benguet Province became a sub-province of
Mountain Province. Under this Act, the sub-provinces embraced by Mountain Province were
Amburayan, Apayao, Benguet, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kalinga and Lepanto. In the course of time, the
original 19 townships of Benguet as embodied in Act No. 48 were reduced to 13 municipalities.
The township of Baguio became a chartered city in 1909, creating in its place the township of
Tuba. The townships of Ambuklao, Adaoay, Balakbak, Galiano, Palina and Loo were abolished
under Executive Orders issued by the Governor-General of the Philippines.
Finally, under Republic Act No. 4695 enacted on June 18, 1966, Mountain Province was divided
into four new Provinces, namely: Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga-Apayao, and Ifugao.
Under this Act, Dennis Molintas, Sr. of Bokod became the first appointed Governor with Mayor
Ben Palispis (1968-1986), Bantas Suanding (Officer-in-Charge, 1986-1988), Andres Bugnosen
(1988-1992), Jaime Paul Panganiban (1992-1995), Raul M. Molintas (1995-2004), Borromeo P.
Melchor ( 2004-2007) and Nestor B. Fongwan (2007 to present).
At present, Benguet is composed of 13 municipalities and 140 barangays. The province's
municipalities are: Atok, Bakun, Bokod, Buguias, Itogon, Kabayan, Kapangan, Kibungan, La
Trinidad, Mankayan, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay. According to the number of barangays, the capital
town of La Trinidad has the most with 16 while Bakun and Kibungan have the least with 7 each.

CULTURE
Caao or kanyao is simply a "festival" or ceremony or liturgy, or service or rite/ritual, of
offering. It is a generic term. "Witchcraft" would be too limited or off the mark to describe it. A
"kanyao" may be performed for thanksgiving for the health of the community, there could be a
kanyao (petitionary/intercessory) for a bountiful harvest; a family kanyao may be performed for
healing such as a very simple ritual of "sedey" with the use of water and prayer; a "grand
kanyao" has the focus of entertainment, cultural shows and festivities.
The native priests are the chosen spiritual leaders in the community well versed in the belief
system. They are consulted in healing the sick, in comforting the victim of misfortune and in the
offering of thanks to the deities for fortunes received. They are therefore the counsels of the
people in times of joy, sorrow and distress. They are categorized according to their calling.
The Rituals
This is the administering of prescribed rituals as a healing cure, protection, purification, sanity,
normalize birth and good voyage/journey. The spirits are called upon with offerings of animal,
"tapey", food and other desired/prescribed materials of favors received or restored health. In any
ritual rice wine, tapey (Kn)/ tafey (Ib) is always used being the traditional wine, and the pig as
the traditional animal. Since there are classes of spirits, the rituals are performed to conform with
the spirit's demands. The Kabunyan/Kavunian, Ap-apo/Kaapuan, Kakading/Kedaring are offered
thanksgiving rituals. They receive the most ritual for being benevolent to man. Likewise, spirits
that are easily offended and violent, like the Tomongaw/Tinmongaw, Pinten/pinchen,
amlag/atoros, pinad-ing/pinad-eng, are offered appeasement ritual called the Dilus(Kn.)
chilus(Ibaloy).
Parental arrangements were commonly practiced among the people. This was called the Kaising.
Parents arrive at an agreement. In performing marriage among the rich, first of all, they
performed the secyab where twp pigs; a male and a female were butchered. The pigs were killed
then placed over the fire to burn the hair. Then, these were washed then butchered. The
mambunong examined the bile for omens. If he reads good omen from the bile, cows or carabaos
were butchered to welcome good omen. Then the mambunong led the prayer blessing the
husband and wife to have long lives and to be successful in any of their future endeavors
together.
The people were given a share of food and meat which were distributed to everyone. When night
time comes, the mambunong summoned the husband and wife inside the house and put them in
bed and blessed them, then left them in the private room. After all the ceremonies the husband
and wife were subjected to three-day ngilin(mourning). After three days of ngilin, the
mambunong escorted them to the river and blessed them by sprinkling water over them saying.
In the name of Kabunian you will be washed by these waters from sin and you will begin your
new life to come.
The marriage of a poor man is very simple; the male presented himself at the house of the
woman with his parents who asked the parents of the girl if they would accept their son. If the

parents and their children both agree to the marriage proposal, a date was set for the marriage
ceremonies. A pig was butchered during the wedding. After the ceremonies the people recited
baclew for marriage. First of all, the parents of the man will sing his baclew and say: I thank
you for accepting my son as a husband of your daughter and I hope you will count him as your
real son and that you will teach him about any work regarding family life. He is a poor man but
he is strong and wise. The parent of the girl answers. As long as in the side of the woman, I
accept any man who would love my daughter and it happened that your children are of one heart,
one mind and one body. I believe it is the will of God that they will be together forever and
ever.

BACKGROUND
Benguet is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the southern tip of the Cordillera
Administrative Region in the island of Luzon. Its capital is La Trinidad.
The highland province is known as the "Salad Bowl of the Philippines" because of its huge
production of upland vegetables.
Located in the interior of Benguet is the highly urbanized city of Baguio, which is independent
of the province.
The mountainous area now covered by Benguet has been settled for millennia by several peoples
collectively known as the Igorots. Two of these groups, the Ibaloi and the Kankanaey, are
dominant ethnolinguistic groups of the area. In the pre-conquest period, these tribes enjoyed
flourishing trade with lowland groups immediately to their west and south, such as the Ilocano
and the Pangasinense.
Climate
The climate here is tropical. Rainfall is significant most months of the year, and the short dry
season has little effect. The climate here is classified as Am by the Kppen-Geiger system. The
average annual temperature is 20.4 C in Tuba. About 2896 mm of precipitation falls annually.
Religion
Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion with 73% adherence while Aglipayan (a local
form of Catholicism) is an important minority. Many other Christian groups are also found and
they are represented by Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Presbyterian,
Methodist, Baptist, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventist as well as Muslims.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Burnham Park
Is a 32.84 hectare urban park located at the heart of the Baguio City, in the Philippines. It was
named after the
American architect and urban planner, Daniel Hudson Burnham who laid the plans for the city.
Several stretch of roads around the park lead to Camp John Hay, a former recreational base of
the United States Armed Forces in the Philippines.

Mines View Park

Is an overlook park on the northeastern outskirts of Baguio City in the Philippines.
Located on a land promontory 4 km from downtown Baguio, the park overlooks the mining town
of Itogon, particularly the abandoned gold[1] and copper mines of the Benguet Corporation, and
offers a glimpse of the Amburayan Valley.
The observation deck is situated below a winding stone-covered stairway close to the parking
area.

The Mansion House

(also known as the The Mansion) is the official summer residence of the President of the
Philippines. The mansion is located in the summer capital of the country, Baguio, situated around
5,000 feet (1,500 m) asl in the Cordillera Central Range of northern Luzon.
The Mansion House was built in 1908 to serve as the official summer residence of U.S.
Governor-Generals at the instance of Governor-General William Cameron Forbes. The name is
derived from the summer cottage in New England of Governor Forbes whose administration the
original Mansion House was built under. Architect William E. Parsons, based on preliminary
plans by architect Daniel H. Burnham,[2] the planner of the city of Baguio, designed the mountain
retreat following the tenets of the City Beautiful Movement.[3] In 1910, the meeting of the
Second Philippine Legislature was held at the Mansion House for three weeks.

With the inauguration of the Philippine Commonwealth, the Mansion along with Malacaan
Palace was turned over to the Philippine president. The High Commissioner to the Philippines,
the successor to the Governor-General as the highest American official in the Philippines and
respresentative of the United States Government, then built The American Residence, completed
in 1940.
The house was badly damaged during the Second World War and was rebuilt in 1947. Since then,
it has served as the holiday home and working office for each President of the Philippines during
his or her visits to Baguio.[3]

Mount Pulag
Is the 3rd highest mountain in the Philippines .[2] It is Luzons highest peak at 2,922 meters above
sea level. The borders between the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya meet at the
mountain's peak.
It is the third highest mountain in the Philippines, next to Mount Apo and Mount Dulang-dulang.
Mount Pulag is famous for its majestic "sea of clouds" and the view of the Milky Way Galaxy at
dawn, which has attracted many tourists who wish to see the "other-worldly" scenery.

Mount Santo Tomas

Is a stratovolcano in the Philippines located in the municipality of Tuba in the province of
Benguet.

Ambuklao Dam
Is part of a hydroelectric facility in Brgy. Ambuklao, Bokod, Benguet province in the
Philippines. The development of the Agno River for purposes of hydroelectric power generation,
flood control, and irrigation had been conceived as early as the late 1940s. Preliminary
investigations for development at Ambuklao and Binga Dam sites were undertaken as early as
January 1948. With maximum water storage capacity of 327,170,000 cubic metres
(265,240 acreft), the facility, which is located 36 km (22 mi) from Baguio city, can produce up
to 105 megawatts of electricity to Luzon grid. The main source of water comes from the Agno
River which originates from Mt. Data.

Tam-awan Village
Is a model Cordillera village and a center of local arts and culture located in Baguio City in the
Philippines. The name Tam-awan is from an indigenous word meaning vantage point. The
village was established by National Artist of the Philippines Benedicto Cabrera (Bencab) in order
to promote the local art scene. The village consists of authentic Ifugao and Kalinga huts on hilly
terrain. Visitors to Tam-awan may watch artists at work, attend art workshops, have their
portraits done, view exhibits, watch cultural events, and purchase artworks. There is also a coffee
shop and accommodations are available in the complex.

The Fire Mummies

Also known as the Kabayan Mummies, Benguet Mummies, or Ibaloi Mummies, are a group of
mummies found along the mountain slopes of Kabayan, a town in the northern part of the
Philippines. They were made from as early as 2000 BC until the 1500s, when Spain colonized
the Philippines. Today, they remain in natural caves and a museum in Kabayan.

Lion's Head
Is a famous attraction along Kennon Road, a major highway in Luzon, Philippines that leads to
Baguio City. Located in Camp 6, the Lion's Head measures 40 ft (12 m) in height. It was
conceptualized by the Lions Club members of Baguio City, during the term of Luis Lardizabal as
mayor of Baguio City from 1969 to 1970 and as the club's president,[3] to become the club's
symbol or imprint in the area. Prior to the artistic sculpting, the limestone was prepared by a
group of engineers and miners, then the "actual artistic carving of the faade" was rendered by
Reynaldo Lopez Nanyac, an Ifugao artist and woodcarver from the Cordillera Administrative
Region. The construction project began in 1968 but was interrupted. The project was continued
in 1971 by another Lions Club president, Robert Webber, and was unveiled in 1972.