Benguet (), officially the Province of 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 due to its huge production of upland vegetables.
Situated within the interior of Benguet is the highly urbanized city of Baguio, which is administered independent from the province and also its largest city and regional center of Cordillera Administrative Region.
Etymology Hispanicized rendering of benget, Kankanaey word for "edge." This was the original name of the settlement at the edge of a swamp formed by the Balili River flooding the flat valley floor.
History Early history The mountainous area now covered by Benguet is generally presumed to have been settled from at least the 14th century by tribes coming from the surrounding lowlands, lured by the abundance of natural resources such as gold, hides, and wax. 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 Pangasinans. Governor Juan "Oraa" Cariño (1913–1918), one of Benguet’s governors, was the first Filipino governor.
The Kankanaey occupied the northern highlands of the province, while the Ibaloy occupied the southern portion, while all Igorots practiced animism and ancestor worship. Rituals were proscribed by the priests, mambunong. The economy of the region was based on rice terraces, root crop swidden farming, livestock raising, hunting, foraging, plus the mining and trading of gold. These Igorot gold mines were located in Suyoc, Tabio, Acupan, and Antamok. Gold panning took place in placer deposits along the Agno River, the Bued River, the Suyoc River, and the Amburayan River. Gold was also mined from lode veins within andesite and diorite. Gold in Mankayan was associated with copper. Gold mining resulted in social stratification, with the upper class consisting of the mine owners, the baknang, followed by the gold workers, or abiteg, and then the bagaen, or slave class. These slaves were made up of war captives, and their children. Gold mines were inheritable kinship property, while original ownership was bestowed on those individuals discovering the gold location, and then developing the property.
Spanish colonial era At the beginning of the Spanish Era, colonisers heard of the rich gold mines in the mountains and attempted to colonize the highlands, but failed. In 1572, Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo led a small expedition into the southern part of Benguet, but the natives forced it to retreat. The first major expedition into the mountains occurred in 1620, when Spanish explorers went into the La Trinidad Valley, followed by a second expedition in 1623, and a third in 1624. This was the last attempt to occupy the Baguio gold mines by the Spanish until the Galvey expeditions (1829-1839).
In the 1800s, Spanish colonizers made more serious attempts such as expeditions under Col. Guillermo GalveyKane, S.E., 1933, Thirty Years with the Philippine Head-Hunters, New York: Grosset & Dunlap and succeeded in establishing a presence in the La Trinidad Valley, named after Galvey's wife.
This area later became a district of the new province of LaMontañosa (or LaMontaña) in 1846. Eight years later, in 1854, Benguet became a separate comandancia politico-militar. Parts of the present province were established as component territories of other comandancias such as Lepanto and Amburayan.
American colonial era When the Americans took control of the Philippines, they established local civil governments in many parts of the country. American civilian government was established in Benguet on November 23, 1900, through Act No. 48, with Canadian journalist H.P. Whitmarsh appointed as the province's first governor.
+The 19 historical townships of Benguet under Act No. 48 Township Abolished? Notes Township Abolished? Notes Adaoay Itogon Ambuklao Kabayan Ampusongan Kapangan Atok Kibungan Baguio La Trinidad Balakbak Loo Bokod Palina Buguias Sablan Daclan Tublay Galiano When Baguio was converted into a chartered city in 1909, barrio Tuba was separated from the city and incorporated into the township of Twin Peaks.
Upon the American colonial government enacting Act No. 1876 on August 18, 1908, which created Mountain Province from areas of the old La Montañosa, Benguet (along with Amburayan, Apayao, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Lepanto) became sub-provinces of this new province. A year later in 1909, the township of Baguio was abolished upon its conversion into a chartered city. In 1920, portions of the sub-provinces of Amburayan and Lepanto were incorporated into Benguet.
Mining companies started operating in the province in the 1930s. This brought jobs, and many lowlanders migrated to Benguet, especially in towns surrounding the gold mines, such as Itogon, Mankayan and Tuba.
Japanese occupation
During World War II, Igorot guerrillas and the combined Filipino and American forces fought Japanese soldiers during the final days of the war in 1945.
As part of the Japanese defence of the Philippines, General Tomoyuki Yamashita situated his military headquarters in Baguio, from where he organised the Japanese resistance on Lúzon from December 1944 to April 1945, before he relocated to the town of Bambang.
Contemporary history On June 18, 1966, the huge Mountain Province was split into four provinces with the enactment of Republic Act No. 4695. The four provinces were Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga-Apayao and Ifugao.
On June 22, 1973, as part of the Integrated Organization Plan of President Ferdinand Marcos, Benguet was placed under the jurisdiction of the Ilocos Region.
When the Cordillera Administrative Region was established by President Corazon Aquino through Executive Order 220 on July 15, 1987, Benguet was made one of its provinces.
Geology
The Baguio Mining District consists of Late Cretaceous ophiolite basement rocks. These are overlain by Eocene back arc tholeiitic Pugo Metavolcanics. These grade into the Dalupirip Schist, which is separated from the Early Oligocene-Early Miocene sedimentary Zigzag Formation by an unconformity. The Zigzag is composed of deep depositional environment interbedded green sandstones, red siltstones, oligomicitc conglomerates, and minor limestone units. The late Early Miocene-early Middle Miocene reefal Kennon Limestone overlays the Zigzag. The Late Oligocene-Early Miocene Agno Batholith intrudes the Pugo and Zigzag. The Middle-Late Miocene Klondyke Formation was deposited during Central Cordillera geologic uplift, consisting of coarse clastics, polymictic conglomerates, sandstones, and vitric (glassy) tuffs, with minor shales and siltstones. Gold mineralization occurred with dioritic and gabbroic intrusions, and basaltic to andesitic lavas, including the Monglo adakite. The Pliocene Baguio Formation consists of conglomerates interbedded with lava flows and pyroclastics. Pleistocene gold-copper mineralization occurred with calc-alkaline and dioritic and dacitic adakitic intrusions. This mineralization characterizes the Philex Mine.
The main gold base metal mineralization zone is approximately 8 km wide, trends north south for tens of kilometers, and is centrally located at 16° 20' to 16° 26' N latitude and 120° 37' 30" to 120° 43' 30" E longitude. The western boundary of this zone is defined by a volcanic belt, just west of Baguio, while the eastern boundary is defined by an intrusive belt, just east of the Itogon and Antamok mines. The Agno quartz diorite batholith is further east near Binga Dam. Key mines, starting from the south, include the Philex (Cu), Acupan (Au), Itogon (Au), Black Mt. (Cu), Benguet Exploration (Cu), Atok (Au), Antamok (Cu and Au), and Baguio Gold (Au), where Baguio Gold and Antamok are east of Baguio. Continuing northwards, key mines include the King Solomon (Cu), St. Nino (Cu), Boneng (Cu), Lobo (Cu), Gambang (Cu and Au), and Lepanto (Cu and Au). By 1979, underground mining had reached Level 1850 in the Antamok Mine.
Geography
Benguet covers an area of occupying the southwestern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region. If Baguio is included for geographical purposes, the total area of Benguet is .
The province is bordered on the northeast by Mountain Province and Ifugao, on the southeast by Nueva Vizcaya, on the south by Pangasinan, on the west by La Union, and on the northwest by Ilocos Sur.
Situated within the Cordillera mountains, Benguet is dominantly mountainous. Mount Pulag, the highest in Luzon is located within Kabayan. The mountains form the headwaters of several rivers, the major ones which include the Agno, Amburayan, Bued, Bakun, Balili and the Asin. Some of these run through river valleys or gorges.
Several natural lakes, small in size, are found within the hinterlands. The largest are the "Four Lakes" in Kabayan; Lake Bulalacao, Lake Detepngepos, Lake Incolos and Lake Tabeyo.
The province is the location of several conservation areas, the largest of which are the Upper Agno River Basin Resource Reserve, Mount Pulag National Park, Mount Data National Park and Lower Agno Watershed Forest Reserve.
Climate
Most of Benguet falls under the subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) zone, experiencing annual average highs of in April and lows of in January.
The province suffers from crop damage resulting from seasonal frost during the cold months of December to March, especially in high-altitude towns such as Atok, Buguias, Mankayan and Kibungan. In February 2007, Benguet suffered crop damage due to temperatures reaching as low as .
Administrative divisions Benguet comprises 13 municipalities, all encompassed by double legislative districts.
The highly urbanized city of Baguio, although administratively independent from Benguet, is situated in the interior of the province, surrounded by the municipalities of La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan and Tuba. The city used to be part of the province but became independent when the city's charter was enacted in 1909.
City municipality Population Area Density km2 /km2 Atok 19,668 8 Baguio ‡ — 366,358 345,366 129 Bakun 15,357 7 Bokod 13,756 10 Buguias 43,627 14 Itogon 59,820 9 Kabayan 15,260 13 Kapangan 19,361 15 Kibungan 17,292 7 La Trinidad † 129,133 16 Mankayan 35,953 12 Sablan 11,457 8 Tuba 47,648 13 Tublay 17,892 8 Total 460,683 446,224 2,769.08 140 Capital municipality Municipality
Barangays The 13 municipalities of the province comprise a total of 140 barangays, with Pico in La Trinidad as the most populous in 2010, and Anchokey in Kabayan as the least.
Demographics
The population of Benguet in the 2024 census was 473,190 people, making it the most populous province in the region. It had a density of .
In the May 2000 census, Benguet had a total population of 330,129. This figure is up by 16,296 from 313,833 persons recorded in the 1995 census, giving an annual growth rate of 1.09% during the 5-year period compared to the national average of 2.43%. The province registered 63,123 households, an increase of 4,588 households over the 1990 figure. This gave an average household size of 5.20 persons, slightly higher than the national average of 4.99.
Ethnicity
The people of Benguet comprise three main ethnolinguistic groups. Kankanaeys dominate the northwestern municipalities, Ibalois are concentrated on the southeast, and Kalanguyas are mostly found in the east. Migrants from lowland provinces have fused with the local populace to form a melting pot in some areas.
+ Top 5 Ethnicities in Benguet (2020 Census) Rank Ethnicity Population Percentage 1 Kankanaey 213,779 46.53% 2 Ibaloy 130,134 28.32% 3 Ilocano 29,960 6.52% 4 Kalanguya 21,534 4.69% 5 Tagalog 9,212 2.00% Total Household Population 459,468