La Trinidad, Benguet—Tourists visit the town of La Trinidad, Benguet to see the strawberry and flower farms, and buy fresh vegetables. Now, there is another reason to make the trip from Baguio City.
Last 23 June 2016 was the unveiling of the STOBOSA Hillside Homes Artwork—the largest community artwork in the country and the first in the Philippines. The project is a component of the Department of Tourism-Cordillera Administrative Region’s Rev-Bloom (REV-UP, REVIVE, REVISIT, REVITALIZE) Urban Redevelopment Tourism project supported by Davies Paints.
STOBOSA stands for Stonehill, Botiwtiw, and Sadjap—the three sitios on which the artwork now stands.
The 200 houses that line the Stone Hill on Km. 3, La Trinidad previously formed something akin to a confusing wall overlooking the Balili river. It has now been transformed to an 18,000-sqm collective canvas brilliantly painted by 520 residents and volunteers, the endeavor commenced in January 2016. This is a testament to the Bayanihan spirit still alive among Filipinos.
Davies Paints, the country’s #1 Paint Exporter and #1 in colors, provided environment-friendly paints as part of its advocacy to beautify the Philippines, give back to communities and bring color into people’s lives. The local government of La Trinidad provided paintbrushes and rollers, and built scaffolding; Tam-awan artists, led by Jordan Mang-osan, designed the connective landscape. The residents and volunteers executed the artwork beautifully, motivated by community spirit.
“More than the mural, more than the beautification, you will see the community has bonded together to spruce up their areas,” DOT-Cordillera Regional Director Venus Tan said.
Johnlee Garcia, President of Davies Paints, said: “Davies has always been passionate about finding ways to help improve communities in whatever way we can and this project is a great opportunity to create a big impact in the area. We have a long history of engaging in CSR programs and beautification efforts in the country; we’re proud to be a major part of this project and we plan to continue these efforts in the future.”
The project was inspired by the Favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The STOBOSA community has pledged to make the project sustainable by touching up the artwork as necessary. Working together has also inspired representatives of the households—mostly women—to endeavor other efforts to beautify their area by keeping it clean and infusing life by planting greens.
After their collective effort, the area is now a burst of vibrant and brilliant colors—a welcome sight as you enter the town. So the next time you go up North, get your cameras ready: the community artwork will be visible on your right after you cross the La Trinidad arch from Baguio City.
Special thanks to Mr. Clinton Aniversario for the photos.