General Trias Foundation Day and Valenciana Festival in the Philippines Date in the current year: December 13, 2025

General Trias is a first class component city in the Philippine province of Cavite. During the early years of the Spanish colonial period, it was a barrio of Cavite el Viejo (now Kawit). The original name of the barrio was Malabón Grande; malabón is a Tagalog word that means “having many silt deposits”.

Malabón was split from Cavite el Viejo on December 12, 1748. Upon becoming an independent municipality, it was named San Francisco de Malabon after its patron saint, Saint Francis of Assisi. During the Philippine Revolution, San Francisco de Malabon became the first town in Cavite to rebel against Spain, when Filipino revolutionaries led by Mariano Trías attacked the town tribunal on August 31, 1896. The town also hosted the Tejeros Convention on March 22, 1897, which resulted in the creation of a new revolutionary government that replaced the Katipunan.

During the American occupation of the Philippines, the town’s name was changed twice: first simply to Malabon in 1914, and then to its current name, General Trias, in 1920 to honor Mariano Trías who had passed away six years earlier. A native of San Francisco de Malabon, Mariano Trías was a renowned revolutionary leader and the first de facto Vice President of the Philippines as the Vice President of the Tejeros Revolutionary Government. After the defeat of the Philippines in the Philippine-American War, Trias was appointed as the first civil governor of Cavite.

In 2015, General Trias was officially converted from a municipality to a city. The corresponding bill was signed by President Benigno Aquino III on August 19, 2015 and came into force on December 13, 2015, when the residents of General Trias supported it is cityhood in a plebiscite. Today, General Trias is a thriving city with a population of over 450,000 people, which is home to several major industrial estates.

The founding and cityhood anniversaries of General Trias are celebrated every December with the city’s famous Valenciana Festival. Valenciana (arroz a la valenciana) is a rice dish that developed from paella brought to the Philippines by the Spaniards. It is similar to the Valencian paella but uses local glutinous rice instead of non-glutinous rice commonly used in Spain. Valenciana may also contain coconut milk, a popular cooking ingredient in the Filipino cuisine.

General Trias is renowned for its Valenciana, so it is not surprising that the city has a whole festival dedicated to this delicious dish. The main events of the annual Valenciana Festival are the Valenciana cooking competition and the street dancing and field presentation. The program also includes live performances, colorful parades, family events and activities, street parties, food stalls offering Valenciana with different toppings and other local specialties, and more.