Story And Photo By Leonardo Perante | Correspondent
SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela—After three terms as City Mayor of this city, Amelita Sison Navarro has detoured to farming. Her advocacy on backyard planting of cut flowers, vegetables and raising of native livestock have effectively provided reduced spending on imported blooms and domestic meat consumption. Many residents have come to rely on the flowers and vegetables grown in their backyards, including native chicken and hogs.
Because many residents have raised flowers as a backyard industry, two major flower shops in the city both claimed they cut down prices to entice buyers.
“Backyard gardening in the city does not only enhance the landscape of local homes, but saves the local population a lot of money, instead of buying expensive flowers and vegetables,” Navarro said.
During her term, vegetable seedlings were dispersed free to home owners who joined the backyard- gardening bandwagon. The vegetable dispersal also included fruit seedlings like calamansi and the popular Moringa tree, better known as malunggay.
Malunggay is highly endorsed by food experts because of the rich healthy nutrients it contains.
Navarro, a nurse by profession, a doctor’s wife and past president of the Auxillary to the Philippine Medical Association (APMA), issued during her term as city chief an executive order directing all city hall employees and village officials to revitalize the advocacy of planting at least three malunggay seedlings or cuttings in their respective backyards and idle lots around the city.
“Back in the United States, where my children and grandchildren stay, an apple a day keeps the doctors away. Here in the Philippines, we have the more powerful and miraculous malunggay that keeps all doctors away. So we regularly send my kids dehydrated malunggay leaves to be taken like green tea,” said the lady mayor, whose family ironically owns a chain of drugstores.
“Those who have planted local cut flowers in their yards intercropped with easy-growing vegetables can even give real fresh flowers to loved ones for free,” Navarro said.
The cut-flower industry has seen bright prospects as a cottage backyard project for local women dominated by housekeepers. Financial support came from the city government through the city cooperative development office.
To keep a steady supply of cut flowers for the city hall during her administration, Navarro recommended the planting of acclimatized blooms in different varieties, including chrysanthemums, asters, roses, tuberoses and the national flower, sampaguita, at the city agriculture research center.
“We used to spend so much on cut-flowers because most of the supply comes from other parts of the country and the world,” the former mayor said. Now that she has the time to attend to her favorite hobby, farming, Navarro now gives more focus on a family orchard in Cordon town.
“She loves eating fruits especially the homegrown ones, like her favorite rambutan of the Maharlika variety. That is why we never buy fruits for our dining table. We even sell the excess,” her husband Dr. Jose Navarro Jr. said.
Image credits: Leonardo Perante II