Blasa Perez’s pocket of wonder

There is still hope for Cebu — or maybe just Mandaue. But let us assume this will really work for all of Cebu.

Despite all the negative things we see and the negative comments we say and hear about Cebu’s traffic and how dirty the urban areas of this beloved island are, there are pockets of amazement.

And one of these happens to be a pocket garden set up by a retired home economics teacher in Pagsabungan, Mandaue City, by the name of Blasa Perez. Hers is the stuff that certainly proves Cebuanos are not lazy and that they care for their surroundings.

It was during a serendipitous visit to her residence near the Pagsabungan Elementary School while we were looking for a boarding house for a friend that we chanced on her slightly elevated locale.

What drew us to her residence were huge potted vegetable plants that we later learned were cauliflowers. Blasa later came out of the house and proudly showed us what she had achieved after retiring at the age of 62: her garden full of organically grown veggies that won in Cebu and that she will be competing nationally this year.

And as if this was not amazing enough for us, she even pointed to an empty lot beside hers that she planted with the same organically grown veggies, telling us she didn’t know the owner but it was just lying idle and people throwing plastic wrappers on the lot. So she decided to make good use of it.

The best part is that she makes money with her produce as someone goes to her home lot to buy her veggies at a premium.

I was immediately reminded of my recent trip to Kyoto in Japan where, as you leave the urban core, you begin to get enthralled by the fact that no lot, no matter how tiny, is left unplanted with either taro (or gabi to us) or rice!

Here in the uplands of Barangay Pagsabungan amid factories and a smattering of residences as well as some informal settlers was a pocket of success, tucked literally on a quiet slightly elevated lane leading to the local public school and beyond it the cemetery.

Ma’am Blasa proudly showed us news clippings about her recent victories and awards recognizing her unique prowess.

When I asked her why her neighbors have not followed suit, she just smiled and said that she didn’t know why even if, apparently, there have been trainings organized by the local government (her brother is the barangay chairman, she told us).

Hers is something for everyone to emulate. But apparently, not all have the motivation, no matter if government supports it.

I remember the Martial Law days when the dictator Ferdinand Marcos introduced Green Revolution to the country to increase agricultural production. I wonder what happened to that one. There were some successes there too, like the growing of grapes in Sibonga that made Marcos himself personally visit the town to see it for himself.

Blasa proudly says that there have been many visitors to her little garden every day. I wonder how many of us who have seen her do this by her lonesome have the time and the motivation to do what she has achieved.

And then down the road I saw someone selling spiders kept in tight, airless plastic cellophane containers. Reality bites and bites hard. There is still a lot of inspiring and motivating to do before real change comes.

For the moment, let Blasa Perez and her garden be a beacon that points way to a better Cebu and, who knows, to a better Philippines.

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Let me invite everyone to the opening of “Japanophily: A Series of Exhibitions on Japanese Arts and Culture,” at the University of San Carlos Museum. This will be on Tuesday, 11 October at 10 o’clock in the morning. The first exhibition, which will run for a month, is entitled, “Ningyo: The Japanese World of Dolls,” which will be open to the public until 12 November. Afterwards the exhibition will move to the USC Talamban Campus at the ground floor of the humongous Baumgartner Learning Resource Center, the country’s largest university library, where it will stay until 17 December.

These exhibits are jointly hosted by USC Museum and USC Libraries together with The Japan Foundation Manila. For reservations and more information, please call Reina Rañises, Josie Itable or Lyrech Ibale at Tel. 253 1000 loc. 191.