A photo of Anthony “Angkol Gong-gong” Villarosa holding his ginit-wrapped Christmas gift. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The coconut once again validates its tag as the “tree of life” after a post of Johannah Uy went viral for featuring one of their coconut tappers showcasing his improvised gift wrapper.
On Sunday, December 24, Uy said that they had a Christmas party for their coconut sap tappers locally known as ‘mananggotay’ when an unusual gift brought by Anthony Villarosa, known as ‘Angkol Gong-gong,’ caught their attention.
It seemed that Kuya Gong-gong, a 40-year-old coconut tapper, made sure that every part of the coconut will always have its purpose.
READ: Food security and the coconut industry
“Wala daw siyay pambalot sa iyang gift. Mao to gebalot sa ginit sa lubi, 100% made of indigenous material even ang pangtali and ribbon, which is very nindot kaha. 😍 Very good kaayo Angkol Gong2 and hawod na Ante Mary Ann Jumero Ortigue for the eco-friendly gift wrapper, plus very creative and resourceful pajud. 🤍,” Uy said in her Facebook post.
Ginit is the cloth-like sheath or the brown fiber that wraps the coconut palms.
‘No Christmas wrapper to use’
In an interview with Uy on Tuesday, December 26, she said that it happened during the Christmas party of their tappers where exchanging gifts was part of the event.
Uy said that according to Angkol Gong-gong, he had no Christmas wrapper to wrap his gift prior to their party on that day in Sitio Pao-Pao, Barangay Sinawal, General Santos City.
“Normal day lang po yun habang naghaharvest daw po kasi siya ng coco sap or tuba kung tawagin sa amin, naisip niya at ng kanyang partner na bakit hindi nalang daw yung coco fiber or ginit ng lubi ang gamitin niyang pang balot, less gasto pa kasi naman sa mahal din ng bilihin at magkano lang din naman ang kinikita niya,” Uy said.
Angkol Gong-gong, 40 years old
Hence, Angkol Gong-gong decided to use coconut fiber as a wrapper.
“Tinago niya yun kasi sa kanya lang daw naiiba,” Uy added.
Uy said that she was “amazed” with the idea and did not expect the outcome would be that pretty. It was also her first time to encounter that kind of wrapper.
The party was organized by Uy and her family since their family business was producing coconut sap sugar, the reason why they had coconut tappers or “mananggete.”
‘Resourcefulness’
Recalling their other tappers’ reactions, Uy said that they were also amazed and were not able to think about the brilliant idea.
Angkol Gong-gong’s gift together with other Christmas gifts wrapped in Christmas wrapper. | Contributed photo
“Di daw po naisip yun na mas maganda daw sana kasi wala nang gastos kasi nasa paligid lang. Ako naman po mas na amazed ako sa ating mga farmers, lalo na sa pinakitang resourcefulness at creativity ni Angkol Gong-gong. Nagpapakita lang din po sa napakadami pang gamit ng niyog, at tsaka pwede po siyang dagdag na livelihood para sa kanila lalo na po sa asawa niya at kahit sa mga asawa ng mga tappers din na iba,” she said.
As someone who currently works at the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office in Soccsksargen, she hopes to spread this kind of creativity to other people.
“Sa ngayon po bilang isang empleyado din ni DA, pagsisikapan ko din na matulongan e endorse sila kung ano ang pwedeng maitulong upang ma develop kasi nakita ko talagang maganda po talaga siya,” Uy said.
In Uy’s post, netizens expressed their appreciation for the resourcefulness and creativity.
“Kung ako niregaluhan ing ani eh display nalang naku ba eh souvenir naku jud,” said Facebook user Rex Armada.
To Mikay Gajes, she said that it was the “most beautiful Christmas wrapping paper” she had ever seen.
“Minsan yung mga ganito ka simple at very unique, eto pa yung mas masarap I appreciate,” said Rhamil Stanford, another Facebook user.
This just shows that apart from giving us materials for building any structure and giving us healthy benefits, with a creative touch and a bit of imagination, we can still get more from the simple coconut.
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