Editor’s Note: Some of the interviews in this story were done just days before Severe Tropical Storm Kristine battered the Bicol Region.
NAGA, Philippines – Flower farmer Ricardo Ador carefully arranged leaves behind a sunflower and other florets for pre-ordered bouquets for an intramurals event of a nearby school. The fresh flowers were handpicked straight from their plantation bed in Pacol Flower Farm, also known as Naga’s Little Baguio.
Ricardo and his wife, Lucila, started to self-learn how to arrange flowers in 2016, but they have been planting for over 18 years now. Their floral arrangements sell from P250 to P5,000, ordered through their separate Facebook pages and contact numbers.
Located in Barangay Pacol, Naga City, about 16 minutes from Mt. Isarog, the more than two-hectare Pacol Flower Farm is managed by 13 local flower growers, including Lucila and Ricardo.
The farm became well known for its flower patches in May and October. What sets the place apart from other natural attractions in the area is that tourists can enter and take photos freely without paying an entrance fee.
Since the 1980s, the farm has been planted with variety of flowers such as puto-puto — a type of small white chrysanthemum — and regatta, a bloom that resembles a daisy, drawing visitors including Mary Ann Abinal who traveled from Baao, Camarines Sur, to visit the farm.
“Maganda siya kasi bihira ka lang makakita ng ganito. Kadalasan, sa Tagaytay or Baguio ‘yung maraming ganito (It’s beautiful. You rarely see something like this. Usually you would see this in Tagaytay or Baguio),” Abinal said.
Naga’s Little Baguio is indeed a feast for the senses for locals and tourists alike. For the local flower farmers of Barangay Pacol, the farm is not just a mere tourist attraction but their lifeline.
“Ini lang ang samuyang kabuhayan (It is our only livelihood),” Lucila said.
Livelihood and passion
Ricardo previously worked as a helper in a driving company, but when their children were growing up and needed more financial support for education, Ricardo resigned from his job to focus on cultivating and selling flowers.
Flower farming is Ricardo and Lucila’s only livelihood. Ideally, they can earn a 50% profit from each floral bouquet they sell. “Banga-banga man (Half capital, half profit),” Ricardo explained.
While their earnings are, at times, not sufficient to maintain their flower plots, Lucila said that three of their four children graduated from college funded by earnings from the farm.
“Tulo na ang napa-graduate mi hali lang sa pagtanom. Automotive si matua, si duwa electrical, si saro nag-aadal pa (We already have three college graduates just by flower farming. The first is an automotive graduate, the two are both electrical engineering graduates, and the last one is still in school),” Lucila said.
Roma Rucinas, another flower grower at Pacol Flower Farm, shared that although their family has a rice field aside from their flower plots, she still prefers to work in the flower farm because she has been there since she was young.
“Ito na ‘yung kinahiligan ko kasi (This is what I love to do),” she said.
Like the Adors, Roma’s father was able to send them to school because of flower farming. “Minana ko na pati ‘yan sa papa ko. Kaya nakapatapos si papa ko ng college, dito lang din sa taniman na ito (I inherited that from my father. He put us through college with the help of this plantation).”
Roma, along with Ryan Rucinas and other helpers, have been consistently monitoring their flower plots for the past few days in anticipation of customers and tourists who will buy and reserve flowers for All Souls’ Day, until Severe Tropical Storm Kristine battered the Bicol Region.
Dealing with storms, pests
Lucila, who serves as secretary of Naga City Cut Flower and Rice Farmers Agriculture Cooperative, said that over four plots of flowers were toppled down by the strong winds and heavy rains caused by Kristine.
The prices of the damaged flowers will be lowered from P250 to P150 so that they can still be sold to potential customers for All Souls’ Day.
Flowers are considered resilient to storms but the crops’ quality can still be affected. Since the farm is in a typhoon-prone region, the flower farmers have learned to adapt to severe weather conditions. Ahead of bad weather, they fortify the flower plants with wooden rods to keep them from toppling over.
“Minsan natutumba siya, halimbawa, sa sunflower, arog katong may bagyo, natumba. Pinatindog mi na naman kaya lang bako na siyang diretso, tiko na siya. Kaya dapat agapan talaga (Sometimes, plants tend to fall during typhoons. We put it up again but it’s not straight anymore; it’s crooked. So, it really should be taken care of beforehand),” Lucila said.
Aside from weather disturbances, pests are also one of the main problems of flower farmers. Ryan said that among these pests is the whitefly, a sap-sucking insect. To get rid of pests and ensure the quality of their flowers, the flower farmers have become more dependent on Benevia, an insecticide that costs P1,170 and is good for just five applications.
“Kapag dai siya na-spray, talagang maluya. Dae baleng mahal, talagang nag-aim na kaming makakua kami kayan para magayon ang tanom kang burak (When it does not get sprayed, it is really bad. It does not matter how expensive, we really aim to buy it so that our crops can grow well),” Lucila said.
Rosary Diaz, the Pacol’s Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Chairperson, said that the town has a committee on environment for immediate actions and solutions to help the flower growers improve the quality of their flowers.
Town’s trademark
Barangay Pacol in Naga City is widely known for its flower tourism. It had its own Puto-puto Festival every month of May, named after one of the flowers being grown in the town’s farms.
There were large trucks and floats covered with puto-puto flowers arranged to form an image or letters. It was Pacol’s version of the Panagbenga Festival before the event faded into oblivion around 2012.
Despite its discontinuation, the town’s trademark — flower tourism — continued to grow over the years. Diaz emphasized the importance of the flower farm and flower growers not just to tourism but also the local economy.
“This improves the economy of the barangay, especially the livelihood of the farmers, because the area is being revisited, particularly at the beginning of the month of November, where people remember their late loved ones,” the youth leader said.
Although Naga People’s Market, a place closer to tourists, offers a variety of flowers, many still choose to visit Pacol Flower Farm.
Sharon Sairon was one of those customers who traveled 64 miles from Daet, Camarines Norte, just to order flowers straight from the farm. She reserved a bulk of flowers which she would resell for Undas.
Ricardo and the other flower growers anticipate more orders for All Souls’ Day and other casual events this November. A lot of tourists had started to visit the farm and the farmers expected to see more for the next few days. (The interview with Ricardo was done on October 19, or days before Kristine’s onslaught on the region and other parts of the country.) – Rappler.com
Angelee Kaye Abelinde, a campus journalist from Naga City, is a second-year Journalism student of Bicol University and the current copy editor of The Bicol Universitarian. She is also an Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024.