‘Shall we call on Philippine enchanted trees to safeguard and repair our malfunctioning independence?’
WINNOWING is a “simple traditional cleaning method that uses wind or a fan to remove light foreign matter from the grain… an important technique for cleaning grain at the farm level.” This is necessary because “Threshed grain contains all kinds of dockage (impurities), which should be removed as soon as possible after harvesting and certainly before storage.” [http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/grainQuality/module_2/05.htm]
When expressed as visual art, “Winnowing Rice” (Fernando Amorsolo, signed and dated 1956, oil on canvas, 69 cm x 94 cm, accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot) becomes a more-than-five-million-peso masterpiece. In fact, we witnessed the transformation of the National Artist’s rendering of a back-breaking activity from a starting price of six million pesos to a winning bid of P8,500,000. [https://leon-gallery.com/auctions/The%20Spectacular%20Mid%20Year%20Auction%202016/WinnowingRice/61/123]
We also witnessed the bang of a new Amorsolo record. “Fernando Amorsolo’s 1942 ‘The Burning of Manila’ was sold for P36,048,000 at our Spectacular Mid-Year Auction—setting a new record for a wartime piece by the artist. The work is one of the largest Amorsolo pieces to enter the market. The piece was acquired by Don Jacobo Zóbel de Ayala y Roxas from Amorsolo himself during the Japanese occupation. Don Jacobo had been one of those sentenced to endure the infamous Bataan Death March and become a prisoner-of-war. As a serviceman, the painting may have reminded him of the unwavering heroism of the Filipinos during that darkest period in our history. The Burning of Manila was leased to the National Museum of the Philippines and would remain there for a decade, until recently, when the family of Don Enrique decided it was time to pass it on to its new owner.” [https://leon-gallery.com/stories/1792] Incidentally, we wrote “The Story Behind ‘The Burning of the Intendencia’” for the catalog of the 07 June 2025 Spectacular Mid-Year Auction.
What we witnessed — the preservation and handover of Philippine treasures as well as the freedom to transact — are all elements of our imperfect independence. What else can we observe on the 127th anniversary of the Kawit Proclamation of Philippine Independence?
Just as we celebrate the absence of a bloodthirsty Islamist terrorist cult in one of the major islands of our archipelago (https://malaya.com.ph/news/national-news/basilan-now-abu-sayyaf-free/), we lament at the same time the “the despicable, wicked and perhaps even evil acts of collaboration that some of our leaders, elected officials and civil servants extended to these criminals (POGO operators, human traffickers, drug smugglers)”.[https://malaya.com.ph/news/national-news/house-quad-panel-chair-filipinos-aided-chinese-who-infiltrated-ph/]
Just as we enjoyed the thrills of witnessing an auction, we kept a sharp lookout at the same time for the maneuvers of Han chauvinists. “We do not know whether China’s regime has made the decision to go to war, but its series of dangerous actions clearly reveals it has made the decision to risk war. And war, if it begins somewhere, will likely spread. For one thing, the Chinese leadership will not be able to deal with incidents responsibly. In senior Communist Party circles these days, only the most hostile answers are considered acceptable. Another factor is the existence of alliance and semi-alliance networks in the region. Four of China’s targets, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia, are U.S. treaty allies, and one, Taiwan, is protected by the United States. China, for its part, could bring in its friends (Pakistan, North Korea, Iran).” [https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-despite-military-purges-china-160000817.html]
Even as we read how President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. acknowledged “Singapore for ensuring the survival and propagation of some of the Philippines’ endemic and endangered species, most notably the Philippine Eagle” (https://pco.gov.ph/presidential-speech/statement-by-president-ferdinand-r-marcos-jr-at-the-joint-press-conference-5/), we also take cognizance of I Love Taguig’s post that the invasive species Alligator Gar is confirmed by the Taguig Lake and River Management Office to be present in the waters of Barangay Napindan. [https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?story_fbid=1134082535424782&id=100064691376421]
On this note, we celebrate our incomplete independence by sharing the advocacy of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society, Inc., which was founded in 2007 by the late renowned Filipino botanist Leonard Co (widely respected by friends, colleagues and students for his deep knowledge of plants, his generosity and his passion for promoting awareness of the indigenous flora of the Philippines). One of the many ways Leonard Co sought to help Filipinos overcome “plant blindness” was his proposal that bagawak morado (Clerodendrum quadriloculare) be adopted as the official plant mascot of the University of the Philippines because of the resemblance of its leaf colors (maroon and green) to UP’s official colors. Leonard Co and the PNPCSI champion the popularization of the natural history of Philippine native plants, the restoration of degraded habitats and the promotion of ethnobotany. These are additional means of preserving national and cultural heritage, according to Dr. Jasper John A. Obico (Associate Professor of Biology and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines Manila).
This advocacy of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society reminded us of a supernatural tree named Bongbong: “A long, long time ago there lived a giant or overgrown narra tree known as Bongbong. It is a boundary marker located in the village of a famous lfugao named Humidhid. This village is in the upstream region known as Daiya. Bongbong was either haunted or given supernatural powers by the skyworld.” [Marilou M. Dancel, “The Ifugao Wooden Idol,” SPAFA Journal, 1989] Shall we call on Philippine enchanted trees to safeguard and repair our malfunctioning independence?
