BY NESTOR CUARTERO
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JUST A THOUGHT: “My life is my message.” – Mahatma Gandhi
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WEEKEND FARMERS: This COVID-19 pandemic has brought out the farmer in many of us. City dwellers have become instant farmers, planting and growing vegetables in their yards.
In the absence of yards, we plant them in pots lining verandahs or garage.
Farming has a certain lure to artists. It offers them a chance to go back to nature, to keep in touch with their natural, uninhibited self. To go, grow and glow.
Big stars like Christopher de Leon, Aga Muhlach, and Cesar Montano have answered the call of nature literally.
They are tending their own farms. And so have many others whose farms are now spread across plains and valleys that dot Luzon mostly.
Years ago, Boyet invested on a big beachfront property in pristine Lobo, Batangas. He has planted fruit trees there, and raises hogs on the side.
Montano has two farms. One is a mango orchard in Zambales. Another is in Pandi, Bulacan.
Both farms have resthouses, where the actor and his family often spend weekends.
Cesar has yet another resthouse and farm in his hometown, Baclayon, Bohol.
The cool uphill community of Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas (right next to Lipa City) is the weekend home of Aga Muhlach.
The actor has a 5-hectare property there which he has planted to fruit trees and other vegetation. Aga has built a holiday resort in the property, which already boasts of a chapel and a pavilion ideal for events like weddings.
Asked why he has taken to farming, Aga said, “I want to raise my two children in a natural environment. They can walk barefoot here, touch the ground, and watch the plants and animals grow.”
