Batanes has natural Christmas trees

BASCO, Batanes, Philippines – This idyllic northernmost province has no need for artificial Christmas trees.

Reason is, it has natural ones named arius, also fondly called the “Batanes Pine” because it originally and abundantly grows on the province’s nine islands.

Arius (scientific name: Podocarpus costalis) lushly grows by the thousands in provincial parks, town plazas, school grounds, churchyards, backyards, along roads, on the province’s vaunted picturesque hills, and even in cemetery grounds.

“It is used as decorative accent for lawns and utilized as Christmas decor during the Christmas season,” said the Batanes State College (BSC) whose campus is situated in this capital town on Batan Island.

Within the Basco Cathedral complex, for instance, this writer noted during a visit here that the arius trees were meticulously trimmed to resemble Christmas trees.

Batanes-born Dante de Padua, a retired University of the Philippines-Los Baños professor and an internationally known postharvest scientist, recalled that in his youth, the people on the islands decorated their arius, especially with Christmas lights, during the Yuletide season.

Those who wished to have Christmas trees inside their homes just got arius trees outdoors and festooned these with lights.

“This Batanes tree is an excellent material for bonsai enthusiasts and was found out to be one of the best lumber for furniture making – the counterpart of first-class wood such as narra in the Luzon mainland,” the BSC said.

Recently, BSC researchers discovered that the carbohydrates-rich arius fruit, which is red to purple when ripe, can be made into wine.

When this writer’s group, including De Padua, engineers Armando Diaz and Francis Calanio, and accountant Julius Baronia, visited the college, BSC vice president Roger Baltazar served wine at its research stage.

Attesting to its good taste, Calanio said it tasted like California wine.

Baltazar and his team earlier had developed products from arius such as jelly, jam and pastillas. The products were initially showcased during the BSC’s sixth founding anniversary in August last year.

During the anniversary celebration, the Ivatans, as the people of Batanes are called, lauded the state college for achieving research breakthroughs that can bring about income-generating activities for the local folk.

Before, they did not give importance to arius fruits as they just fell on the ground and were left as debris under the trees.

Now, the Ivatans are proud of not only having natural Christmas trees in arius but also that its fruits can generate livelihood activities that can augment their income.