By just pulling one green thread, a rich tapestry of vivid colors unfurled in the hills overlooking Marikina River and the Sierra Madre Mountain range, revealing neighbors leading a sustainable, organic life in the Heights, a village in the university town of University of the Philippines, Ateneo and Miriam College.
The lockdown strengthened the multicolored village tapestry thread of 550 households which enjoy what must be the cleanest air in Metro Manila.
Olivia “Moppet” Gonzales, Ayala Heights Village president and Go!Salads matriarch/entrepreneur, started the weave with her community initiatives—providing some 32,000 face shields to heroic front-liners in 197 hospitals nationwide, 26 in the Visayas and Mindanao, during the critical first month of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
When Moppet rang the “call to arms” through the village Viber, a group immediately responded, led by Triny Sy, Sherwin and Julie O, Amy Abaquin-Panaguiton, Abby Robles, Rochelle Shing Lao and Monette Ko Teh.
Almost overnight, face shields—foam, acetate, garter, glue gun—were made within the community. Donated acetate rolls had to be cut to size, sorted in sets and distributed to volunteer households.
“Every villager wanted to be involved in the war against coronavirus,” Moppet said.
Triny added, “I was a freshman medical student at PGH (Philippine General Hospital) before I decided to quit medicine. I understand what it’s like to be there as front-liner. At the time Moppet suggested the idea, I was also looking for something to do to keep myself busy. I believe God works in mysterious ways.”
In between Lenten Masses and novenas, from mid-March to Easter Sunday, to this day, families spend afternoons and evenings making face shields that underwent three design changes following feedbacks from front-liners.
Couple Sherwin and Julie O negotiate the gargantuan logistics with hospitals and transportation. “I’ve always thrived most during crisis. Having gone through difficult life experiences, I was lucky to have people help me. I have been trying to be the same person to many people in hardship,” he said.
An educator, Sherwin runs the nonprofit Childhope Philippines, educating street children, and tries to make a living through the innovative College of Arts & Technology.
Another group led by Riza Mantaring raised P2 million in two weeks for distribution to the dense urban communities of Della Strada and Nuestra Señora in Matandang Balara.
With the extended ECQ, a group of envisioned community members led by Monette and Lawrence Ko Teh and her kids Zach, Raif and Mik, blitzkrieged in three days the Village Market launch on Saturday, April 25, simply through social media. With dad, lawyer Lawrence, instilling the valued bayanihan spirit on his children, the three kids with their mom provided techie details to organize the village production of face shields for front-liners.
Colene Tan, Len Hernandez, Cindy Hernandez, Claire Yap and Joy Gomez connived in brainstorming village market details. Joining the bandwagon were Cynthia and Butch Alejo, Grace Tiu, Bea Villanueva, Freence Tecson, and Teresita Sy. Village vice president Vic Cabanero and Grace Fernandez enlisted the guards to implement social distancing rules, thermometer scan and feet stomp pads.
Off market and always on kitchen duty is Joy de Leon, hailed and crowned the village chef. Joy’s customers clamor for her extensive repertoire reached a crescendo, pushing her to rent another place within the village to cook for her long, long line of satisfied clientele. Yes, mostly husbands. Guessing tired of their wives’ lockdown cooking.
And there is the villager baker, Buds Patajo, who offer “healthy” breads with no “improvers, extenders nor preservatives,” ranging from kamote pandesal, sourdough batard, rainbow bread, to Parmesan ensaymada.
Birthday cakes during lockdown? No problem, call Emy Ramos.
The Village Greens are provided by Moppet’s organic green ice lettuce, and Kelvin O whose love of cooking healthy for his family inspired him to build a manageable hydroponics farm of mixed baby lettuce and spinach.
The food tapestry turned hilly streets into smorgasbord aisles of fresh food to boot. What a hoot! Paul Tanjangco sells seashells and seafoods from his farm and makes the selling quite a feeding frenzy. For added fun, he runs a wheel of fortune raffle among those who failed to make it to the early morning sale of fresh seafood harvest.
Manhattan-trained chef Joshua Quesada, who worked with Michelin chef Gordon Ramsay in Bread Kitchen Singapore, Marina Bay Sands, is now in Manila with his wife, Vietnamese brainy beauty Kathy Chin, serving experimental cuisine.
How about siomai, siopao? Kim Uy, another enterprising millennial, sourced a Taiwanese mom to prepare the whole gamut of dim sum.
Bridging Bukidnon dairy—Rochelle Lao. Buko and pineapple—Cindy Hernandez. Anne Siy Tan, avocado. Davao’s pomelo and durian, Tzu Chi foundation’s Tessie Wong aided by Ginny Jugo.
Driving or walking up and down the village streets to drop off face shields to the central depot and get our food fix is a powerful statement on how villagers make the village, on how unified the diverse personal narratives of the residents are, toward the collective passion for making living in the Heights a dream. —CONTRIBUTED
