Lumberman finds peace with nature in coffee farm

A MUCH-VAUNTED tale about a

successful coffee farmer who had

been nominated for a government

citation led us to the doorstep of Felix

Gatchalian Villalon in Baguio City last month.

To our surprise, we were

met by a frail 88-year-old

man who had to be

roused from sleep at

10:30 a.m., a now usual

routine since he was

found to have a heart

condition seven months

ago.

Before his health failed

him, Villalon was a

hands-on coffee farmer who left his house on Magsaysay Street

promptly at 6 a.m., a bayong in hand, tailed by a group of loyal

house dogs. He would then head for his coffee farm on the

slopes of Yagyagan in Tuba, Benguet, take his lunch at a cabin

nestled among the trees, then be back home by 5 p.m. with his

usual companions.

Fulfillment

The three-hectare coffee farm, which he began cultivating in

1986, was where he found fulfillment in his old age but,

according to his architect-son Manuel, it was also where he

made his peace with nature.

''When the Japanese occupied Baguio, they made tunnels

everywhere and had to cut trees to support these. After the war,

we found so many abandoned cut trees which were of exactly

the same measurement. These were mine timber ready to be

loaded onto trucks. I was the only contractor, I controlled the

supply. Later, I became the official hauler of lumber from Heald

Lumber Co., an American company,'' Villalon recalled with pride.

After raising eight children with his wife Fidela on a

lumberman's income, and seeing them as successful

professionals, Villalon ventured into coffee farming.

Part of the reason for the shift in interest was that, in his words,

''there were few trees left to be cut and the business was no

longer profitable.''

The lot was third child Julia's investment and following her

bidding, he immediately went to work ''full blast'' with 15 farm

workers.

Steep, barren

They converted a steep and barren mountain slope into a lush

''jungle coffee farm'' fortified with towering alnos trees.

''Dati, wala kang makikitang puno dito. Puro damo lang na

walang pakinabang (Before, you would not see any trees here,

only shrubs of no commercial value),'' said Virgie Casamiro, the

farm's caretaker for the past 13 years.

Using instinct, natural intelligence and his ''own discretion,''

Villalon designed the slope into coffee terraces supported by

rip-rapping and alnos logs.

A total of 12,500 coffee trees planted in neat rows became his

hands-on laboratory to learn about fertilizing, controlling pests,

cleaning and pruning. His transformation from logger to farmer

had begun in earnest.

According to coffee production technology expert David

Santos, this farm could well be the only terraced coffee farm in

the country, demonstrating the maximized use of an extremely

steep terrain.

''At the start, I was just learning. When I saw that some trees did

not thrive well, I applied fertilizer in the form of chicken manure.

It was successful. I also learned that if the weeds were thick,

they could become a source of sickness for the coffee trees,''

Villalon recalled.

First harvest

On the third year, Villalon reaped his first harvest of Benguet (or

Arabica) coffee, a specialty coffee that flourishes only in

tropical mountainous areas and is known for its delicate and

flavorful beans.

In a good year, as many as 30 workers were hired during the

harvest season from November to February.

He sold his produce to a buyer based in Cavite who also has

outlets in Metro Manila's malls. His best year was just before

the El Ni?o weather pattern set in, when gross sales for his

coffee beans reached P230,000.

But he stressed that coffee growing is profitable only if you

''take care of the plants accordingly.''

''Pruning, cleaning, spraying (with pesticides) These are the

three most important things for coffee,'' he said. He added that

although he used to read and re-read Growing Quality Coffee, a

manual written for Nestle Philippines, he found the book

wanting and ''learned little from it.''

But whatever it was that made his coffee venture a success is

something Villalon would rather credit and keep to himself.

''My book is in my head. My knowledge from 6 years old to now

is intact here (pointing to his brain). That is my problem now,

nobody can take over my job at the farm. There is only one

Villalon like me,'' he said.

Son of farmers

A son of farmers, Villalon learned much from his parents and

from observing the techniques of Japanese and Chinese farmers

who had settled in La Trinidad, Benguet, in his early years.

Always a maverick and self-made man, he thinks little of what

government can do to improve people's lives.

Today, he scoffs at the Department of Environment and Natural

Resources for having so much money for reforestation projects

but not having achieved what he did on his once barren patch

of green.

In July last year, Felix Villalon received a letter stating that he

was being nominated as Outstanding Coffee Farmer in the

National Search for Excellence in Coffee Production in

1997-1998. The search was being conducted by the Department

of Agriculture and other government agencies.

Irregular heartbeat

The old man prepared all the necessary papers explaining his

accomplishments on the farm, copies of which are still neatly

filed in a folder he keeps in his room. But when November came,

he started experiencing an irregular heartbeat which has since

limited his activities to sleeping, reading newspapers from cover

to cover, eating, and perhaps, waiting.

''He waited and waited, but the award never came,'' said Dr.

Virginia de Joya, Villalon's eldest daughter.

''My father loved that farm and gave his all to it. Sometimes, we

feel it's on the losing side but we don't try to stop him because

we know it's what has made him live this long. Maybe that is

enough reward,'' she said.