MANILA, Philippines - The moment you set foot on Vicky Maniquiz's garden in the rolling hills of Tagaytay, you feel enveloped by an atmosphere of tranquility and well-being. Breathing in the cool air, 2,500 feet above sea level, it is easy to picture Metro Manila's pollution being expelled from your lungs- indeed, from your body and soul.
Maniquiz's love for plants and animals, she believes, explains how she escaped the threat of a dreaded disease.
Maniquiz, a vivacious woman of a certain age, is the owner of VJ Properties, Inc., and, by profession, a builder of houses. She says she was the first woman-contractor to build houses in Corinthian Gardens.
"Clients loved the woman's touch in my designs," she smiles.
Coming from the landed Gomez family of Kanlaon, Bacolod, where she developed her love of the country, she also soaked in the food and nature-loving culture of San Francisco when she lived there from 1983 to 1989.
Speaking in a sing-song voice like the colegiala she is, Maniquiz says, "I studied child psychology in Maryknoll when it was still run by American nuns. We had the best food! I was invited to be a nun myself. But their simple life was not for me."
Indeed, Maniquiz seemed destined for a life of adventure and family, eventually being blessed with two children and seven grandchildren, who grew up riding the carabao and climbing the treehouse in her spiritual sanctuary.
She acquired the Tagaytay property in 1995, which she as landowner- together with Roxaco Land Corporation of Punta Fuego fame- is now developing into a secluded resort and residential community.
She explains, "We call it Anya, which in Sanskrit means extraordinary. It also means boundless. When I first saw this land, I bought it from the broker immediately without batting an eyelash. I saw its beauty and many possibilities. I eventually took the broker, Aida Panganiban, in my employ to help me take care of the garden- put wax on the Budhha's Belly bamboo- and make flower arrangements. Now, she is Roxaco's supervisor in charge of the maintenance of plants."
For Maniquiz, Anya has been the perfect place to rest and be in touch with nature because of its distance from business districts. She pictures a time when fellow nature-lovers would be her neighbors, jogging along the trails, swimming in the pools or doing yoga asanas in her meditation grove.
The land is fertile, producing flowers and vegetables that are extraordinarily lush or large. For years, she would give produce to her Alabang neighbors for free. She even sold flowers in the weekend market for a song, until competition loudly complained about the low prices and she had to close shop to avoid the stress.
"Ayoko ng away (I don't like fights)," she says.
Nonetheless, Maniquiz's face lights up with pride as she remembers the first-class greens that reflect her hard work and love of the land.
Anya is lush with bamboos both local and imported, like Buddha's Belly, Black, White, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian and Pole."
The tropical garden is also dotted with different kinds of palm trees- "Foxtails, Royal Palm, Madagascar, Arabian, Blue Palm"- as well as Narra, Mahogany, Kamagong, Dao and even the humble Calamansi. Soon, tropical Asian houses will be built around them.
Maniquiz believes that a "miraculous healing" took place because of the garden.
She recounts, "My doctor, Raul Fores, had detected three cysts in my breasts. He recommended that I have them removed by surgery as they may turn cancerous. But ever since I worked on this garden, wala na (they disappeared)! I underwent mammogram and they even tried to probe with a needle but Dr. Fores couldn't find the cysts anymore."
Maniquiz sums up the lesson she learned from the earth: "You give to the plants and the plants will give back. That's for sure."
Maniquiz's story proves that you need not enter a convent or go to a faraway land to find paradise. She invites fellow nature-lovers to visit Anya and discover the spirit-renewing power of communing with nature.
