In 2016, then Senator Cynthia Villar passed the Republic Act 10816 or the “Farm Tourism Development Act,” a law that “promotes, develops and provides tax incentives to accredited farm tourism operators to boost rural income, encourage sustainable farming and establish farm schools for skills training.”

Just last 5 March, the Department of Tourism, in a press statement, declared farm tourism as “a priority” given that farm tourism connects agriculture, food and travel, said Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.

“Gastronomy begins with our farms, our fisheries, and the communities that produce the food that defines our national table. Farm tourism reinforces this pillar by strengthening agricultural supply chains, enabling direct sourcing and ensuring that rural communities are embedded within the tourism value chain,” Secretary Frasco said.

As the principal author of the “Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016,” Villar makes sure that the Villar Foundation’s Villar Farm School by the border of Las Piñas City in Metro Manila and Bacoor City in Cavite is a role model in farm tourism in the Philippines.

Built in 2016 by Villar Foundation on half of the 150-hectare estate owned by Villar Corporation, the farm school was conceptualized by Senator Cynthia to provide agricultural training for farmer trainers all over the country.

“Mas nauna pa tayo pero mas gumaling sila sa atin (Our country developed some farming techniques first but other countries are now ahead of us),” she said.

Thus, among the farm school’s goals is poverty reduction especially among farmers by teaching them techniques how to increase their yields through sustainable practices that lower costs.

“Sa ibang bansa, mayayaman ang mga magsasaka. Eh hindi ko naman inaambisyong yumaman, basta middle class lang, ‘wag poor. Kaya lungkot na lungkot ako (Farmers abroad are so rich. I don’t even wish for too much wealth for our farmers. Even just middle class would be okay, just not poor. That’s why I’m so sad for them),” Villar said.

If agriculture materials are made inexpensive and accessible to farmers, their profit margins would grow, their children would also consider farming as a profitable livelihood.

“Yung mga anak nila ayaw na ipagpatuloy ‘yung pagsasaka kasi mahina ang kita. ‘Yung iba, nag-o-OFW minsan. Kaya ang gusto ko lumaki ang kanilang kita para ‘yung mga bata would take over the farm (The farmers’ children didn’t want to continue their parents’ legacy because the income was low. That’s why these children would like to become overseas Filipino workers instead. That’s why I want to augment their income so that the younger generations would take over the farm).”

Thinking of a job that would sustain her advocacies after her term as senator, Cynthia had a tourist park built to support the farm school and make it self-sustaining.

“N’ung una, hindi s’ya masyadong masaya (At first, Manny was not that happy to turn a portion of his land into a farm),” Cynthia shared in an exclusive interview with DAILY TRIBUNE early this week. “Pero nu’ng gumanda na, tuwang tuwa na s’ya. Nag-wo-walking s’ya d’yan ‘pag madaling araw (But when he saw the improvements, he has become very happy with it. He even walks there every early in the morning).”

Pinakbet here, chopsuey there

Before Cynthia’s dad became a mayor in the ‘60s, her mom used to have a rice mill in the land where the farm school now stands. According to Cynthia, after her dad developed the area, they cleared it of illegal settlers that were polluting the Zapote River and the Prinza de Molino dam that have been used since Spanish times to irrigate the surrounding rice fields. According to her, thousands of illegal settlers were relocated and compensated. Plastic trash from the river were turned into chairs for classroom through the Villars’ own plastic recycling facility, while plastic bottles are still being upcycled in the farm school as seedling pots.

Every year, the farm school receives around 1,000 farming trainers, serving as an open classroom for organic farming, dairy production and tilapia aquaculture, in partnership with government agencies in charge of those industries like the Department of Agriculture, Philippine Carabao Center and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda). The farm school provides free use for farming trainers, so that farms from the provinces would also become farm schools. Tesda covers for the farmers’ tuition and materials to learn how to operate machines and increase their production.

“Ang bumubuhay ng farm namin ‘yung farming namin ng vegetables (The one that sustains our farms is our vegetable farming). We are able to sell P150,000 a month,” shared Cynthia, adding that these vegetables are the ones being used to cook the Filipino dish pinakbet — such as ampalaya (bitter gourd) and talong (eggplant) as these are lowland vegetables, as opposed to veggies being used to make chopsuey, which are highland vegetables that grow usually in Baguio. The P150,000 monthly income from vegetables pay for the salaries of 15 employees who do not have to come to work every day.

Besides these, the farm school produces kesong puti (white cheese) and pastillas (candies) from carabao’s milk from the 55 carabaos under its care, and also produces cacao, but the yield from these are still so small that these are not enough for selling, so Villar gives these away as gifts instead. The farm also harvests rice, but the supply as of the moment can only feed the staff.

Apart from farming trainers, the farm school welcomes the youth and teaches them sustainable farming techniques such as composting. According to Cynthia, they bought their first composters in 2002 and supplied every barangay. Until now, collectors gather leftover or organic wastes from houses in the morning to be put into the 76 composters spread throughout Las Piñas. Every composter can produce a ton of organic fertilizer a month, and the entire Las Piñas gets free seeds and fertilizers from Villar Farm School.

The entire farm is solar-powered; only the restaurant cannot be solar because meats need refrigeration. As Cynthia put it, “’Pag nilagyan mo ng solar, ubod sa mahal. Ang liit lang ng operation (If you put solar, it’s so expensive. It’s just a small operation).”

In between learning sessions, guests of the farm can check out its neighboring tourist park, where there is a stable for horses that children and adults can ride and feed. The complex has three restaurants, including a branch of Villar’s famous Dear Joe and Coffee Project chains, as well as a recreation area for archery, zip line, playgrounds and a Tamiya race track. According to Cynthia, all these are important to attract people to eat at the restaurants whose income are vital for making the farm school a truly sustainable community.

“’Yung grasscutter palang at traktora, napakamahal na (Just the grass cutters and the tractor are very expensive already),” she shared.

Apart from these, Villar Foundation continuously engages the communities through monthly activities such as a free Zumba class for Women’s Month and an urban gardening contest in Las Piñas with three categories — homeowners, barangay and school — every May.

“Importante ‘yun kasi ang mahal ng gulay (Urban gardening is important because the prices of vegetables are so expensive),” she enthused.

Truly, more than just a open-air school and a tourist site, Villar Farm School is a living testament to the former senator’s Farm Tourism Law, encouraging farms from the provinces to convert their farms into tourist farms that could augment their income through farm tours and more importantly, make more Filipinos aware of the importance of food security for our country’s future.