Retired cameraman manages honesty garden not far from Manila

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MANILA, Philippines — At one time or another, you must have heard about the Honesty Coffee Shop in Batanes. Better known as simply the Honesty Store, it is an unmanned, self-service store located in Ivana, Batanes, that has become iconic for what it represents — the tradition of absolute honesty of the Ivatans and Batanes’ virtually zero crime rate.

Its concept is simple: Those who want to buy something from the store can just get the item, jot it down on the logbook along with their names, leave the exact payment in the designated drop box, and go.

This is the same concept being espoused by the Honesty Garden in San Mateo, Rizal. The modest vegetable farm, actually an integrated community garden, is owned by Bancom Life Homes Subdivision, Gulod Malaya, in San Mateo, Rizal, which is home to more than 350 homeowners. It is situated just below Timberland Heights, still at an elevated, hillside area, so it is safe from floods even during the rainy season.

The Honesty Garden is being managed by retired TV news cameraman Erick Aguilar, who loves gardening and cooking aside from traveling and eating. A native of Ilocos Norte, he particularly finds joy in cooking exotic dishes, such as Adobo sa Gata na Mata ng Tuna and Ginataang Susong Pilipit at Pakô.

Through the years, he has turned the community garden into a lush vegetable and fruit farm, where residents can have their pick of the freshest produce every day without having to go to the market. Not only do the residents save on transportation cost. They also get the freshest ingredients for their everyday dishes. Nothing can be fresher and healthier than picking vegetables and fruits right off the plant and cooking these in the comfort of their own kitchen in a matter of minutes.

The concept is simple. Homeowners can freely enter the garden, pick what they need, estimate the amount based on market prices, and leave the payment at the drop box before they leave. This way, the homeowners get the freshest produce possible for their own consumption at home and get to save on transportation expenses as well.

There are various choices of produce in the “farm,” including regular tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, ampalaya, talbos ng kamote at ampalaya, sitaw, patola, upo, talong, pechay, kamias, labanos, pandan, saluyot, ground planted currants, fruit-bearing Camilas, fresh gabi leaves pang-laing, malunggay bunga at talbos, dragon fruit, Tindok or plantain bananas, fresh ginger plants  grown in tire pots, tanglad (lemongrass), talbos ng sili, siling labuyo, regular and rare yellow sayote, Indian mangoes, siling pansigang, mustasa, okra, kalabasa and kalabasa flowers, and bell pepper, among others. Soon, Erick says, there will also be live hito (catfish) available.

If only all communities can have an honesty garden, then sourcing fresh produce and keeping prices reasonable would never be a problem.

RELATED: MPD closes ‘honesty store’