Robin Padilla starts green revolution

Robin Padilla and wife Mariel Rodriguez have yet to get into a heated argument lately.

It shows. The couple hold hands while touring the 40-hectare LAC Farms in Nueva Ecija. They sit next to each other while sharing a meal of organic food with the press.

“Matagal na kaming hindi nag-aaway. Nag-aasaran na lang kami paggising hanggang sa gabi, Buti na lang hindi kami pikon kasi hindi kami kumakain ng pampahigh blood,” Robin says over a lunch of organic rice, eggplant, free-range chicken and others.

Organic lifestyle

The couple adopted the organic lifestyle feels duty bound  to share  its feel-good results.

“Ine-encourage natin ang mga kababayan natin na matutong gumamit ng herbal, hindi synthetic medicine. Wala itong side effects, di gaya ng mga iniinom over the counter na gagamutin nga ang sakit mo pero may sisirain sa yo,” says Robin.

At home, Robin brushes his teeth with organic toothpaste, washes his hair with organic shampoo and keeps himself smelling good with organic deodorant.

“One hundred percent kaming organic sa bahay.”

Mariel's plants

He and Mariel’s medicine cabinet must be  groaning with organic cures because the couple shuns synthetic medicine.

“Brief ko na lang ang hindi organic,” Robin jokes.

His backyard is full of Mariel’s okra, kalamansi, kale, carrots, papaya and Chinese cabbage (petsay), which Robin loves to document with pictures come harvest time.

“Nagalit nga si Robin nung hindi ko sinabing nag-harvest ako sa backayard kasi gusto niyang kunan ng picture,” recalls Mariel.

New York model

Even Robin’s Kuya Rommel has a big piece of land planted to organic produce.

Robin says his sister, BB Gandanghari, told the family that New York residents are required to grow plants, even in their rooftops. And he dreams of having the same kind of lifestyle in the Philippines.

“Sana magkaroon tayo ng honest-to-goodness na green revolution, Ang daming nagsasabing wala silang makain. Sa New York, kuwento ni BB, hinuhuli doon kapag wala kang tanim. Sana maging conscious ang mga Pinoy sa health nila.”

Robin’s passion for things organic comes from knowing first-hand how these rid him of aches and pains.

Energizer

“Mawawala ang discomfort mo. Ang sarap ng gising ko, hanggang gabi walang problema sa energy.”

Mariel swears she hated okra (“slimy kasi”) until she realized what it does to the body.

"Nararamdaman mo siya. Dati, minsan lang ako pumupunta sa toilet everyday. Ngayon, hallelujah!"

Mariel chased away Robin of thoughts about dying early by promising her husband that she’ll lengthen his life by going organic.

The process, she adds, was “slowl and continuous."

Dangers of inorganic fish and poultry

The couple’s thirst for knowledge on things organic took them to Sweden. Mariel went to Sarangani to study various kinds of fertlizers and visited an organic farm in Mindanao. Robin flew to Spain and found out many important things about the organic lifestyle.

“Nag-aral ako tungkol sa isda. Hindi nya ko masakyan. Ilang buwan lang lumabas ang balita tungkol sa sinasabi ko sa kanya.”

He warned her about the dangers of inorganic fish and poultry because these feed on waste, which people who consume them, take in.

As for the higher cost of organic food, Mariel says that's just fine because “the more mo nalalaman kung anong process para ma-produce ito,” the more you’ll understand.

God's medicine

“The question isn't why organic food is not cheap, but why it shouldn’t be cheap,” she says.

Robin sums it up: “Organic medicine is the best, Galing ito sa Diyos. Binigay sa atin para maging gamut natin. Let food be our medicine, ika nga.”