On the high wall, back of my current apartment (Cebu City), grows a little Bo fig -- Ficus religiosa -- the sacred fig -- said to be the tree under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment.
[caption id="attachment_215" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The little Bo fig at the back of my apartment"]
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I don't know if anyone else has reported the connection, but i think the Bo balete is the tree that best represents Cebu. I noticed it was everywhere when i first came to Cebu city-- mostly on walls and unkempt areas -- warehouses, old residences, thriving on the city's limey soil. In Visayan, Cebu is Sugbo. While others may argue the term came from something that has to do with "current" -- as in "sinulog", i find it more convenient to "see bo" in sug-bo.
Others, no doubt have noticed this connection -- and have, in their own way, found ways to express it. I once saw a bo tree being grown as a dai bonsai -- i forgot where -- one of those old cebu Spanish style residences. And if you go to the KFC branch at Ayala Center, you'll notice skeletonized bo leaves laminated on the hanging lamp shades. Maybe the Cebuanos take it for granted -- maybe mostly outsiders notice the connection (i'm from Leyte -- and KFC is from Kentucky hehe [and "The Italian Bob" episode of The Simpsons say in Italy, 'Kentucky' means ho -- no offense hehe]).
Tough, with a will to grow even in neglected places -- a survivor -- that's what the Bo fig is. That's what our people should be -- in these tough times...
[caption id="attachment_215" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The little Bo fig at the back of my apartment"]
[/caption]I don't know if anyone else has reported the connection, but i think the Bo balete is the tree that best represents Cebu. I noticed it was everywhere when i first came to Cebu city-- mostly on walls and unkempt areas -- warehouses, old residences, thriving on the city's limey soil. In Visayan, Cebu is Sugbo. While others may argue the term came from something that has to do with "current" -- as in "sinulog", i find it more convenient to "see bo" in sug-bo.
Others, no doubt have noticed this connection -- and have, in their own way, found ways to express it. I once saw a bo tree being grown as a dai bonsai -- i forgot where -- one of those old cebu Spanish style residences. And if you go to the KFC branch at Ayala Center, you'll notice skeletonized bo leaves laminated on the hanging lamp shades. Maybe the Cebuanos take it for granted -- maybe mostly outsiders notice the connection (i'm from Leyte -- and KFC is from Kentucky hehe [and "The Italian Bob" episode of The Simpsons say in Italy, 'Kentucky' means ho -- no offense hehe]).
Tough, with a will to grow even in neglected places -- a survivor -- that's what the Bo fig is. That's what our people should be -- in these tough times...
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