BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Motorists and passersby in the city of Tanjay in Negros Oriental province who are being treated to a visual and fruity surprise by a banana-growing community there that won in a contest for best Christmas tree.
“We have been giving away bananas that have ripened on the Christmas tree,” Roberto “Bert” Saga told DNX about the 12-foot structure they have placed along the national highway since 12 December 2022.
Saga, a former community development worker is village chief of Barangay (village) 4 Poblacion, a community of around 3,000 and where a group of banana growers are supported by the Altertade Philippines Foundation for Food Sovereignty Inc in the growing and export of organically-grown balangon.
Saga said the 12-foot Christmas tree is made of a steel frame with at least 10,000 banana fingers grouped into hundreds of hands.
The ones they used are unripe rejects from the recent harvest and are being replaced as soon as these ripen.
He said the ripened ones were given for free to city folk and motorists.
The tree regenerates in a way as ripened bananas are constantly being replaced by unripe ones, Saga said.
He also said the tree will stay until Christmas Day, 25 December, before it is taken down.
