A collector at heart and dreamer for life, Bernard “Berber” Restificar is one of those people who puts so much passion into everything he does that it can be hard to keep up with him. “Some people may think I am crazy,” he said with a smile, presumably amused that while some may find his ideas preposterous, he is convinced they are doable.
The beginning
As he entered his 50s, after spending years collecting art pieces, artifacts, stamps and whatever else caught his fancy, Berber decided he wanted to retire someplace where he would be in constant communion with nature.
After searching mountain barangays around Cebu, he found a spot in Barangay Bae, Sibonga, with an unobstructed view of the valley below, the sea and Bohol Island. Also situated along the vegetable highway, there was no question in his mind that this was what he was looking for.
But what sealed the deal was the presence of a chapel dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer in its vicinity. This was back in the second half of 2021. While attending a Mass before signing the final documentation, Berber recalled the priest’s sermon encouraging the flock to bring back their families to the oikos of God (household of the Lord). That was the moment Oikos Orchard and Farm found its name.
The challenge
Then, Typhoon Odette came crashing down on Cebu in mid-December of that year, flattening all the fruit trees that came with the lot. Berber quickly decided to help the community by spearheading fundraising activities with a Cebu artist group to ease the burden of rebuilding homes amid the devastation.
While trying to decide what to do next with his property, six farmers approached him and asked for work. He found this a worthy challenge and sat down with them to plan a producing farm with what they had and what would yield produce easily, applying principles of management he had honed in his younger days as a banker. They focused on bananas (what he calls “pag-asa ng bayan”) and, with the help of an agriculturist, began hiring more people from the neighborhood.
Berber shared that the average age of the Filipino farmer is around 57 and that in three years, they will be senior citizens. He believes that in this window of time, farmers have to prove to the younger generation that farming can be lucrative because the Philippines is blessed with fertile land and pleasant weather. If people who live in barren landscapes can export vegetables and fruits, there is no reason why there should be hungry Filipinos, given the productive natural spaces in the country. Once the bananas became lucrative, Berber moved on to other fruit-bearing trees, preferring grafted ones since they can be harvested earlier.
The mission
Daily life in Oikos revolves around a syntropic agroforestry farming system with a heavy density of native trees, among others, aiming to achieve the look and function of a natural forest. His team has been planting a winning variety of cacao called criollo, with dreams of being a bean-to-bar setup, eventually producing their own coffee and chocolates.
The farm also participates in many advocacies, including Slow Food Sugbo (as opposed to fast food), where they advocate sourcing food from one’s backyard or local farming community. Oikos also practices seed saving and exchanges seeds with other farmers, eliminating the need for genetically modified seeds that are mostly for single use only.
This farm aims to provide an avenue for young people to experience firsthand where their food comes from. It wants to inspire people to return to regenerative organic farming that is sustainable; it even produces its own fertilizer and pesticides. As a result, its orchard is filled with butterflies and bees.
Oikos can boast of being the only espaliered orchard in the whole country. By using a two-dimensional gardening system, their planted fruit trees are trained to grow flat and low in height for ease in trimming and fruit picking. Branches are cut in the front and back, and expansion is “forced” sideways.
The dream
Berber is also proud of his arboretum — a living museum of more than 1,000 native tree species (mentioning that the rainbow eucalyptus was especially challenging to grow). He hopes that others will develop their properties by planting more native trees. He aspires for Oikos to become a bird-watching site, the result of the sustained growth of the thousands of trees planted over the years.
For now, Oikos is also home to 38 types of Asian grains and beans, as well as root crops, and has been awarded a private tree plantation registration program by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Registration is necessary, Berber said, so the trees are geo-tagged. He hopes that the government will soon be able to assist him in his quest to make farming a reliable source of livelihood for the many Filipinos who struggle to make ends meet. “I cannot do this alone,” he said, a statement that resonates deeply with those who hear it and underscores the need for collective action to support his cause.
Oikos also hosts an annual Kite Festival called “Tabanog sa Bae,” which earned the support of the Philippine Kite Association this year as they facilitated the competition. Witnessing this festivity firsthand, one could gaze happily at art in the sky, flying around in summer’s wind.
Eventually, Berber hopes that Oikos will house its own art museum and gallery and will become a tourist stop not only for nature lovers and tourists, but above all, as a place where families can bond while rediscovering the joys of nature. With this aim, the possibilities for Oikos are endless. The hope is that every visitor finds inspiration and hope, because for the nation to grow, it needs to return to its roots and, literally, plant for its life.