I've said it once, I'll say it again. The real flower city of the Philippines is Baguio. A city down south might have claim to the actual label, but nothing anywhere near to the truth. Other localities might have title to one or two petalled species, but for sheer variety, Baguio is it.

I've not been much of a local traveler in recent years, but from previous excursions to the southernmost islands and up to the northern tip of Luzon, I have yet to see a city and its surrounding areas boast of native and imported blooms in the diversity that this city does. Visit any home, no matter how humble, and you are sure to come upon a flowering plant somewhere, if not lovingly tended then simply clinging to life somehow and struggling to blossom in nature's cycle of reproduction. Walk up or down any of the city's streets and you can expect to be pleasantly greeted by a flowering plant at every so many meters. Even the unsightly neighborhood garbage dump is likely to be mitigated by flowering greens, likely the result of discarded trimmings from a home garden but subsequently thriving on the rich, damp soil it has taken root in. Talk about beauty springing up from the ugly.

Credit should be ascribed, primarily, to Baguio's climate and natural fertile ground. When it is cool and temperate, plants that blossom in similarly temperate climes the world over burst into color. During the drier, more tropical months, plants acclimatized to those conditions take over. It's like a silent division of labor-actually more aptly called a celebration-that ensures that God's grant of beauty from plants is assured us all year round.

In our modest backyard, for instance, there is no time of the year that a cultivated or "wild" green is not in bloom. Even the nooks and crannies of the couple of retaining walls we have contribute their share, from plants that have self-propagated to mossy growths that sprout their tiny flowers. It's enough to make each day another occasion to celebrate.

Time was when the proliferation of unplanned plant growth was a personal aggravation because of the need to weed out the extra growth. These days, my attitude is one of tolerance, if possible, or simply selective elimination, knowing that in the scheme of nature, each creation has its place. But, where flowers are wherever placed, I now tend towards accommodation in its greatest latitude.

Such, I believe, has become the general acceptance of people in Baguio. I've seen homeowners and commercial establishment operators act similarly, sometimes even carefully digging up the flower-gone-wild and transplanting them into their private holdings so that the plants can bloom more richly. I've done it too.

Think now, and also. Where in these islands can you find a tree that generally carpets the area that itself blooms each year in such wonderful profusion? I'm talking about our pine trees which annually shoot their candles in time to greet the time of the Christ mass-Christmas. Those are not flowers at all, but new buds of a branch but which produce the effect of an evergreen in bloom. No other city in the archipelago is so lucky

About the same time too, is when transplanted shrubs like my azaleas, gumamelas, poinsettias and bougainvilleas burst into colorful, although silent song. Even the gift of "ordinary" orchids from a fellow newsman find it their time to unfold their lavender petals. (There is a poem somewhere in there that the more lyric of us like Gaby Keith, might do justice to.) Right now, I don't want to pluck the fragrant white flower that has proudly sprung from the rosal shrub I've intermittently watered over the past two weeks.

But we've waxed a little too personal here. Our initial thesis was, and is, that Baguio is the truthful flower city. The ongoing flower festival should affirm that. Proof will be incontestable in the floats and decked dancers this weekend. None more telling, none more true.

One thing, however, begs, in post and forward-looking script: Cannot the managers and promoters of Panagbenga (which label I continue to dispute) look into expanding the celebration to include active-and competitive-showcasing of privately tended flower gardens, no attention to their modest proportions or in recognition of their more lavish attention. That way, the City of Baguio will finally lay solid claim to the fact of its being the Flower City of the Philippines.

Baguio is the flower city of the country. No doubt. Look around you and know.