BF Ecofarm and Leisure Park prides itself as the only aesthetically developed farm in its province. (Roderick Bulay)
Spending the day in nature is undoubtedly one way to attain serenity and relaxation. Breathing in the fresh air and resting under the shade of the trees is a great way for a reset.
That’s exactly what the BF Ecofarm and Leisure Park in the Cagayan Valley has to offer. The nine-hectare land already came with a beautiful view, but it was developed even more to be an aesthetically pleasing and peaceful resting area for visitors.
Located in the hilly area of Baggao, this eco farm has a swimming pool, a large picnic area, a lake for boating, and is abundant with trees and crops—all managed by the Bulay family.
An artificial lake filled with tilapia for guests to ride boats on or catch fish. (Roderick Bulay)
The ‘BF’ in BF Ecofarm and Leisure Park stands for ‘Bulay Family’. The farm is a family managed project headed by Roderick Bulay and his brother Ronald. The name also gives tribute to their grandfather who was the first owner of the land.
Roderick is the founder of the BF Ecofarm and Leisure Park, as well as the owner of the nine-hectare land it resides in. Prior to his ownership, the land was owned by his grandfather, Aurelio Bulay, who acquired it through the Philippine Land Settlement Program in the late 70s.
“Unfortunately, in the early 80s, he, along with this family, temporarily left this land for safety reasons due to insurgency or armed conflicts in the region,” Roderick said in Taglish. “So, there was NPA there.”
In Roderick’s early childhood, the Bulay family had to migrate to La Union. It was there that Roderick stayed and studied until college.
In 2001, Roderick started his career as an OFW in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, his grandfather and his daughters had already established their residence in La Union. The distance between La Union and Cagayan Valley was too great, and they hesitated to go back to manage the land because of it.
Two years later, Roderick came back to the Philippines to process his documents for a new contract, and he was offered to buy the land from his grandfather. Roderick accepted and he became the new owner of the Bulay land.
Heritage of farming
Land wasn’t the only thing passed on to Roderick; his love for growing plants came from his family, too.
“Our family up from my grandfather were all engaged, basically, in farming as a source of living,” Roderick said. “At my young age, I was already exposed to farming. I used to help my grandparents clean up the farm and plant crops on bare foot.”
Roderick said that his experiences had helped mold the person he is now. “I love planting. To me, it is a way of life,” he said.
Even in his home in Saudi Arabia, Roderick kept his love for planting alive. His house is filled with greens that he personally tends to amid his busy life. “I have vegetables in a pot mixed with ornamental and flowering plants,” he said. “I have a green thumb, they say, because I grow plants well and most of my friends tell me I am good at gardening.”
Planting is a way of life for Roderick, and it also extends into his principles. “I believe in the saying, ‘if you plant, then you can harvest’,” said Roderick. “It does not only apply to my skills as a farmer but on a professional level, if we translate it into [a] financial aspect, that’s what we call Return on Investment (ROI).”
It’s clear how rooted Roderick is in agriculture, which is why there's no question as to why he chose to develop his land into a flourishing leisure farm.
Rest and relaxation among nature
Despite acquiring the land in Baggao in the early 2000s, Roderick did not immediately develop it.
“At first, I was clueless of what I am (sic) going to do with the farm because though it is being utilized for corn and rice production, it was never that productive,” he said. “The income was just enough to sustain the expenses for the next cropping.”
But in 2020, Roderick was inspired. More specifically, he was inspired right after he visited a farm resort in La Union. He found many aspects of the farm resort doable on his land, and gears started to turn in his head.
For Roderick, the topology of the sloping structure was perfect, and its location was strategic because there was a road that made it accessible. Additionally, the land was blessed with abundant water supply, so Roderick wasted no time to turn the farmland into something more.
“We started cleaning up the wild grasses and started planting fruit and ornamental trees around the farm, in addition to the existing coconut trees,” he said.
The farm has coconut trees planted on the farm prior to its park development. (Roderick Bulay)
There were plenty of coconut trees already planted and growing on the Bulay farm, but there was still a lot of space to go around. They decided to utilize the space in between the coconut trees by intercropping with different fruit trees to prevent soil erosion. They planted a variety of fruit trees such as dragon fruit, mulberry, avocado, mango, and calamansi. They’ve also made sure to select fruit trees and ornamental plants that are typhoon resistant.
The Bulay family transplanted grasses in the coconut field’s area and designated it as the ecofarm’s picnic grounds. (Roderick Bulay)
That area was transplanted with carabao grass and frog grass and is the designated area for guests to have picnics under the cool shade of the surrounding trees.
The farm’s natural aspects aren’t the only ones Roderick was set to improve. They built a swimming pool for visitors to take a dip in on a hot day, and close by are bahay kubos where they can settle their belongings.
Bahay kubos are built on the farm for guests to rest and settle their belongings in. (Roderick Bulay)
The abundant water supply has also given Roderick the opportunity to have an artificial lake built for boating activities. They also filled the lake with tilapia so that guests could experience being fishermen, as well as creating a new source of profit for them.
Both the swimming pool and lake have clean, non-chlorinated water as they also use the water for watering their crops. These facilities also use renewable energy as it is equipped with solar-powered water pumps.
Although small in size, the swimming pool is still thoroughly enjoyed by visitors, especially children. (Roderick Bulay)
Despite being the owner and founder, Roderick can’t manage the farm himself everyday. He continued his career as an OFW in Saudi Arabia, and has his own family living there with him. So his brother Ronald is the farm manager of BF Ecofarm and Leisure Park, and tends to the site everyday.
Every day, they make sure that the plants are healthy and taken care of. The weeds are taken out and the grass is trimmed. They use both synthetic and organic fertilizers for their plants. Roderick is able to be updated and constantly informed on the state of their farm through the report sent by his brother daily.
“It’s a joint effort,” Roderick said.
A long way to go
The Bulay family’s farm is still in its early stages of development, but they’ve already gone through and are going through many challenges.
“We usually miss clients or guests due to incomplete facilities, amenities and capacity of our swimming pool,” Roderick said. He also added that the farm currently doesn’t have overnight facilities, which many guests inquire about. “But development is always continuous.” They have plans to build a facility for overnight stays, which are sure to attract more people to their leisure farm.
Guests would also come to take photoshoots among the flowers and plants on the farm. (Roderick Bulay)
But incomplete facilities aren’t their only problem. As mentioned earlier, the Bulay family had to leave Baggao for their safety due to armed conflict between the military and the New People’s Army (NPA). Until now, that risk still exists. “Lately, there was an encounter and for two or [more] weeks, we were not allowed to accept guests for safety,” Roderick said. He mentioned that the encounter was far from their farm, however, the municipality ordered the halt of receiving guests for security. It was a challenge of not having guests, but still needing to keep the maintenance of the farm going.
Roderick said that development of the farm is very budget exhausting. “Almost 30% of my salary is allocated to it,” he said. In line with that, they found it hard to profit off the fish that the farm produces in their artificial lake. “[Our] fish prices are low due to competitors’ low prices and competitive quality.”
Despite all that, they are still eager to develop the farm. They are hoping to be qualified for a loan within the year so they can gain the funding needed to build what they need to build, and to beautify the farm even more.
At its initial stages, guests at the BF Ecofarm and Leisure park are few and there are still a lot of challenges to overcome, but the Bulay family are passionate and determined to achieve their dream farm. “We believe in the principle that ‘every beautiful thing attracts attention’, [and] we are developing something beautiful and new,” he said. He is proud to mention that the Bulay’s farm is probably the only aesthetically developed eco farm in his province.
Baggao, Cagayan Valley is famous for its Bluewater Cave and Waterfalls Adventure Zone, a tourist site that has been featured many times for its natural beauty. Drew Arellano’s famous TV show ‘Byahe ni Drew’ even made a segment of it.
Roderick is determined to continuously develop the farm because he wants to jump off the Bluewater Cave’s fame and bring attention to other beautiful sites that Baggao has to offer and diffuse its reputation as a site for armed conflict.
“With the wide area that our farm has, it has a lot of room for improvement,” he said. “And we are hopeful of the time that our barrio will no longer be defined as once an insurgent-infiltrated area but can be defined only by the natural and man-made beauty that it has. “
BF Ecofarm and Leisure Park prides itself as the only aesthetically developed farm in its province. (Roderick Bulay)
Being born a farmer and a talented gardener, Roderick sincerely sees farming as a fulfilling way of life.
“As an OFW, I’m motivated that eventually all of us will go home so I hope what I’m doing can inspire others, other OFWs to venture into farming,” said Roderick. “So invest, so that you can have a fallback, and also, you have something to enjoy for the rest of your life.”
Photos courtesy of Roderick Bulay