A bonsai is an old tree but miniature in size and ideal in beauty, created through judicious trimming and shaping that takes many years. It is an ancient Japanese art form originated by the Zen Buddhists to symbolize fortitude amidst adversity. In a widely biodiverse country like the Philippines, it is no surprise that many Filipinos have gone into this difficult but rewarding art form.
For Bulakeño Santiago “Sonny” Azores, bonsai culture started as a hobby. “No, I did not go into it because I had personal problems,” he laughs. “I started after I have sent my kids through college.”
Azores narrates, “I sold puto for 18 years to send my kids to school. After they graduated I stopped selling puto. I used to have a poultry business of 45-day-old chickens. But it did not do well. I tried growing ornamental plants but they did not sell well.”
He also worked in Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 1986. When Azores heard of a bonsai show at the Bulacan provincial capitol, he went and asked the organizers if he could join. They agreed but when he brought not-so-good bonsai they laughed at him. Still they let him in after he paid P500 because he wanted to join.
“After that humbling experience, I worked hard, I researched in all books and magazines and attended seminars. I joined clubs and hunted for materials in different places because I was challenged when they laughed at me,” Azores said. “Now, I surpassed them and became the president of the Bulacan Bonsai Society.”
He told the Manila Standard that “in bonsai, if you have materials [cuttings] you can sell them. Pre-bonsai [unfinished trees] sell even better. But finished or complete bonsai fetch high prices. I’ve been culturing bonsai for 15 years. When I finish one that is sellable, I offer it to buyers and it gets sold at once. Bonsai is lucrative if you are industrious and if your bonsai are unique. Sometimes they can sell for as high as P100,000.”
Azores said he attends to his bonsai first thing in the morning. “I make sure they are all okay. I rise early and if something needs to be done to my bonsai I do it at once.”
He adds, “my second child was into bonsai but she stopped when she went abroad. My wife helps me now.”
A bonsai master must keep on experimenting because it is the tree that will tell you what needs to be done. But since you are the master, you must make the tree do what you wish, he said.
Bonsai is the best for good health, Azores says. “Your stress vanishes, you stop your vices and your mind is at peace. You will not think of bad things. It made me stop drinking.”
It’s also wonderful when the customers like them, he says. “Sometimes, the people who come to look smile and say ‘Well done!’ I also smile and my heart and mind are relieved. I feel happy. When they leave, I talk to my bonsai and say, ‘they liked your leaves, your trunk is small but your branches are big.’ Like that. It makes me laugh.”
Azores said they put on bonsai shows during the terms of Gov. Josefina dela Cruz and Gov. Joselito Mendoza. “In 2007 we held a show at SM Marilao which was successful. We lay low during the term of Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado because Provincial Administrator Gladys Sta. Maria resigned and we were no longer given funds. We will try to seek assistance of the new governor.”