Rites set for plant named after Star founder

A new hybrid gumamela plant bred by researchers here and named after the late Philippine Star founding chairman Betty Go-Belmonte will be presented to the public on March 31.

The “Presentation of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Betty Go-Belmonte” will be held at 9 a.m. at the Quezon City Hall’s Bulwagang Amoranto in celebration of Women’s Month in Quezon City.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is the scientific name of gumamela.

To present the plant to the Belmonte family headed by Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., husband of the late Philippine STAR matriarch, are University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) chancellor Dr. Luis Rey Velasco, UPLB College of Agriculture dean Dr. Candida Adalla, and UPLB-CA Institute of Plant Breeding director Dr. Jose Hernandez.

Activities during the occasion include an audiovisual presentation of “The Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Betty Go-Belmonte” by the plant’s breeders, Dr. Pablito Magdalita and Reynold Pimentel; a report on the UPLB-Quezon City Hibiscus project by Dr. Adalla; and a report on the “Status of Women in Quezon City” by Mayor Belmonte.

Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista and lawyer Vicky Loanzon, head of Quezon City’s Cultural and Tourism Affairs will deliver the closing remarks.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Betty Go-Belmonte has lemon yellow petals with red eye zone and white halo and bloom size of five inches.

It is a prolific bloomer, busy, and has semi-spreading growth habit and medium height.

It is one of the latest gumamela plants bred by UPLB’s Hibiscus Breeding Program under the Oblation Series.

The hybrids developed under the series are named in honor of outstanding UP graduates who are “the first women to have assumed the highest position in their academic, scientific, and professional institutions and organizations.”

Four had been named in honor of Dr. Emerlinda Ramos-Roman, current UP System president; Dr. Perla Santos-Ocampo (retired), former UP Manila chancellor and president of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST); UP regent Nelia T. Gonzales, UP alumni association president; and Dr. Estrella F. Alabastro, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) secretary.

The Quezon City government, through the initiative of the Quezon City Gender and Development Resource and Coordinating Officer under Dr. Ruby Palma, had earlier cited Dr. Magdalita and Pimentel for developing the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Tandang Sora.

The two plant breeders were presented a plaque of appreciation for creating the Hibiscus Hybrids-Centennial Series where Hibiscus Tandang Sora belongs.

Tandang Sora (Melchora Aquino) was one of the heroines of the 1896 Philippine Revolution whose 196th birth anniversary will be observed this month. – Rudy A. Fernandez