VISION

To create an awareness of the importance of preserving the environment by promoting interest in plants and their benefits.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Makati Garden Club is to help create through high quality and exceptional programs a community in which people maintain and preserve our environment through the love of plants and gardens.

MISSION

To be the lead disseminator in the greening of Makati by 2030.

STRATEGY

1. To educate members and other interested parties on the knowledge of plants.
2. To support deserving students in horticulture and farming.
3. To support worthwhile environmental projects.
4. Raise funds through various fund raising activities as in Festival of Trees.
5. Maintain our flower garden and nursery and increase production and propagation of plants
6. to be the center of plant distribution in the area
7. Improve our gardens so it can be an oasis in a concrete jungle for the public to enjoy.
8. Institute plant and gardening classes to cater to the households in the community

When Maria Luisa Perez-Rubio was elected president in 1970, the group decided to change its name to Makati Garden Club, to attract more members. MGC’s first headquarters was the Tea House in Maria Luisa Perez-Rubio’s home in Forbes Park. Membership rapidly grew. Monthly meetings were held every last Thursday of the month. These meetings kept everyone abreast with latest trends in gardening, flower arranging, research and other services to the community.

In 1974, Don Enrique Zobel, then head of Ayala Corporation, asked MGC for help to develop a 3,705 square meter area in Ayala Avenue’s main corner. The members more than welcomed this invitation and what followed was a frenzy of fund-raising activities, penny pinching, garden sales, Christmas bazaars and solicitations from companies. Ayala Corporation generously donated P50,000 (at P7:$1 plus inflation is about P1.8M today) to build the MGC headquarters. Thus after years of no permanent place, MGC finally moved to its new home. It was unique because it had its own headquarters, landscaped gardens, nurseries, a library, flower and garden center, and a large room with which to hold numerous gardening, art, cooking and craft classes, plus their monthly meetings. Among the prominent lecturers were Dr. Henry Culpepper (a noted gardening expert), Zac Sarian (noted columnist in gardening), Serapion Metilla (foremost expert in bonsai). It participated in many exhibits and won many citations and awards. By 1990 more than 200 professionals had lectured or conducted workshops in the Club in a myriad of subjects.

MGC sustains itself through annual membership dues, running training courses, bazaars, plants and flower sales, a flower and gift shop, donations and other fund-raising activities. To date, the Ayalas, as well as the City Government of Makati continue their support of the Club, and all the members are grateful for this gesture.

In 1995, Festival of Trees was launched. It was jointly organized by MGC and PBSP (Philippine Business for Social Progress – the top NGO in the Philippines headed by Manuel Pangilinan), and has become an annual fund-raising event that aims to alleviate poverty by developing environmental programs for the lowly Filipino farmer in remote regions of the Philippines. As the years progressed, the thrust of fund-raising benefited calamity victims. The gala event, held in November, officially kicked off the Christmas Season in Manila. It began as an auction of Christmas trees decorated by top florists and designers in Manila, to include Ging delos Reyes of Flower Farm, Rustan Flower Shop, Toni Parsons,

Lanelle Abueva, Tensie Bello, Sylvia Yuzon, Rachy Cuna, Monette Guevarra, Vicky Zubiri, Patis Tesoro, Carmen Yulo, Impy Pilapil, Bobby Mañosa, Yuyung La’O and Serapion Metilla, to name but a few. The live auction of these artistically created trees was a hit. As the years passed, the auction evolved to include art pieces donated by prominent Filipino artists and painters – Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Manuel Baldemor, Romulo Galicano, Carlos Rocha, Ben Cabrera, Elmer Borlongan, Joven Ignacio, Ram Mallari, Napoleon Abueva, Edgar Doctor.

Over the years, Festival of Trees has rehabilitated the endangered shores across the country – Ragay Gulf in Quezon, Maqueda Bay in Samar, Cuyo Island in Palawan, Olango Island in Cebu, and Samal Island in Davao. It established six marine preserves, many barangay nurseries, reforested 100 hectares of mangrove areas, reforested and maintained 400 hectares of upland areas, and converted 430 hectares of land into agro-forestry farms.

MGC has supported deserving students at UP Los Baños and the Family Farms in Horticulture and Agri-business. We have similarly established a fund to support Makati students seeking to pursue studies in environmental science, as well as horticulture. MGC has landscaped the pocket garden in the Children’s ward at PGH. It has lent it’s landscaping and gardening expertise in various community gardens and parks in the Metro-Manila area, has supported Arroceros Forest Park in Manila and helped reforest 2,000 hectares of denuded land at Marikina Watershed, near the Marikina dam. It has also supported impoverished schools in Basilan and Maguindanao by donating desks, chairs, computers, and schoolbooks (with the help of US AID).

MGC grounds are open to the public. We have school children from various public schools visit our grounds. We give them demonstrations on planting, and they much enjoy viewing our numerous herb and vegetable gardens, running through the gardens and touching the various plants.

In keeping with our goal of being the “lead disseminator in the greening of Makati by 2030” MGC has also teamed up with Ayala Land and Macea to develop three greening projects around the Makati area. Makati City Hall has been most helpful and gracious in supporting Makati Garden Club, because they believe MGC is an establishment – that has benefited the community as cultural pioneers and leaders in educational and scientific gardening, horticulture and environmental preservation for over 50 years.

Mindy Perez-Rubio – Chairman

Mindy graduated from St. Scholastica’s College Manila with a degree in Music and Choral Conducting.  She became a member of Makati Garden Club in 1979, joining her mother-in-law as a close supporter of the club.  In 1994, she became MGC’s president for 2 terms (4 years).  At that time, she introduced Festival of Trees, a joint fund-raising event with Philippine Business for Social Projects (PBSP) of which Maria Luisa was a Founding member.  Through Festival of Trees, Mindy introduced the Live and Silent Auction to the Philippines.  Numerous trees beautifully decorated for Christmas by top florists and designers, as well as paintings by Anita Magsaysay-Ho and other noted artists  were auctioned.  This event, held every November, ran for 19 years, and raised tens of millions of pesos to benefit PBSP.  During her extended time in California, Mindy served 3 times as president of the Holbrook-Palmer Park Foundation in Atherton, was president of Wall Street Women (an investment group), Commissioner of the Atherton Arts Council, President of Peninsula Volunteers, and is currently a member of the San Francisco Symphony League.  She is President and CEO of Repertory Philippines, Inc., and Chairman of Grounds at the Manila Polo Club as well as at Ponderosa Leisure Farms in Silang.  Mindy is married to Carlos Perez-Rubio and together they have five children and eleven grand-children.

Regina Roces Paterno – President

Regina or Ninit, as she is fondly called, has been a member of the Makati Garden Club for the last 25 years. She had the privilege of working closely with Maria Luisa Perez-Rubio, Ching Caluag, Baby Paterno, and Ging Delos Reyes in organizing the clubs various activities and priorities. At present she is chairman of the board of Winner Foundation, the developer and maintainer of Arroceros Forest Park from 1990 to present. She is the founding member and a former officer of the Oriental Ceramic Society, (a study group of excavated Chinese tradeware found in the Philippines and other Asian countries.) She has served in the Catholic Women’s Club as board secretary for many years and is now a lifetime member. In the business world, she co-owns and operates the family’s Orchid Garden Suites, a boutique hotel, located in Malate, Manila. She owned seven stores in various shopping malls before her retirement – Regina, Traditions Country Store, Romance, Celebrations etc., plus a travel agency and a bakery!

Ruth Espenilla-Duque – Corporate Secretary

Ruth is a Senior Partner of Espenilla, Duque, Manansala, Sicat (EDMS) Law Office in Makati City. She is married to Atty. Gonzalo T. Duque, who is a Trustee of Lyceum Northwesten University, as well as Trustee of the Dr. Francisco T. Duque the II, Medical Foundation in Dagupan City. Ruth has been a member of Makati Garden Club since the ‘90s, and was a former Trustee and Legal advisor to Maria Luisa Perez-Rubio for MGC. She belongs to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), is a Member/Legal Consultant of La Pieta Group International Corp., Our Lady of Blessed Virgin Mary Garden of Love, Peace and Joy in Santa Cruz, Batangas City; Member / Legal Consultant of the Philippine American Medical Association of Georgia (PAMAG) USA; and a Member/ Legal Consultant of The Nanotechnology Research Foundation of the Philippines (Cancer Research) in Mandaluyong City and Atlanta Georgia.

Sandra J. Fernández – Treasurer

Sandra joined The Makati Garden Club in 2009. As a food and wine enthusiast, she was responsible in opening the Maria Luisa’s Garden Room Cafe in 2013 with Chef Robert Lilja. She managed the Café as a member of MGC for 6 years. Sandra is also an education advocate. She has been supporting The Sunshine Club for the last 12 years with their daily feeding programs for the underprivileged grade school students and providing assistance for the continuing education of the Club’s deserving Alumni. She is a member of La Cámara (Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines), and is a mother of two girls, both who now study in Spain.

Conchita Caluag – Membership

Ching has been a long running member of Makati Garden Club, joining it since 1982. She has witnessed its growth and impact in Makati and has served as its President for a good many years. A graduate of St. Scholastica’s College, her religious principles guided her to the Mother Butler Missions, being a staunch supporter since 1960. Ching is also an accomplished painter in water-color. She is a member of Friends of Manansala since 2005, with several of her artwork auctioned at Festival of Trees. From 2004-2007 she served as Kagawad for Barangay Bel-Air. And from 2007-2017, she remained as a Kagawad of Bel-Air chairing the Committee on Ecology. She adores plants, and has landscaped many public areas, including the park in Bel Air.

Martina Cunanan-Plumley – Events

Marty became a member of Makati Garden Club in 2019 at the invitation of Chef Robert Lilja. She lived in 5 countries in the last 24 years. While abroad, she was a successful real estate broker in Dubai, as well as Corporate Secretary of Philippine Business Council of Dubai and Northern Emirates, and a proponent in the formation De La Salle University Alumni Association in Hong Kong. and Dubai. Marty was Chairman of the Philippine Association of HK . In 2018, Marty and her husband moved back to the Philippines Today, she is Corporate Secretary of Brentville International Village, where they reside. She is an advocate in preventive wellness and of course happily married with 2 kids and 4 grandkids.

Moleen del Rosario – Assistant Treasurer

Moleen officially joined the Makati Garden Club in 2018 even if she had been dining at the Maria Luisa’s Garden Room Café since it opened in 2013, with MGC members. She is passionate about plants, flowers and gardens ever since she was a little girl. Moleen is a member of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and the Red Audubon Society of Las Vegas. She loves travel, and is also a food and wine enthusiast. As an advocate for children and education she has supported Home Of Love Orphanage for the last 15 years and scholarship grant projects of ERDA Tech Foundation Inc. She has supported various projects of Soroptimist International Inc. and Zonta International Inc. A University of Santo Tomas, College Of Pharmacy, BS Medical Technology, and St. Luke’s College Of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine alumnus, she is the Founder of Dermastrasse. Moleen is also a member of the Fashion Institute of the Philippines and an alumnus of the Fashion Institute of Singapore focusing on Fashion and Visual Merchandising. She is a member of the Singapore Retailers Association as well as the Founder of Fisher Department Store. She is the mother of a teenage boy.

Gloria Alcuaz – Gardens

Gloria has been a long-time member of Makati Garden Club. She is an avid advocate of plants and gardening, and has participated actively in many Makati Garden Club events over the last 30 years, to include Festival of Trees, and the numerous Christmas Bazaars. Another passion of Gloria’s is cooking, which seems to be a second passion in just about all MGC members! After a brief hiatus from involvement at the Club, Gloria is now back and most enthusiastic to lend her expertise in plant and gardens, cooking and organization and leadership skills.