The vivacious colors and bass - steady down traditions of Philippine plant contain center degree as the University of the Philippines ( UP ) Manila launch the 2025 International Flores de Mayo Festival and Conference , centering on the theme " Floral Advances , " on May 5 , 2025 at the UP Manila Museum of a chronicle of Ideas ( MHI ) . Organized by The Faura Project , the College of Arts and Sciences ( CAS ) , and the MHI , this celebration merges inheritance , science , and creativeness in preserving and appreciating the rural area ’s rich flowered refinement .
Participants , arranger , and keynote speaker Prof. Pablito Magdalita of UP Los Baños gather for a grouping exposure at the UP Manila Museum of a History of Ideas during the opening of the 2025 International Flores de Mayo Festival and Conference .
" This is more than a festival — it is a know custom , a reflection of who we are as Filipinos , " said Prof. Jay Dalet , CAS Associate Dean for Planning and Development , who delivered the message of Dean Ma . Teresa De Guzman .

" As we move forward into modern time , it becomes even more significant to keep traditions like Flores de Mayo alive — not just for nostalgia , but to inform , inspire , and empower the unseasoned generations about who they are and where they hail from , " the dean said , underline the significance of commemorate one ’s source and lionize identity . She also reiterated the core note value of the college — Puso , Husay , at Dangal ( Heart , Excellence , and Honor)—as crucial to fete and preserving culture . " Let us take this day as an chance to reflect on our inheritance , to grow in excellency and purpose , and to move ahead with puso , husay , at dangal in all our ethnical endeavour . "
Professor Honey Libertine Achanzar - Labor , special assistant to the Chancellor for the MHI , reach the league with an overview of the jubilation of Flores de Mayo festival in UP Manila since its inception in 2018 .
" Despite the academic rush in May — deadlines , defense reaction , and examination — inheritance just has to be celebrate , " Achanzar - Labor allege . She recalled how the festival was first organized alongside The Faura Project , a mathematical group of UP Manila mental faculty , bookman , and alumni who shared a sense of urging for ethnical preservation . She said that the month of May hap to co-occur with Heritage Month , declared by sexual morality of Presidential Proclamation No . 439 , which want all government institution to put up to creating among Filipinos a deeper cognisance , regard , and love for the bequest of the nation ’s cultural history .

In his message , Chancellor Michael Tee accentuate the ethnical richness of Flores de Mayo is about the jubilation of graphics , history , and refinement . " It ’s also about offering our gratitude to the Virgin Mother , and it brings the barangay together . multitude gather in the streets – that is the culture we grew up with . A culture where we did n’t worry about rainfall ; we just prepared the effective arko , beautify with real bloom . "
Chancellor Tee give thanks MHI for spearhead the program and expressed perceptiveness to the Office of Student Affairs ( OSA ) for work up a good sense of residential area among students " for ensuring that our bookman go on to palpate a good sense of barangay — a sentiency of community — here at UP Manila , in the Barangay of the University of the Philippines Manila , as we celebrate our partake in history and culture . "
The issue ’s keynote address was give birth by Dr. Pablito Magdalita , UP Los Baños ( UPLB ) prof and university scientist and a globally distinguish expert in flora genteelness and biotechnology , who spoke on " Heroes and Achievers : Breeding and the Discourse on Selected Philippine Ornamental works , " showcasing how plant and home identity element intertwine .
" The Philippines is bless with so many cosmetic plants that we admire every twenty-four hours in our garden , " he enjoin . His research team has released more than 45 outstanding hibiscus hybrids , many of which are named after open up Philippine woman such as Dr. Perla Santos - Ocampo , Dr. Fe del Mundo , and Dr. Carmencita Padilla .
" The ornamental industry has evolved from backyard hobbies to a flourishing commercial initiative , " Magdalita noted , citing a 2020 report from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics which recorded over 752 hectare dedicated to decorative crop and an estimate ₱ 1 billion in retail value for the industry . " Flowers are needed to turn events into import , " he note .
Despite the success , Magdalita urged further research and origination . " While there is abundant supply of these material , their potential drop as ornamental plants for clime change adaptation , operable food , and other refreshing app has not yet been to the full research . That ’s why there is a need to rap into these potentials and give Modern avenues for the commercialization of unexplored , indigenous , and indigenous ornamental mintage found in the Philippines . "
As the 7th edition of the UP Manila International Flores de Mayo Festival continues in the coming day , player can look a series of talks , exhibits , and creative collaborations that highlight the role of flora in shaping ethnic , bionomic , and artistic narrative . activeness to calculate forrader to include plenary lecturing on floral heritage preservation , an artwork exhibit on eatable blooms , a floral graphic arts shop , a tree walk and painting session at Arroceros Park , a originative Dress Up Santacruzan , the UP Manila Heritage Trail , the Moving Blooms manner show , and a Flores de Mayo Bazaar .
Source : University of The Phillipines Manilla