08/11/2025
๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ๐๐ก ๐ผ
Every year, as the sun warms the wide open spaces of General Santos City, tiny yellow blooms begin to dance across fields and roadsides. Locals fondly call them Imelda Grass โ a name as curious as the story behind it.
๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐
๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ฒโ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ
Long ago, in the 1960s, when General Santos was still young and the land seemed parched and weary, the then First Lady Imelda Marcos was said to have paid a visit. Struck by the dry, sunbaked earth, she wished to bring a touch of beauty to the dusty plains.
So she introduced a hardy little plant known to scientists as Tribulus terrestris โ a survivor of sand and heat, simple yet charming in its yellow finery.
๐ผ ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก
The people admired how it thrived even where other plants would not. Its golden flowers became a quiet symbol of resilience โ and perhaps, a touch of vanity. The dry lands of Gensan suddenly shimmered with life, a living memory of the First Ladyโs fondness for grace amidst adversity.
โ ๏ธ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ
But beauty, as legends often warn, comes with a price. The plant bears tiny, spiky fruits called burs โ small, hard, and sharp enough to pierce the tire of a bicycle or the sole of a careless wanderer. Thus, cyclists and barefoot children learned to steer clear of the treacherous bloom that once promised only charm.
๐พ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง
Was the story true โ or merely an old tale whispered by the wind? No one really knows. Yet each time Imelda Grass blossoms anew, so too does the legend โ spreading softly across Gensanโs golden fields, year after year.
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