the history of the word "greenbelt"

No. It was not the business acumen of the Ayalas that brought the word to world. They were also inspired by foreign minds. The British to be exact.

In real estate, the priciest place to do business in is either Tokyo or London. And what has these two places have in common? Industrial strength. True for Japanese and a memory for the British = ) But they do have a common denominator and this is absolute fact - a well documented and long lineage of kings, queens and emperors.

It is because of this culture and country characteristic that made real estate prices near the monarchs go to the roof. Greenbelt was first coined in London. The home of the most media-celebrated monarchs.

You see, in economics, when policy limits an access to a resource or puts a high barrier like "You have to be royalty to use the land near where the monarchs lives", the prices of those land shoots up. Exponentially. Why? Apparently, the whole world still puts a premium and value on the fact and on the prestige of living near the kings and queens even if their days all gone. Or it is simply good business to maintain the prices received at the height of the monarchy even up to now = )

This fact is explained in classic economic literature.

So, what has that got to do with the Philippines?

Well, I bumped into a news about a South Korean provincial government, South Jeolla Province, that leased 95,000 hectares of land on Occidental Mindoro for 25 years that started last April 2009. Why did they do this? Apparently, the South Koreans do not have enough land in their country to viably produce 10,000 tonnes of corn-feeds so they went to our ever hospitable shores and set up shop here. Please, do not get me wrong. I am all for helping our neighbors.

My point is that something has changed in our environment, both figuratively and literally.

You see, our lands, no, our soil is very rich. Yet, we, Filipinos, do not see it. Why do I say that? Well, we sell or leased our farmlands for cheap. The whole country has encouraged the young Filipinos to take on college programs like BS Agriculture by offering it for free. But do we see a rise of enrollment on these programs? No. Why? Because we do not see that our "oil" and "gold" is in our soil. Period.

I just hope, and pray, that our provincial agricultural experts hold their line when it comes to sustainable farming and enforce or create laws appropriate to the care of our nutrient-rich lands.
Our lands are truly fit for kings and queens. For the Maharlikas. Ever wonder what were the reasons why our Malay ancestors made home here when they first arrived in balangays long ago? Our Malay ancestors are sophisticated navigators. To navigate seas, one has to understand science. And when they saw what they saw, they knew our land is indeed the Pearl of the Orient.

My point, if the Japanese and English can bring their land prices up taking the "monarchy route", what needs to be done to properly price our lands, our soil when it is of strategic importance for food stability of our, and currently, more prosperous neighbor nation?

You see, here's the thing - land area is a finite resource. You do not grow them in trees = )

"... why think like mere men?"