Marañon: Public servant is also a flower

BACOLOD CITY—For dedicating most of her life to public service, Dr. Marilyn Dalisay Marañon was honored by the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) by naming a flower after her.

“The Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Marilyn D. Marañon is a humble tribute of UP Los Baños to her invaluable contributions to the people of Negros Occidental,” chancellor Luis Rey Velasco said in a program held recently at the Capitol Social Hall here.

The citation was part of the university’s “Women in Public Service Series.”

Marañon, 69, whose husband is Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., plans to propagate the flower as an income-generating project for women.

A 1966 medical graduate of the University of the East’s Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, she had been providing free medical consultations at her clinic in Sagay City.

Sometimes, she would end up providing the medicines she prescribed and transportation to her patients.

Marañon had joined numerous medical missions that helped thousands of patients, and had referred patients to specialists. She also helped children with cleft lip and cleft palate seek surgery through Operation Smile, as well as those needing eyeglasses and cataract operations.

She no longer holds clinic today, but farm workers and residents still seek her help.

Velasco said the UPLB’s hibiscus hybrids were being named after Filipinos who have made their mark in history and society. Among them are the heroines in the 1898 Philippine Revolution, highly accomplished women scientists, acclaimed cinematic artists and outstanding UP alumnae.

The Marañon flower has lemon yellow petals with a white eye zone surrounded by a pinkish halo. It blooms to a size of 3.5 inches continuously throughout the year, with May to December as peak period.

The leaves are simple, egg-shaped, glossy and arranged alternately. The upper leaf surface is green, while the lower surface is light green.

The fast-growing shrub is a product of the UPLB Crop Science Cluster-Institute of Plant Breeding. Headed by Dr. Pablito Magdalita, the institute has steered the breeding program to produce new and stunning hybrids with unique flower colors and forms, Velasco said.