The Great Marinduque Gasan-Butterfly Farm

Head to Gasan to see the “Butterfly Capital of the Philippines.” 

The town contributes 85% of the country’s butterfly and pupa exports. Aside from preserved butterfly souvenirs, shirts and live butterflies for sale, WHS Butterfly Farm also offers a farm tour where you can learn more about butterflies and its habitat. If you want to experience releasing butterflies in the wild, you can fulfill that fantasy at the Butterfly farm while contributing to their preservation at the same time.


These days, wishing upon a butterfly is no longer limited to wedding ceremonies. Its promises of love, life, and prosperity have brought people to believe in their power to grant a wish.  The act of wishing upon a butterfly traces its roots back to a native American legend that says, “If you have a secret wish, capture a butterfly and whisper your wish to it. Since butterflies cannot speak, your secret is ever safe in their keeping. Release the butterfly, and it will carry your wish to the Great Spirit, who alone knows the thoughts of butterflies. By setting the butterfly free, you are helping to restore the balance of nature, and your wish will surely be granted.”

Butterfly farming is one of the major industries in Marinduque. The Latin origin of the word “butterfly” is translated as “psyche” or “mind.” A plausible reason why butterflies flourish in this area is that the butterflies (mind) are in harmony with the heart of the Philippine archipelago.


When we visited the Marinduque Lepidoptera Farm in Gasan, Marinduque, we were given small triangular envelopes.  Emer Sevilla, the OIC of the butterfly farm, told us to pick one butterfly, place it inside the envelope, and say a little wish before we release it.  A few minutes before we boarded our plane back to Manila, I gingerly took the butterfly from the small envelope and whispered that one wish over and over (as if the chant has powers over the nature) before I let go of the tiny creature. 


Unknown to many, Gasan, Marinduque is responsible for 85% of the country’s butterfly and pupa export. Most of the butterfly breeders (approximately three-fourths of the butterfly breeders nationwide) are based in Marinduque. Furthermore, the industry is becoming one of the biggest businesses worldwide with an estimated Php100 million worth of exports.


The Marinduque Lepidoptera Farm started out as a hobby of owner Emer Sevilla and her late husband Dr. Carmelito Pe Sevilla. Born nature-lovers, the couple bought a small vacant lot near their house upon retirement.  They turned the space into a garden where grew and sold flowering plants, particularly orchids, and other ornamental plants.


By the year 1991, their daughter Sheila, whose academic research involved the butterfly farm industry, introduced to her parents her newfound knowledge about butterflies.  From their humble beginnings in 1991, they were able to replace their small garden with a bigger butterfly farm that turned out to be one of the biggest exporters of butterflies locally and internationally.


Marinduque Map (GASAN):

Gasan is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Marinduque, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 33,772 people. The municipality is bounded by the provincial capital, Boac, to the north and east, by Buenavista to the southeast and by the Tablas Strait to the south and west. It is the second-oldest municipality in Marinduque, after Boac. Residents of Gasan are called Gaseños.


The Tres Reyes Islands off the coast of Marinduque are under the jurisdiction of Gasan, specifically under the jurisdiction of the municipality's Barangay Pinggan.