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Planting Accountability, Growing Resilience
W
hen the rains come, they do not ask who is rich or poor. They do not pause for politics or wait for paperwork. They fall on all of us, flooding homes, swallowing roads, reminding us that nature is urgent and impartial. And so, we too must be urgent.
Across the Philippines, people agree on one thing: We cannot afford for the systems meant to protect us to fall short.
Too often, money gets lost, projects stall, and families are left exposed. The stakes are too high now. Every peso, every effort, must reach the people it was intended to serve.
This is not about politics. It is about people. It is about ensuring that resources flow fairly, directly, and transparently so that every community can weather what comes next.
In the projects I devote my time to, the principle is simple: Begin with the farmer. Farmers make up a vast part of our nation. They grow the food that sustains us, yet too often they share the smallest portion of the benefit.
I
believe the opposite should be true. Farmers must be recognized as the first line of care for our land and our future. When they are compensated fairly and supported consistently, they can do the long, patient work that transformation requires. Trees need time to mature. Soil needs years to heal. Waterways need seasons to clear. Farmers are rooted in this care—they are the ones who carry it forward year after year.
When we lift farmers, we lift everyone. Their progress is the nation’s progress. Their resilience is our resilience.
Around the world, from development banks to government agencies, from businesses to local communities, there is a shared desire to see farmers succeed. The challenge has always been in execution: making sure that support truly arrives, that promises turn into progress, that no one is left behind.
Today, we have tools that make this possible in ways we never could before. With modern technology—digital recordkeeping, remote monitoring, and real-time reporting. We can finally build the kind of accountability that ensures trust on all sides.
This isn’t about farmers becoming accountants or navigating complex systems. It’s about designing systems that free them to focus on what they do best: caring for the soil, cultivating crops, sustaining their families and their communities. Technology can help ensure that the value of their work flows back to them—fairly, directly, transparently.
I
t’s like the puzzle of hunger in a world with enough food: the problem is not production but distribution. The systems that move value from effort to reward have been broken. But if we fix them—if we use the tools already in our hands—we can transform how people care for one another and the Earth.
The Philippines was meant to grow things. Our soil, even when battered, remembers fertility. Our people, even when tested, remember unity. To withstand the storms ahead, we cannot only plant trees—we must also plant fairness, trust, and accountability.
Because systems that fail people are a kind of flood, too. They erode trust, they drown opportunity, they leave families stranded. But systems that are fair, direct, and transparent can do the opposite: they can root communities, restore the land, and give generations to come a foundation strong enough to endure.
The rains are falling. The waters are rising. But if we root our efforts in fairness and unity, then together we can grow a Philippines resilient enough to meet any storm. This is not about politics—it is about people. It is about all of us, planting accountability and harvesting hope. — GMA Integrated News
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