Episode 2: 
Before I entered government, I was a humanitarian worker who traveled to all 18 regions in the country. I worked with both the United Nations Development Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. On November 8, 2013, Super Typhoon Yolanda first made landfall in the municipality of Guiuan in Eastern Samar. The terrain was difficult. Delivery of goods proved to be challenging. Cadavers lined up on the streets. Trees and debris blocked the roads. The smell of death and decay lasted for months.

At that time, I wished the Philippines had better roads, that it would be easier for anyone who wanted to send help, to reach areas that needed medicines, food, and water. Bulldozers arrived from Cebu, Manila, and Davao via boat because a number of equipment in the region were lost or destroyed. What was left was not enough to reach far-flung areas that were completely isolated. In several towns, it took weeks before help came.

Several years after Typhoon Yolanda struck the Philippines, international development organizations remained to help in the recovery and rehabilitation process.

In my mind, it was difficult to talk about sustainable development when students had to risk their lives just to go to school, when farmers and fishers had to take whatever the middle men were willing to give because transportation of their produce proved too difficult.

A number of municipalities could only be accessed through boats. Whenever it rained, families would have to make a decision whether to risk their lives or lose their income.

It was at this point that I realized that if we were to achieve real and inclusive economic growth, then a good infrastructure network was necessary. I would have never thought that in a matter of years I would join President Rodrigo Duterte’s Build, Build, Build team.

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