Bag of cement.

I spent years building a better future for my family. A colleague with a bag of cement made me think about how far that responsibility should reach.

I shared his story in the second part of my talk at the Truly Rich Club Wealth Conference last Saturday.

One day, I visited his home in Padre Garcia. The road was full of potholes, but as we approached his house, it became smoother.

“Bakit dito sa inyo, maayos ang daan?”

He explained that whenever he received his quarterly bonus, he would buy a bag of cement. Then he and his neighbors would patch the potholes.

Isang sako. Sa susunod na bonus, isa na naman.

May pamilya rin siyang binubuhay. May sarili ring gastusin. Yet he kept setting aside something for a road everyone used. 

What moved me was how naturally he included other people in what little he had to spare.

He wasn’t talking about love of country. He was simply taking care of the part of it within his reach in his community. 

His example stayed with me. It inspired the love-of-country advocacy I carried through my final years as CEO and continue in retirement.

Sometimes I wonder what our children will remember about how we cared for the Philippines. Sana may maalala silang higit sa ating mga reklamo. Perhaps someone we helped, a Filipino talent we supported, or a community we made a little better.

When the country’s problems feel too big, I remember his bag of cement. Hindi niya inisip ayusin ang buong bayan. Pero may mga gumaan ang biyahe dahil sa malasakit niya. And I find myself asking: with everything I have been blessed with, whose journey can I make a little easier?

He found his in a bag of cement. Perhaps loving our country begins with finding ours.