Random Thoughts

I spend my days studying law, agriculture, and other subjects. When I go outside, I watch and learn, guided by what I have read and what my mother teaches me. I reflect on things like how Manuel L. Quezon came from farming stock as I walk the old streets as a passerby and ordinary citizen.

I imagine the Chinese mestizo father and Spanish mestiza mother who raised Manuel L. Quezon, tilling fields yielding rice, corn, and vegetables, exchanging produce fairly within a neighborhood economy, living on twelve pesos a month, yet sustaining their family with dignity. There is an elegance to such sufficiency, a quiet power that requires no embellishment. I read about his life, which could have unfolded like a pastoral among the pastures of his province, through Carlo Quirino’s scholarly work on Manuel L. Quezon.

Aristotle spoke of eudaimonia, a life lived in accordance with purpose and virtue, where function is fulfilled with excellence. A thing is good, he argued, when it performs its function well. I write from the posture of a thoughtful, discerning citizen of the Philippines, and when I think about building a replicable, agile model for the intelligence of land in this country, I begin here: the law is an inquiry into a good life. Not rhetoric, to clarify. Even institutions like the old Army and Navy Club remind me that power, at its best, dresses itself in civility, and authority prefers quiet rooms to loud proclamations.

Consider agarwood, for instance. Known locally as lapnisan or eaglewood, agarwood is among the most valuable woods in the world, prized for its resin used in perfumery, burned in rituals, prescribed in traditional medicine. Southeast Asia supplies much of the global market. With proper cultivation, research, and ethical harvesting protocols, agarwood could become a high-value, low-volume crop suitable even for smallholders. It requires patience. Trees take years to mature, resin forms slowly, and markets reward restraint over haste. In other words, it suits the Filipino farmer who understands waiting.

Beyond agarwood, the country produces hardwoods and fast-growing species used in engineered wood products such as phenolic boards, plywood, and laminated panels. Sustainable forestry, bamboo cultivation, and agroforestry systems offer income while restoring watersheds and soil health. Bamboo, in particular, grows quickly, sequesters carbon, and can be processed into construction material, furniture, and even textiles.

Then there is water. The government, through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, has long promoted fish ponds, mariculture parks, and inland aquaculture. An agriculture magazine has documented these efforts for years: tilapia ponds in Nueva Ecija, bangus farms in Pangasinan, seaweed cultivation in Mindanao. Technology now allows even small barangays to operate scalable aquaculture systems with aeration, water quality monitoring, and feed optimization. These are not only income-generating. They are age-inclusive. Seniors who can no longer till land can manage ponds, oversee feeding schedules, monitor growth.

I also think about land banking, lessons my mom has taught me, and about government bonds and other financial products. I’m happy watching Spanish goats and other farm animals on Philippine farms in farming videos while scrolling through social media as well.