The Farmer Who Thought He Lost Everything

A Dream Built on a Mountain

In 2018, Rogelio “Roger” Santos, a 34-year-old man from Nueva Écija, dreamed of escaping poverty through pig farming.

He rented a vacant lot high on a mountain in the town of Carranglan and decided to build a small pig farm.

Roger poured everything into it.

He spent his savings, took out a loan from the Philippine Land Bank, built pig pens, installed a deep well, and bought 30 piglets.

The day he carried the first litter up the mountain, he proudly told his wife, Marites, who was 31 at the time:

“Just wait for me. In a year, we’ll finally be able to build our own house.”

For Roger, that mountain wasn’t just land.