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The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) stated in its website that housing is a human right because it is “the basis of stability and security for an individual or family. The center of our social, emotional and sometimes economic lives, a home should be a sanctuary—a place to live in peace, security and dignity.” As someone who has spent most of his professional life building houses, I completely agree. As someone who grew up in an impoverished setting in Tondo, Manila where 11 of us—my parents and nine sons and daughters—lived in the second floor of an apartment building, I concur a hundred percent.

Quite appropriately, I think it was around the time of Independence Day when I was asked what I thought genuine freedom meant. I usually pause before answering serious questions like this one but here I immediately blurted out: financial independence. True freedom is financial freedom.

Cash, as in physical notes and coins, has apparently been dethroned. According to the 2024 Status of Digital Payments in the Philippines report released by the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the share of online payments in monthly retail transactions has risen to 57.4 percent in terms of volume and 59 percent in value terms in 2024. The Manila Bulletin also quoted BSP officials as saying that the rise of digital cash “reflects the long-term impact of market developments, policy initiatives, and the growing trust and familiarity of Filipinos with digital payment options.”