The friction of poverty

PEDDLER OF HOPE

- GEORGE ROYECA

In every corner of the Philippines, you'll meet hardworking people who wake up before sunrise, commute for hours, work long shifts, then do it all again the next day — just to survive. And still, we call them "poor." But what if they're not?

What if we've been looking at poverty the wrong way? What if the real problem isn't that Filipinos lack drive or talent, but that they're trapped in a system designed to slow them down?

The longer I've worked in transportation and mobility, the more I've realized: we are a country full of potential, but shackled by friction. And the biggest tragedy isn't poverty — it's stagnation. We're not poor. We're just stuck.

When we talk about poverty, we usually talk about income. But poverty is also measured in time, access and opportunity. Take transportation. A daily commute in Metro Manila can take three to four hours — one way. That's almost a full working day lost each week just sitting in traffic. It's time that could be spent with family, pursuing education or building a side hustle. Instead, it's gone — stolen by congestion and poor planning.

Now imagine you live in a province, where there are no direct routes to the city, and the nearest job opportunity is two towns over. No bus, no train, no reliable connection. Your dream might as well be a hundred miles away — even if it's just 20 kilometers. Mobility isn't just about roads. It's about removing barriers between a person and their aspirations.