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Forty-eight years ago, in August, the “ghost month,” I founded C&P Homes after taking out a seven-year loan from a rural bank. I built Camella Homes Phase 1 and 2 with an initial 160 units that sold out to Filipino families, most of whom were families of overseas workers who have saved enough money to build their loved ones the house they have dreamed of for years.

August is indeed an august name for a month that is filled with significant events in Philippine history. That is the reason why the eighth month of the year, in addition to being named as Buwan ng Wika, is also celebrated as History Month. It was the late President Benigno S. Aquino III who proclaimed August as History Month by issuing Proclamation No. 339 in 2012.

A few weeks ago, I was handed an interesting Pulse Asia survey entitled, “June 2025 Nationwide Survey on Filipinos’ Urgent Personal and National Concerns, and the National Administration’s Performance Ratings.” Aside from election surveys, Pulse Asia and other polling firms are known to come up with very interesting research that has nothing to do with voting preferences. SWS, for instance, comes up with its self poverty surveys. In this case, I found the Pulse Asia survey on “Urgent Personal and National Concerns” very interesting because it was conducted after the midterm elections and before the State of the Nation Address (SONA). They are useful for governance and policymaking, not just for campaign managers and crafting slogans and jingles.