GLORIA CRESPO CONGCO
If I’m being honest, I never entered public service thinking I had to be the loudest voice in the room.
In Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, leadership has always carried history…family names, expectations, a certain way of doing things. I became the first woman mayor, and yes, I am part of the fourth generation in my family to serve. But more than anything, I saw the role not as something to hold, but something to take care of.
For me, governance was never about titles or ceremonies. It was about small, very real questions.
Can a child stay in school?
Can a mother feel safe when the rains come?
Can a farmer still provide for his family with dignity?
That’s why education became very close to my heart. I’ve always believed that the future of Cabiao won’t change overnight. It changes quietly, through the opportunities we give our children and the way we shape their thinking.
I was fortunate to work with people who shared that belief. Together, we tried to build programs that supported not just needs, but potential. Because real progress begins when people start to believe they can do more, become more.
My work with Gawad Kalinga also meant a lot to me. It reminded me that building homes is not just about walls and roofs. A community needs dignity, shared values, and hope. Otherwise, even a new house can still feel empty. What mattered was helping families rebuild not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
One thing I learned early on is that we cannot always wait for help to come from above. As a local government, we have the ability to bring people together: citizens, private groups, organizations, and move forward as one community. It’s not the fastest way, but it’s the most meaningful. Because when people are part of the process, they take ownership of the outcome.
And truthfully, Cabiao shaped me just as much as I tried to serve it. Behind every policy or program are real stories. Mothers making do with very little. Farmers continuing
despite uncertainty. Families finding ways to begin again after loss.
Those stories stay with you.
They remind you that leadership is not about control, it’s about responsibility. It’s temporary. It’s something you are entrusted with. And for me, it has always been something I answer for not just to people, but to God.
In education, I am so lucky to have private partners like Ateneo for my GK Villages, school building program and teachers training, Microsoft for our computer literacy program (both teachers and students). I was also able to partner with St.Luke’s for our health programs (Prevention is better than cure). Several high schools were built also to give our youth access to quality education.
If people remember me at all, I hope it’s not for the position I held, but for how I tried to show up. To listen. To care. To do what I could, steadily, even in small ways.
Because in the end, communities don’t grow from grand gestures alone. They grow from compassion, from character, from shared effort.
And if I was able to help plant even a few of those seeds, then I am already grateful.