The sun is about to sets down, Ka Ernesto had to pull over his carabao from the farm. At the age of 65, Ka Ernesto remained strong and continued farming. Even if Alice is already making a living for both of them, Ka Ernesto never stopped working at the farm. He said that if he stopped working, his body might become weak.

Ka Ernesto tried to carry on his shoulder the sack of pesticides that he will be using for the next day. As he pulls the sack, he felt a scrunch on his back. “Well I guess I am really getting older,” he uttered to himself.

From afar, Jerick saw the struggle of old Ka Ernesto so he hurriedly approached him. “Do you need some help sir?” he asked.

Ka Ernesto looks toward the voice. He saw Jerick standing in front of him. “Oh please! I need someone to carry these sacks to the cart,” Ka Ernesto replied.

Jerick immediately carried the sack on his shoulder and put it to the cart until no sacks were left.

“Thank you very much. Who are you? You must be new here?” Ka Ernesto asked.

Jerick offered his hand to Ka Ernesto. “I am Jerick Macaraeg, the new teacher in the community school,” he replied.

“Oh I see, so it was you. Principal De Vera told me t that a teacher from the city will come over in our place. You can just call me Ka Ernesto,” he said as he offered a hand shake. “You know what? You should come with me in the house so we could talk more while having a dinner.”

Without a second thought, Jerick agreed.e Together, they walked towards Ka Ernesto’s house.

“Alice, please prepare the dinner, we had a visitor,” Ka Ernesto said as he opened the door. Alice went out of the kitchen to meet her father and was surprised to see Jerick. “You two might have met each other in the school,” Ka Ernesto said as he puts his hat to the ledge.

“Yes, we met already Ka Ernesto,” Jerick said smiling at Alice. Alice on the other hand managed to smile a bit for Jerick.

She whispered to his father, “why you let him come in the house? You don’t know him.”

“That’s why I invited him so I will get to know him,” Ka Ernesto replied.

Alice had no choice but to prepare the table for dinner. Just when they are about to start the dinner, someone was knocking on the door. “Ka Ernesto… Ka Ernesto,” said the voice outside.

Alice opened the door, a short dark men stood in front. “Fidel! Come in join us for dinner,” Ka Ernesto said.

“Thank you very much,” said Mang Fidel as he took his seat.

“By the way this is Jerick Macaraeg, the new teacher in the community school,” Ka Ernesto introduced. The two greeted each other.

“Have you heard the news Ka Ernesto?” Fidel asked. Jerick was quiet, hoping that he could gain information on the news that Mang Fidel had for Ka Ernesto.

“What news?” asked Ka Ernesto. “We heard from the radio that a strong storm will passed through our sitio in the coming two days,” Fidel replied.

As Fidel nibbles, he continued speaking, “Mang Kanor told me that we will already harvest the grains tomorrow before the storm comes.”

“But the grains are not yet matured,” Alice said worriedly. “We know, but rather than being damaged by the storm, we would prefer having little income than nothing at all,” Mang Fidel answered.

“In this situation, it would be Mr. Perez who will gain most,” Ka Ernesto said as he made a sigh.

“Who is Mr. Perez?” Jerick asked. “He is a well-known businessman in our place. He owns a credit company that provides most of the financial borrowings of the farmers here, at the same time he is also a trader. He buys our grains in a lower price and sells it in the market,” Ka Ernesto replied.

“If he buys it from you in a losing price, why don’t you trade it off to the market yourself?” Jerick asked further.

“The market is too far from here. With the high cost of transportation, we will still suffer loss,” Mang Fidel explained. “The situation becomes worse whenever a strong typhoon hit our farms. We harvest lesser but the interest of the loans we have remained high,” he added.

“Are there no subsidy from the government?” asked Jerick in curiosity.

“We don’t depend on the government anymore my son,” Ka Ernesto said. “The government had forgotten us. They only concentrate their development efforts in the urban areas. That’s why we had to depend on our own,” Ka Ernesto added.

“But if you ask help from the government, for sure they will help you,” Jerick insisted.

Alice stood up and said, “you can say that Mr. Macaraeg because you grew up in the cities where your necessities and amenities are provided by the government,” she exclaimed. Ka Ernesto on the other hand interrupted to compose his daughter.

“Things are different here Jerick. The people feel the uneven distribution of resources. We cried for equality and equity, but the government remained deaf,” Ka Ernesto said.

Jerick was speechless, he can’t find the right word to say to appease their growing resentment. Somehow, deep inside him, he knows that a gateway to his mission is right in front of him. He just need more time to know the people and assess the real situation in the area. He also knew that arguing with these people will destroy his cover. He had to go with the flow, he had to take advantage of the opened gateway to find out the leader of the rebels and be able to accomplish his mission.