The Philippines is no stranger to calamities and natural disasters. Typhoons, earthquakes, floods and volcanic eruptions are recurring tests of our national resolve. We do not welcome these events, but neither are we surprised by them. Experience has taught us that preparedness is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

When disaster strikes, public attention naturally turns to those who lead. We look to our mayors, governors, Cabinet officials, and ultimately the President for assurance that the government is responding.

Yet before the convoy arrived, before the cameras started rolling, and before official briefings were held, there were already Filipinos at work.

They were the disaster risk reduction officers gathering information in real time. The social workers preparing relief assistance. The health workers tending to the injured. The public works personnel assessing damaged structures. The uniformed personnel securing communities and helping families find safety.

Through our shared involvement in Rotary, I have had the opportunity to speak with disaster management professionals, including Deputy Administrator for Administration and Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV of the Office of Civil Defense. Those conversations have given me a better appreciation of the immense coordination required to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

What the public sees is only a fraction of the effort. Behind every relief operation, evacuation center and situation report are countless public servants working long before the cameras arrive and long after public attention has shifted elsewhere.

This broader reality provides useful context for the recent earthquake that struck Mindanao and the response that followed.

Reasonable people may differ on whether the President should have arrived sooner. Such discussions are part of a healthy democracy. What is more difficult to dispute is that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ultimately went to the affected communities, received briefings from local and national officials, listened to those on the ground, and exercised the responsibilities expected of the Chief Executive.

At times, public service requires difficult decisions made from afar. At other times, it requires a visible presence among those affected. In General Santos, the President sought to do both.

Ultimately, disaster response is judged not by appearances but by outcomes. It is how quickly assistance reaches our communities, how effectively essential services are restored and how steadily recovery moves forward.

Yet the President’s visit also highlighted a larger truth. Long before the presidential convoy arrived, local governments, disaster risk reduction officers, health workers, uniformed personnel, engineers, social workers, utility crews and volunteers had already begun the difficult work of rescue, relief and recovery.

Some reported for duty while uncertain about the condition of their own homes. Others helped affected families secure food, shelter, and safety before attending to their own concerns. They rarely become the subject of headlines, but they form the backbone of the nation’s disaster response efforts.

When calamity strikes, the Republic does not arrive on a single aircraft. It arrives through the countless Filipinos who have already reported for duty.

With all the noise, distractions, and divisions that increasingly compete for our attention, I earnestly invite each of us to support the institutions that keep our democracy functioning, even when we may disagree with the personalities entrusted to lead them.

Support for institutions need not be blind. Accountability remains essential. Yet there is a distinction between holding institutions accountable and losing faith in them altogether.

For in the end, the strength of a nation is measured not only by those we choose to lead it, but by the institutions that endure beyond any administration and the men and women who quietly keep them working. They deserve our expectations, our scrutiny, and, when it is earned, our trust.