AS we approach June 12, the 128th anniversary of our independence, I find myself reflecting on our nation’s progress through the lens of life’s personal “circles.” This year carries a particular resonance as we celebrate our daughter Eli’s graduation with her “Ube” AC Batch 2026. Watching a new generation prepare for university underscores the necessity of building stable, enduring systems that can support their future.
The Philippines has weathered many “creaks and quakes” over these 128 years, grunting toward fragile maturity. Yet, our political landscape remains hampered by systemic design flaws, most notably the three-year elective term. This short window often traps leaders in a cycle of perpetual campaigning, where survival takes precedence over long-term fiscal planning. The resulting administrative inefficiencies and lack of transparency costs our citizenry far more than any budget deficit.
My perspective on these challenges is rooted in the halls of the House of Representatives and the local governance of Occidental Mindoro. My parents, both of whom transitioned from the private sector to public service, understood governance as a meticulous craft. My father, serving as congressman, governor and mayor, believed that political strength is measured by the quality of service delivery at the municipal level. My mother, the first woman deputy speaker, demonstrated that true “checks and balances” are secured through quiet negotiations and the diligent drafting of bills rather than grandstanding. Their careers illustrated how the three-year cycle undermines institutional health — a “short-termism” that now threatens our digital future.
This instability manifests in our defense posture, our vulnerability to natural disasters and the struggles of our public education system. In each instance, we are reminded of the timeless maxim: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This logic applies equally to our physical infrastructure. We often debate the “cost of power” — the efficiency of our energy grids and the structural bottlenecks that inflate consumer prices. I have long argued that the absolute cost of an input matters less than its structural availability; the most expensive power is always the power that is unavailable when the system demands it.
As we reach mid-2026, a parallel architecture has emerged: our digital payments infrastructure. When millions process daily transactions, they draw “power” from a network of nonbank financial institutions and operators of payment systems. Through our legal practice, I have witnessed how this digital network — much like our physical grids — suffers from transmission bottlenecks and systemic “line losses,” such as fraud and regulatory friction. With the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) tightening its Manual of Regulations for Payment Systems, compliance has evolved from a passive legal cost into an active engineering requirement for financial sovereignty.
The need to ensure that expansion never outpaces institutional controls is a recurring theme in our history. My husband’s grandfather, Teodoro Kalaw, faced similar administrative frictions as secretary of the Interior. He understood that whether organizing a national library or a state government, longevity is dictated by baseline rules and uncompromised oversight. If the underlying framework lacks integrity, the entire mechanism fails.
In today’s Asean bloc, digital platforms processing high-velocity microtransactions are no longer just managing software; they are administering a critical public utility. Consequently, the boardrooms of these providers require independent voices capable of evaluating macro-regulatory risks and technology resilience. True resilience occurs when corporate governance anticipates regulatory expectations. The independent director here must serve as a rigorous buffer — a credible interface with the BSP, which ensures that innovation does not trigger an operational blackout.
Digital infrastructure requires the same meticulous risk management as the energy sector. The “cost of power” in our modern digital grid is measured by the strength of its compliance architecture. As Lola Eva Kalaw famously observed, true leadership requires an unyielding commitment to domestic institutional health over external political currents. In 2026, we need boardroom leaders who are neither passive bystanders to growth nor rigid blockers of innovation. We need a dedicated commitment to an innovative and intellectually rigorous compliance to ensure our digital grids remain structurally sound, insulated from risk and unconditionally fit for purpose.
Mariliza “Bunny” Villarosa Kalaw is a lawyer, arbitrator and advisor. She is a founding partner of KPH Law, an elected trustee and senior vice president for advocacies of the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators (PIArb), and a trustee and corporate secretary of the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Network Philippines.
