He rented a mountain to raise 30 pigs, then abandoned it for 5 years – one day he returned and was petrified by what he saw…

Editoron

In 2018, Rogelio “Roger” Santos, a thirty-four-year-old from Nueva Ecija, dreamed of escaping poverty by raising pigs. He rented a plot of uncultivated land on a mountain in the town of Carranglán to convert it into a small pig farm.

He spent all his savings, even took out a loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines, built pigpens, installed a deep well, and bought 30 piglets.

The day he brought the first group of pigs up the mountain, he proudly told his 31-year-old wife Marites:

“Wait for me. In a year we can build our house.”

But life wasn’t as easy as the get-rich success stories you saw on television.

In less than three months, African swine fever spread throughout Luzon. One by one, nearby pig farms went bankrupt. Some neighbors were forced to burn entire pigstyes to prevent the spread of the virus. For weeks, a thick blanket of smoke shrouded the mountains.

Marites got scared.

“Let’s sell them while they’re still alive,” he begged.

But Roger was stubborn.

“This will all pass. We just have to hold on a little longer.”

Due to constant worry and sleepless nights, he grew weak. He was even hospitalized in Cabanatuan due to extreme exhaustion and stress. He spent over a month resting in his in-laws’ province.

By the time he returned to the mountains, half his pigs were gone. The price of feed had doubled. The bank had started calling him to collect the loan payments.

Every night, as the rain beat down on the tin roofs of the pigsty, Roger felt as if everything he had worked for was slowly crumbling.

Until one night, after another phone call from a creditor, he sat on the floor and whispered:

“I finished.”

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