We rarely came across companies that put advocacy and employee empowerment at the center of their corporate mission, but Glorious Industrial and Development Corporation—GIDC, the Stevia Company—was setting the model. As the first stevia grower and manufacturer in the Philippines, GIDC harvested and marketed Sweet and Fit Stevia, the foremost stevia herbal dietary supplement registered by the Food and Drug Administration in the Philippines, as its main weapon in leading the charge against diabetes. Grown and harvested in the Philippines exclusively by GIDC, Sweet and Fit Stevia was free of calories, cholesterol, carbohydrates, and had zero glycemic index.

A couple of months removed from a travel writing assignment covering the vegetable farms of Cordillera, another opportunity to visit more agricultural destinations came to my inbox from the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Training Institute (ATI). It was to join their first regional bloggers/vloggers event that aimed to promote Organic Agriculture in the CaLaBarZon region (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon).