Paragraph 1: The Shock of a Familiar Tactic Imagine you are scrolling through social media late at night, tired after a long day, when a video catches your eye. It has a red breaking-news banner, dramatic music, and a serious-looking anchor delivering what appears to be an urgent announcement: the Philippine government has declared martial law nationwide. In that moment, your heart skips. You think about your family, your community, your next day at work or school. You wonder if the military will be on the streets, if your city will be locked down, if you need to rush to…

Maria del Mar Pageo is not a woman who startles easily. Born in Almería in 1961, she is a doctor by profession, but her real education in human vulnerability and solidarity has come through four decades of service with the Red Cross. She joined as a young volunteer and has experienced every facet of the organisation, from grassroots youth work to the highest national leadership, becoming its president in 2023. She describes these three years as intense, marked by a peculiar beginning when the effects of the pandemic were still visible, followed by a series of major emergencies that tested…