Growing up and maturing in immersive, disparate, and distinct environments, mixed with his experiences have profoundly shaped his thinking and aesthetic character; the province being a quiet location while Caloocan being a more squalid and replete place with harsh realities of urban life and economic struggles. Herrera was also raised in a strictly conservative Catholic household, which provided him the sensibilities and contradictions in his later life - this would sharpen his instincts, thinking, and emotional acuity.