we all want our country to change, but who amongst us are willing to change it ourselves?

every day while driving to work i ask myself: what can make our gravity-defying jeepney drivers not stop in the middle of the road? i mean, don't they realize that doing so stalls traffic for a million other motorists who have equal rights to the road?

of course they don't: they didn't go to college like us. and so the problem is the philippine education system. on other days, they don't because they secured their driver's licenses without undergoing a legit driving exam. so the problem is the LTO, and for that matter the microeconomy of facilitation payments in every level of the government bureaucracy. still, on other days they don't because loading more passengers--ergo, more income--takes precedence over the common good. so the problem is poverty, and our government's lack of poverty-alleviation programs.

and why the lack of poverty-alleviation programs? because roughly 50% of public funds are kicked back to corrupt officials. and why the microeconomy of facilitation payments? because someone's child is dying of cancer and receiving lagay is the easiest way of making money to pay for the cancer treatment. and why the insufficient education system? i dunno--maybe because our government sacrifices teachers' salaries in favor of servicing the national debt. so on other days the problem is debt dependence? my goodness, my imagination is running wild.

by the time i park my car i forget about my internal monologue because the very sight of my office building reminds me of customers to call and emails to write. and there lies the rub: i stop at thinking.

over lunch one afternoon i was ranting to a friend about this daily fault-finding exercise, soliciting from him a plausible all-encompassing solution. and to this challenge he replied, "what if we break it down? what if one day--just one day--everyone decides to follow traffic rules? won't everyone feel the benefit of such a pleasant drive that we'd all be motivated to follow traffic rules every day?"

i pondered on his proposal. i wondered: what would convince jeepney drivers to set aside their personal reasons to, for just a single day, NOT stop in the middle of the road?

maybe if each jeepney driver knew that every other jeepney driver was just as law-abiding as he is--that no one was unrightfully getting ahead--maybe it wouldn't be that difficult to drive up 30 more meters to the designated loading bay. maybe if people were doing those right actions together, it would be easier.

i guess that's the key--doing it together. besides, one small action isn't enough to ease up the morning rush on C5, right?

a group of friends has started to realize this power of doing small right actions together. and they've banded--together, no less--to spread the word. all they want is to ease up morning traffic on every road. and minimize our use of plastic bags and paper cups. and have every filipino register for this year's elections. they dream big. and they start small, but together.

log on to http://www.onetama.com if you wish to partake in the dream. the only catch is you have to start doing something right--even if it would be just one small action every day.