In many of the existing democracies in the world, there is one element that distinguishes the strong democracy from the weaker ones. This one element could be something that many of us Filipinos either lack or simply disregard, and this deficiency could be the main reason why we are not able to find solutions to many of our social, political and economic problems.

Let me just refer to that element as the sense of community – an individual’s awareness of belonging to a community, or being part of a community and the awareness that as a member of the community, it is one’s obligation to work not only for one’s own individual welfare but for the welfare of his or her community as well.

I believe this sense of community is one of the qualities that differentiate the citizens of strong economically well-off nations from those of the weaker economically problematic countries like the Philippines. There is so much selfishness going on in our society and every man or woman just wants to gain over the other in the rat race – except maybe in those remote locations where a few of our conscientious political leaders have long instilled a strong sense of community among their followers.

A strong sense of community pervades in many of the more advanced societies in the world. People believe that wherever they are, they can never live alone as individuals or even individual families. They always feel they are part of a community that needs to be strengthened so that it is able to serve the needs of everyone in a more or less equal sense. Yes, they all work to achieve their own individual goals, but they never lose sight of the fact that the community serves them, and they have to give back in some way to the community.

A sense of community deviates from the individualistic selfish sense. A citizen with a strong sense of community thinks he needs to not only be able to take care of his own needs but to be able to contribute to improving his community – its water service, its sanitation, its electricity needs, its peace and order situation, its public works infrastructure. When these services are improved, the individual and his family lives a more comfortable life.

A sense of community also means an individual citizen is willing to fight to preserve that sense of balance that pervades in a strong community, and to cooperate with fellow citizens – his neighbors – in eliminating any threats to the peace and harmony that exists within his community.

The lack of a strong sense of community is what’s behind the traffic problem in Metro Manila. Because no one worked seriously enough to improve the public transportation system at a time when there was more leeway to do that, the problem has so compounded itself that any expensive short-term remedy would no longer work.

In the city, when public transportation became inadequate and everyone started coming late to work, everyone wanted to buy a car instead of taking the bus. And our leaders just said, “Go ahead, buy cars,” without thinking it through. So everyone who could afford even the oldest second hand car bought one, and instead of 30 people trying to share space in one bus, we started seeing 30 cars on EDSA and the other major streets with only one passenger in it – the driver.

So Marcos thought of LRT, and when LRT became insufficient, more people bought cars for themselves, and government said, “Go ahead, buy cars.”

Really, is there anything we can do now that would stop people from buying cars and compounding problem, and getting them to trust public transportation in the cities? 

None, except that we appeal to their sense of community and make them realize the solution is not in buying cars but in improving mass transport systems.

The transportation problem may not be that bad in Virac or in any other town in Catanduanes. But towns like Virac and San Andres and all the other towns eventually grow into bigger communities, with bigger housing requirements and bigger transportation requirements. If we don’t take stock now and be aware that when transport problems come they’ll affect all of us, we’ll have worse problems than Metro Manila where everything gets noticed and which gets the bulk of government attention and money.

It’s great to be back! Thanks to Engr. Fernan Gianan, who was a high school kid when I started working with his dad Fred as a reporter back in ’79, I’m being given the privilege to write again where I really started my professional journalism career – The Catanduanes Tribune. And it feels great. It’s an honor, and I hope to be able to return the favor by writing about the things that matter for the proud and noble Catandunganon.