Bringing out our good

While my last two articles ranted on our seeming lack of discipline as a people — in trash disposal, in traffic behavior and in other contexts — I found a dose of positivism from an unlikely direction. My own son-in-law Li, who with my pregnant daughter Mel, suffered far greater discomfort than I from the New Year’s Day traffic anarchy in Laguna I wrote about — actually came out of it with good things to say about Filipinos. An American of Chinese descent who has lived in this country barely over a year, he shared with me his exchange of messages with a friend who reached out to him upon reading my article, and who wrote, “May that incident not dent your New Year optimism.”

Li’s reply reminded me to see the positive, and not be unduly discouraged by the negative in even the most unpleasant situations. He wrote back his friend: “Optimism is not dented at the slightest. Agreed on (lack of) discipline, but Filipinos are deep down respectful. When our car broke down in the middle of the road, I asked for help from a young man to push my car to the side. Five young men came to my help without question and left without asking for anything in return. I had to chase them down to tip them out of gratitude.” He went on, “Discipline can be instilled through training, but respect and kindness are ingrained. Thus I am more optimistic about opportunities presented in our country.”

Coming from a non-Filipino who has just adopted our country by marriage, that comment was, to me, a pleasantly sobering one. He is right; discipline can be instilled. We know it from the way the same disobedient Filipinos here at home can be so law-abiding and responsible when transposed in a foreign country where rules are enforced. One need not even go abroad to see this change, but just observe how we behave so differently when in Subic Bay — where traffic rules do get enforced, and where you are unlikely to get away with flouting them. As crime researchers have long pointed out, the certainty of being caught is a far greater deterrent than severity of the punishment.

The lesson for those in government should be clear and simple: We need to be faithful and consistent in enforcement of the law, including and especially simple rules that concern our daily behavior, such as rules on littering and traffic. Not one traffic enforcer was in sight on New Year’s Day in Pansol, whereas predictable occasions like that would have warranted deployment of a special contingent of them to enforce proper traffic behavior. The problem is that, in times they are there, it is they who abet counterflowing behavior with their propensity to employ the so-called “buhos” system, where traffic is alternately stopped from one direction while allowing the other side to counterflow — a system that I and most people I know believe only worsens traffic flow. It’s this very practice that leads many an impatient motorist to counterflow even when no traffic enforcers are there to manage it.

Luneta, too, should be deploying park monitors who will enforce the supposed fines on littering, for people to actually be deterred from leaving their trash behind. Consistent enforcement, lasting at least one generation, should eventually bring out the inherent good in people to obey rules and laws, until discipline becomes automatic, as with many of our neighbors.

Like my foreign son-in-law, I do believe that kindness and respect, among many other positive traits, are ingrained in our Filipino hearts. Our hospitality is legendary. So is our “bayanihan” or community spirit. I’ve already written on our people’s reputation overseas for personal hygiene and cleanliness. We are known to be a deeply caring people; someone once said that millions of us make a living overseas loving and caring for others. And yes, Filipinos are generally known to be law-abiding and hardworking overseas—and often abused for that.

I do believe that God has planted goodness in every human heart, even as negative forces constantly tempt us the other way. We need government to provide enforcers to curb the negative in us, and society leaders who, by their example, will let the inherent good in all of us prevail.

cielito.habito@gmail.com