MANILA, Philippines?Want change? Let us count the ways to do it.

Say ?thank you? more often. When driving, slow down on approaching pedestrian lanes. In passenger jeeps, sit closest to the driver; it will be more convenient for incoming riders.

Don?t bribe your way out of situations. Don?t use a straw if it?s not necessary. Discuss national issues with your friends. Register for the 2010 national elections.

These and a hundred other ways to change are listed in the website One Tama (www.onetama.com), which hopes to create a better country through one simple act and one Filipino at a time.

?Changing the country begins with small, concrete actions,? said Philip Francisco Dy, the leader of the group behind One Tama. ?If we will do these small actions together, the impact will be big.?

Like the ways it recommends, the website has simple rules: If you join as a member, commit yourself to do the simple acts and share them with your friends. If you have other ideas on what you think will do the country good, contribute these to the site.

Chance to do right

One Tama has listed 112 simple acts since it started two months ago. It monitors members who are doing, have done, or have shared with others each of the acts.

?The website gives people the opportunity to do right at their own pace,? said Dy, who works at Asian Institute of Management.

The simple acts listed in the site cover such themes as protecting the environment, promoting good governance, and encouraging volunteerism, among others.

One Tama reminds members of positive behaviors that are often taken for granted, like not spitting on the street, not engaging in text messaging while driving, and not pushing or shoving while on the train.

It recommends good habits like flushing the toilet after use, disembarking from vehicles only at the designated areas?and even planting trees.

?We want people to realize that within their own context, be it at work or at home, there is something right that they can do,? Dy said.

Beginnings

One Tama is a project of Duyan ng Giting (Cradle of Valor), which is composed of about 10 members, mostly graduates of the Ateneo de Manila University.

The group served as a venue ?for us to help one another to retain our idealism,? said Dy, the valedictorian of his batch at Ateneo.

The Duyan ng Giting began as a weekly gathering of friends a few months after they graduated from college in 2006.

By then, the members had started working in different companies, and the gatherings provided a way for them to ?share our stories and our frustrations about the country,? Dy said.

According to group member Johann Vittario Trinidad, he and his colleagues were mostly student leaders doing volunteer work in college.

Their common motivation was a ?desire for change,? Trinidad said. ?We wanted to do something, but what it was, we did not know yet.?

Listening to a song over his car radio one day, Dy came across a memorable line: ?We can be heroes for just one day.?

He thought that since everyone wanted a better country, ?why don?t we try to be heroes for a day??

Thus, One Tama was born.

Young professionals

The Duyan ng Giting met with the Ideals Creatives, a social enterprise group involved in multimedia projects and composed of students of the University of the Philippines.

?They had an idea of launching a campaign to promote nationalism. We decided to develop a twist to it, and we came up with One Tama,? recalled Ideals Creatives officer Marielle Nadal.

With young professionals as target, the project was turned into a website. It was launched on Feb. 25.

?The challenge of doing right in our own context is very appropriate among young professionals,? Dy said.

To start the website, Duyan ng Giting members listed 10 simple acts to achieve change. As more and more people learned about the campaign, One Tama users suggested other simple acts to keep the list growing.

Soon, even teachers and retirees were sending e-mails to the group to express support. ?We realized that there is no age limit to doing what is right,? Dy said.

To popularize the campaign, Dy?s group has presented One Tama at the Dialogues at Starbucks and the Why Not? forum.

One Tama?s vision is to make the simple acts a habit among Filipinos.

?We no longer need to wait for good things to happen in our country,? it said. ?We can begin today by inspiring one another for positive action.?