Do we search for the common good of the Philippines? Have we agreed on what would be good for all of us? How do we define the common good? Have we agreed as in the beginning of the United States of America that the bias is for personal freedom as against the intervention of the government? Or is it the feudal arrangement where the chief or the government knows best?

In the definition of the common good one choice is between self or the nation; between self or family, the tribe, the group; between self or mankind or any grouping of which we are a part. Implied in the term “common good” is that the good of the group is preferred to that of the self. The rejection in the word “selfish” implies this preference of the group to self. What then is the good that will benefit the whole? If some will have to suffer or receive less, the common good is what will benefit the bigger number. Would the number be the majority or the plurality or the totality? The totality is best but there are constraints of time and place. We have to settle for something less in most instances. For practical purposes we choose the majority in instances where totality would be impractical because of these constraints.

The dedication to search for the common good is essential in running a nation or any kind of human grouping. Otherwise the nation or group will disintegrate or not survive optimally. There will be differences in what is considered the good of the group. If we settle for an approximation, then the next question is the dedication of the members to achieve that good. If we assume commitment
to that search the next concern is the efficiency in that search by the leader or the members of the group. The circumstances of the group modify the effort, the decisions, and the success of the search for the common good. Timing is part of these circumstances. Is the success to be measured in terms of achieving the good now or in the future? Is it the good of the present or the future members of the tribe or group or nation? Is it a mixture of the two? Then, what is the proportion between the two?

Treatment of the common good turns out to be a complicated matter. The degree of commitment to the search for this common good will depend on the cohesion of the group or the reverse. The cohesion of the group will result from the commitment of the members of the group to seek the common good. How so ever difficult it is to define the common good, the motivation to search for it, the analysis of the situation or circumstance in which the group finds itself, and/or the efficiency of this search; it is imperative that the effort is made to search the common good. A final complication is when some members of the group do not consider themselves full members of the group and therefore not obligated to search for the common good of the group. This admittedly is a theoretical discussion but it is necessary to bring out these complications in the concept of the common good if we have to have a viable nation. Do the Filipinos identify themselves with this nation? Do they dedicate themselves to the search for the common good of the Filipino nation? <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.
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