Once upon a time, almost all Filipinos lived in bahay kubos. These houses made of bamboo, wood, and thatch were relatively light. So it wasn’t a problem for a community to lift the entire house and move it around. In fact, the head of a family could count on the help of the neighborhood if he wanted to settle down at a new location (not too far from the old one of course).

Thus the concept of Bayanihan was born. The teamwork demonstrated by a bunch of guys lifting a house to help out a neighbor somehow evolved to apply to any effort involving the cooperation of a community. Even if concrete and steel now replace wood and nipa, the spirit of the word is still alive today. Like in Project Bayanihan.

The Bayanihan Blog Network is a group of blogs connected to each other. The collective linking helps each member blog become more visible online. The gains of one are shared by many, and vice-versa. I’m really tempted to call all this “Bayanihan 2.0,” but I wouldn’t want clichés ruining the fact that this network represents a modern version of a classic idea.