Trains I've taken, roads we deserve

When I left the Philippines, I thought I was chasing only an education. What I didn't know then was that I was also running into a mirror—one that would reflect not just the world beyond our borders, but everything we still lack, everything we could become.

- ANNA MAE YU LAMENTILLO

Abroad, my days were shaped by lectures and papers, but in between those academic milestones were moments of quiet revelation: waiting at a platform as a train glided in exactly on time; watching elderly passengers step onto low-floor buses with ease; tapping a single card and switching between train, tram, and ferry without breaking stride. These weren’t luxuries. They were expectations—mundane, even—to the people who lived there. But to me, they felt extraordinary.

In London, a drive to Oxford can take over three hours, depending on traffic. But the train? It whisks you there in under an hour. Fast, frequent, reliable. If a delay occurs, passengers are notified well in advance. If it stretches beyond what’s reasonable, there’s compensation. Not a shrug. Not a "pasensya na po." But accountability. Consideration.