Our countrymen grumble oftentimes when street conversations turn to topics related to how the Philippine state is run, whether in the realm of national defense, education, health, public works, settlement, local government, justice, cultural affairs, foreign affairs, internal etc., they could always find a shortcoming here, a negligence there, a mistake here, or an ineptitude there. Many would also say that the Philippine state is sickly, atrophied, inutile, ineffective and corrupt. Honestly, I can't disagree with these assessments. We may have sovereignty, but we neither have money nor peace.

Needless to say, there isn't a single state existing today which could possibly be classified as "perfect". All are functional, but not all are efficient or effective. Some are stronger and more stable than the rest, but they are far from being "perfect". Indeed, how can we create and establish states that are perfect for us when we are but humans with imperfections, subject to temptations, prone to laziness and easily swayed to negativities? Maybe perhaps the only perfect state we can ever live in would be the one which does not exist in our lifetime - the "state" made by God in heaven. Amen to that. So the least we could do is strive to be worthy of becoming a "citizen" of that "state" during our stay in this lifetime. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the citizens of the different countries in the world are just going to accept the unfavorable kind of state they are respectively living in today. My conscience, for one, could not swallow that, not for my benefit but for my progeny. For I know that changing a state would take a very long time. Such is the curse of bureaucracy.

A state is defined in the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia as a political organization exercising authority over a defined territory. Sovereignty is the distinctive characteristic of the modern state. There must be recognition both within the state and by other states that its governing authority is supreme. The role of the state is to provide a structure of law and order wherein the people can safely live and move around, and to govern affairs that it considers within its area of business. All states possess certain institutions, such as legislatures, courts, and police, for internal use, and armed forces for external security. These functions need a system of raising revenue for sustenance.

I have an idea on what a proper state should be, particularly when it comes to domestic affairs. Others would, perhaps, not subscribe to my idea of a proper state. Some would prefer the old form of the state now existing in our country today, some would prefer a state in the British or French model, others would prefer a socialist state, and even others would like a communist state to be instituted in our land. But if you would just care to read on, who knows, you might appreciate the kind of state I envision and would like to live in.

They say we are exceptional copy cats. I don't believe we are. You want proof? Our form of government was copied from the American model - Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government. But we didn't copy it thoroughly. That's one of the reasons why we can't even make any substantive headway in economic development. Look at our legislative branch. In America, their senators are elected by state, not at-large, at two senators per state. The closest subdivision we have to a state is the region. Why don't we elect our senators by region, at two per region? That way, there will be Moro and Lumad and I.P. (Luzon) representation in the upper house of parliament.

Look also at our judicial branch, specifically in the Metropolitan and Regional Trial Court levels. In America, there is such a thing as the existence of a "jury" and the term "trial by jury". The "jury" decides whether a defendant is guilty or not. If the vote of the jury is not unanimous, the decision shall be "not guilty". The judge is merely the moderator of the proceedings. In the Philippines, the judge is not only judge, but also jury and executioner. Not exactly democratic, is it? If you want to copy the real thing, copy it completely.

The military is the main market of weapons manufacturers. Without this arm of the state, these manufacturers would be forced to retrench and cost-cut, or even close down. But if there is a war, well, its party time for them. If you ask me, a state's military is supposed to be designed primarily to protect it from external forces who wish to wrest sovereignty from it and its people. Since the probability of the Philippines going toe-to-toe with another country over sovereignty is virtually nil - presuming that the human race has indeed evolved into a more civilized and mature being - budget allocations should be cut to the minimum, enough to maintain a professional military arm that is small yet appropriately strong to keep the peace. In this day and age, when the world has reached a level of sophistication, understanding, wisdom and peaceful coexistence far higher than our predecessors through the course of history, diplomacy and dialogue should have been our strongest foreign and local weapon when dealing with belligerents and hostile elements. We may have 7,107 islands, but we don't need 7,107 brigades, 7,107 tanks, 7,107 fighter planes, 7,107 navy ships, etc. If you disagree, then you're one thousand years behind your time.

A state's military should not be used against its very own citizens - regardless of tribe or religion - as if they were guinea pigs to test their weapons and bullets on for live-fire exercises. It should not be there only to show off muscles to other countries, or worse, act like bullies on civilians - especially the minorities - just because they can't find a good fight anywhere else and are spoiling for one. A case in point would be the long drawn series of violence here in Mindanao. When a state resorts to its military when solving a conflict problem, it has in effect devolved to the time when the caveman reigned; "Me prove to people me got big balls!! Me kill!! Me strong and macho!! Gotta Kill!!" Well, excuse me if I don't share your backward views. Sheesh!

I would love to see a state provide for more computers in the classroom and less - much less - guns in the battlefields of Mindanao. I would also love to witness a state that produces high school students from the barrios who can brag off their skills in trigonometry, or mouth off golden lines from Rizal, Balagtas and Shakespeare, and not struggle with basic arithmetic, or even monotonously recite Pepe and Pilar (God forbid!). That's why the gap between the urban-originated college freshman and the rural-originated college freshmen found in MSU is so wide you can put Mt. Matutum in between. I think our professors would agree that a month of "CBP" or a semester of "PUP" is not sufficient to help the latter cope with the curriculum of this campus, or for any other urban campus for that matter. Ergo, we need more quality and up-to-date primary and secondary education in the barrios.

To my understanding, when you say subsidized education, it also means subsidized books, subsidized dormitories, subsidized field trips and field studies, subsidized theses and research papers, subsidized facilities, subsidized laboratory ("bio", "chem.", and "compu") time, etc. We've got some of them here, but not all. In comparison, the United States of America, arguably the most powerful, yet most indebted, and perhaps most corrupt state in the world, provides for all of these, and much more, to its students. Heck, even their kindergarten pupils have computer courses! And mind you, it's free! Over there, when you say it's subsidized, it literally means fully subsidized.

What bugs me the most is the educational system's way of brainwashing students to study hard in order to work as an "employee" instead of studying hard in order to become a successful "entrepreneur". That's how America - the people, not the government - became great! Have you heard of the "American dream"? Well, we can also make our own "Philippine dream". This dream can never be gained through the meager "15-30" salary of an employee, but through private enterprise. The Department of Labor and POEA would not be in a quandary on how to provide jobs for the burgeoning number of unemployed people per year and the DSWD wouldn't have problems left and right with immorality and amorality due to people's inactivity brought about by unemployment.

The Philippines is an archipelago divided into dozens of tribes and three civilizations, the Majority, the Moro and the Lumad, all of which are indigenous. It is not like America whose whites came from Europe and whose blacks came from Africa. If you ask me, I would like to my country to have a Federal form of government. Why? Well, wouldn't it be better if it were an Ilocano governing Ilocanos, a Tagalog governing Tagalogs, a Cebuano governing Cebuanos, a Maranao governing Maranaos, a Maguindanaon governing Maguindanaons? Yes, yes, yes, this set up already exists now, but only in name. All of these leaders still answer to the Tagalog or Cebuano or Ilocano in Malaca�ang who most probably is not versed and appreciative enough of the diversified cultures, practices and ways of life of those in Mindanao and who most probably copied the methods of governing Mindanao from his/her predecessors since the time of our independence. Why not versed? Well, if he/she were indeed versed, Mindanao would have a better economy and better peace situation long ago. Not true? Tough luck. Read Mindanao history, my friends, and you'll see that our system has wrongly guided our government and the winning administrations that had occupied it over the years on the means by which Mindanao is supposed to be treated. And I tell you, it can only be described as sloppy.

Don't take offense if the metropolitans call us "promdi". At least, we are not ghettoized like them. The closest thing they have over there to a tree is a Meralco post. So what if we are "promdis"?! We are at least as best and as talented as them. Besides, their places are overpopulated, saturated, and over-polluted. I would like to see my state discourage the gathering of people in the metropolis to earn a living there and instead encourage them back to the provinces so that these provinces could enjoy the talents of their lost sons and daughters and thus develop. If malls can grow like grass there, it can also grow here. In comparison, Washington is the U.S. capital, but it can never be New York, or L.A. Beijing is the Chinese capital, but it is far behind Shanghai. You see, we may have Metro Cebu, Metro Davao and Cagayan de Oro, but they can't stand up economically against Metro Manila.

In a democratic form of government, the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" is the rule. However, it is sad to note that our justice system intentionally or unintentionally conditions the minds of our law enforcers to view suspects as "guilty until proven innocent". Also, in the U.S., police officers are compelled to "read" an arrested person his rights - "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one shall be provided for you by the state. Do understand these rights?" Here in the Philippines what you would usually hear is, "Walanghiya kang g__o ka! Pumasok ka na sa sasakyan! Patay ka sa 'kin sa presinto!" And that's even if you were merely passing by a crime scene and mistakenly identified as a suspect.

All in all, the attributes I have mentioned above are several of the main contentions which I very much hope to be changed by right-minded individuals who may in the future be mandated by the people at-large to run the state. These are also the main attributes of what I envision to be found in a proper state. Though I had tackled most of the issues very candidly, I do not mean to malign the people who belong to the institutions which are involved in the upkeep of the above-mentioned aspects of our state. I am a Moro and I am proud to be one, but the last thing I want from paranoid rightists is for them to brand me as a secessionist or leftist sympathizer, at the least. I will definitely take issue with that. I prefer to be called "non-aligned" but aware. What I'm trying to drive at is that our state has a system inherited from foreigners of the past century which fits its people like a square peg in a round hole. The system we possess simply doesn't work well with the cultural diversity present in our land. It's also like putting gasoline to a diesel-fueled engine.

Look, we are in debt with other countries, we are penniless, our standard of living and quality of education is among the lowest - if not the lowest, we are war torn as a nation, we are divided as a people, we are unfocused as a state. And, to add insult to injury, we have been living this way since the time we became independent. Aren't these proofs enough? Can't we see this? Can't we get this through our thick skulls? We have been ranting about wanting to have a better life, as individuals and as a people, but we continuously and forcibly use a system which is incompatible with us to get what we yearn for. Obviously, we can never get it. Don't use a fork if you want to sip on your soup. It wouldn't work.

Whatever kind of system we may hopefully and eventually replace to improve the present Philippine state, what is important is that we are aware, that the present system we possess doesn't work and that consummate effort must be initiated and sustained until the right and appropriate kind of system can be established. Let's stop blaming one another and finger-pointing each other and instead work together for this, shall we? You may not like me and I may not like you, but we can work together professionally towards achieving a common goal. It behooves civilized people to do so. For the good of the Philippine nation, for the good of the citizens of the Philippines, and for the good of its children who shall inherit the future.

Courtesy of BAGWIS, The official student publication of Mindanao State University-General Santos City, Vol XXVI, No.2