State-society relationships

- Theoretically speaking, it should be harmonious as both the state and the society should be
complementing one another for the development of a country
- In the Philippines, this is not the case because as we have seen, there is conflict between the
state and the society, with neither one giving way that they can’t meet at a certain point
wherein a compromise would be reached, that’s why we have a dysfunctional relationship
between the two.

Three reasons why we have a dysfunctional state-society relationship:

1. Regionalism
- A sense of association from the place that you came from
- There is a sense of pride as to your origin
- The downside is that it breeds discrimination
- Superiority complex, wherein people are seeing themselves as more superior than the rest
- Discrimination in the Philippines is more economic based; those who are living in the urban
areas vs those who are in the provinces
- Caused by the way development is being distributed, only a few or selected areas are benefiting,
in the case on the Philippines, you have Manila as the one that is overly saturated with
development to the point that other places are being neglected .
- People are leaving provinces to go the big cities because of lack of opportunities i.e. lack of jobs,
better life
- A rethinking should be made in terms how development is to be distributed; provinces should
be given the same level of attention/opportunities as to what Manila and others are
experiencing.
- Lito Osmena, a former governor of Cebu, ran in the 1998 vice-presidential elections, bringing
with him his battlecry PROMDI (PRObinsya Muna Development Initiatives), which aims to give
development opportunities to the provinces.
- If development is to be equally distributed, discrimination will eventually be eliminated because
provinces are also experiencing the same opportunity as what big provinces are having.

2. Weak social control

- Joel Migdal’s Strong Societies, Weak States talks of the government being held hostage by its
own society.
- Caused by the concept of utang na loob, wherein you are mandated/obligated to give back to
someone who has done something to you
- Government tends to prioritize those who helped them secure power/position instead of
focusing on the bigger picture, that’s why majority of the society is being neglected in favor of
the few. Laws/policies tend to prioritize certain groups rather than the welfare of the general
public.