To Be 'Practical' In This Country

First posted in my Friendster blog in 2008

Like any other law student, I and my classmates settled on a drinking spree after our final examinations. We promised to ourselves not to talk about the very difficult examinations for it will only ruin the night. And the plan went well. And so, we started emptying the bottles of beers and vodkas. Almost everyone then was drunk except for me for I really hate the taste of alcohols. While drunk, all then started to talk about things they would not usually talk about with much honesty when they are not under the influence of alcohol. The topic – what would we want to be after becoming lawyers, that simple yet very stimulating. Well, there are some issues I need to clear out before I go on with my story. First, we are not sure if we will really become lawyers. It is a tough profession and it is tougher to become one. Second, the philosophies and the ideologies that will be narrated later, which perhaps some of them you will find insulting, are not taught by our dear school. Now, I can proceed with the story. I just hope some of my classmates would not be able to read this because I am sure they would know that they were the ones I am talking about. Pasensya na mga pare.

It started with, “Pare, ano ba gusto mong gawin ‘pag abogado ka na?”Well, everyone waited for his turn to answer this intriguing question. One voluntarily began the answering saying he would want to be in the academe and would imitate the style of teaching of his favourite law professors. Such a noble answer. Our country needs people whose line of thinking is similar to that of my classmate. But it is really easier said than done. Another, without hesitation, bragged that he would want to work as legal counsel in institutions where money is not a problem. I found his answer lacking with something. Maybe because he prioritized money first than service. Then I took my turn in answering the question. I humbly said that I want to change our country. Being a lawyer is in a good position to effect change. A change that would affect not just a province but the whole nation. After hearing my answer which they did not expect at all, everyone started to rebut it. My seatmate rebutted it with a sinister smile, my other seatmate made his with an utter silence, another classmate rebutted it with a couple of questions, “How would you do that if you are just no one? You need power and fame to materialize that dream. How then would you get hold of those two?” But I threw back a question to him, “Do we really need power and fame to effect change in our country?” One classmate intervened and addressed his remark to me, “Pare, maging praktikal ka.” I thought for a while what he meant when he said that, but he nevertheless explained his confusing remark which was to my surprise. He said that to be practical in this country, one has to conform to the norm. The norm for him is that power can only be acquired when one does things which I consider dirty, and fame when one successfully done those things. It has long been observed in this country that to acquire power, one must team up with another who is already in power, to accept easy-money, to possess guns and goons, to instil fear amongst peoples, to tolerate violations of law, and to do other more things which should not really be done. Doing these, one is also crowned with fame. These are the ways one can acquire power and fame here in country. This is the norm which my classmate is talking about. These are the things I consider dirty. But this is really the norm here in country. How sad.

At one point, I thought my classmate was right. Oh so right. But on a second thought, he was wrong. Oh so wrong. Contradicting? Let me explain. He is right when he said that it was the norm. But he was wrong when he said that to be practical, one must do those things. The meaning of the word ‘practical’ seems to be corrupted already. Well, it has been the product of the political evolution here in our country. Many believe that to be practical is to really be like that. Some even think worse. But it should not be. We should not tolerate this erring perception. We should fix it now. So what must a practical person do? Go back to the basics. Be good at all times, be fair to everyone, and let the rule of law govern the people. Sounds cliché already? How about corrupting again the word ‘practical’? But this time, for the better. Say, to be practical is to have a line of thinking which is to effect change in our country, a change that would not just affect a certain place but the whole nation, where money is no important, and power and fame are not necessary. Sounds better? It sure does.

And so I say to you, “Pare, maging praktikal ka!”

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