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Going around schools in General Santos City, Koronadal City, Tacurong City, and Esperanza (which was just a few kilometers down the road where the Maguindanao Massacre occurred) these past few weeks, while on our "astronomy tour", I noticed differences between public and private schools, and perhaps the one glaring observation that floated to the top was on cleanliness.

Yesterday we were at a public school, and the "gym" (actually a covered court with covered bleachers) we used for our astronomy experience for the kids of that school was really in a dismal state. Structurally it was sound, but it was dirty, dank and just gave one a sense that the place was being neglected.

I know that for most of my countrymen, this is a "normal" thing, and perhaps for a few exceptions (in fairness, in the past few months, there were other public schools we went to, that were clean and well-maintained), that this is the norm--private schools are cleaner and more well-maintained than public schools. Call me naive, but I want to know if this is an issue of lack of government budget for maintaining school facilities or is it really more of an issue with one's own sense of cleanliness and order? I mean, if one was really intent in making his/her surroundings clean, then regardless if whether one is being paid or not for cleanliness and order, then one would really exert effort to make sure this is so, right?

The reason I say this is the common expression you get from other people, once you open up this sort of topic to them is "BLAME THE GOVERNMENT!" But then looking at all these broken, rundown armchairs piled up like a trash heap at one corner of this gym, I can't help but think that this issue could be a societal/community one, and even if indeed the government has something to do with it, why didn't ANYONE exert effort just to keep things in order?

People should also look into themselves and their own capacity for unprompted or unstimulated action for order, safety and cleanliness.