Bring back the rule of law

“Where the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state, in my view, is not far off; but if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men enjoy all the blessings that the gods shower on a state.”—Plato

THE rule of law should be the foundation for both our liberties and for social order. Many Filipinos before us have fought in great struggles and even died to re-establish the rule of law in our country. Even now they weep in their graves for what is happening in the land they so loved.

The rule of law means that the law is above everyone and it applies to everyone. Whether you are the president of the country or the street-sweeper who just wears the president’s shirt—ruler or ruled, no one is above the law and no one is exempted from the law.

It is said that the rule of law was developed by Islamic jurists before the twelfth century, so that no official could claim to be above the Islamic religious law (or Sharia), not even the caliph. Warlords in Mindanao, take note.

All government officials in the Philippines pledge first and foremost to uphold the Constitution, affirming that the rule of law is superior to their offices and provides the basis of their mandate.

But we know only too well that the rule of law is weak or nonexistent in this country. It is mere rhetoric, not reality.

When the police operate as an organized crime gang or as the henchmen of a politician, there is no rule of law.

When you’ve got legislators and judges who act as proxies for the administration, there is no rule of law.
When journalists, activists and ordinary people disappear and are tortured and killed without getting justice, there is no rule of law.

When government officials and law enforcement officers continue to enjoy impunity for their actions, there is no rule of law.

How do we counter these gross abuses of human rights? How do we bring back the rule of law in this land?

Without the means to obtain justice for human rights violations, there is very little meaning to human rights at all. The toll of victims would just pile up. There will be more massacres like what happened in Maguindanao.

Bringing back the rule of law in the land would not be the work of one person alone, but the next president certainly must put in place avenues for independent investigation and judicial inquiry of human rights abuses, including all the abuses of the administration from which he took over.

This administration has had a long-standing resistance to investigation and inquiry. Lies and denials have been its language during discussions on human rights abuses. There has never seen a serious effort to uncover the truth. And even the hierarchy of the Catholic Church seems to have accepted its powerlessness. Once, a bishop even compared this administration with the Marcos dictatorship, saying the killings, torture and disappearances are not all that bad compared to the days of martial rule.

Those who speak out in condemnation of the Maguindanao massacre must ask themselves what they did to prevent it in the first place.

The next president must have the political will to uphold the rule of law. He must not seek to abolish the Constitution. Instead, he must make sure it is followed, and he should follow it himself.

The test of a constitution does not lie in its contents but in what is done to assert the rights and laws it proclaims.

Mass killing could set back jobs creation, investments.

UNLESS quickly resolved, the Maguindanao bloodbath threatens to set back government efforts to entice investors that would create badly needed new jobs and improve lives in Mindanao, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) warned Sunday.

By resolved we mean government must not only instantly bring the culprits to justice, but also immediately address all the issues that breed lawlessness in Mindanao, including the surge of private armies there.

The government must act fast to redeem Mindanao. In some parts of Mindanao, it has become impossible for the people to discern whether the armed men on checkpoints are police officers, soldiers, insurgents, private armies, plain brigands, or all of the above.

The adverse global publicity generated by the bloodshed could erode recent gains in projecting the country as a desirable investment site.

It is not just Mindanao. The whole country is being affected in terms of potential foreign investors being alienated by the observation that we have become an unruly republic, where private armies freely roam and brazenly slaughter civilians and journalists.

The Maguindanao massacre was the biggest recorded loss of journalists in a single incident. The Philippines has thus earned the new status as the world’s most dangerous place for journalists.

The perception that law enforcement is weak, slow and inadequate emboldened in a big way those
responsible for the Maguindanao butchery.

Strong law enforcement is the best deterrence. The certainty that offenders will be swiftly apprehended and punished once they commit a felony, whether mass murder or kidnapping for ransom, is the reliable way to discourage lawlessness. –ERNESTO F. HERRERA, Manila Times

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