Sunday, September 17, 2017
9:27 PM |
A Checklist for Dummies
Let me keep this simple. I have questions, and you can answer “yes” or “no.”
Do you believe in the right to marriage and family?
Do you believe in the right to own property?
Do you believe in the freedom of belief and religion?
Do you believe in the freedom of opinion and information?
Do you believe in the right to rest and leisure?
Do you believe in the right to adequate living standard?
Do you believe in the right to education?
Do you believe in the right to participate in the cultural life of community?
Do you believe in community duties essential to free and full development?
Do you believe in the right to social security?
Do you believe that everyone has the right to equality, and enjoy freedom from discrimination?
Do you believe in the right to life, liberty, and personal security?
Do you believe in freedom from slavery?
Do you believe in freedom from torture and degrading treatment?
Do you believe in the right to recognition as a person before the law, ad the right to equality before it? Equally, do you believe in the right to remedy by competent tribunal, the right to fair public hearing, and the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty?
Do you believe in the freedom from arbitrary arrest and exile?
Do you believe in the freedom from interference with privacy, family, home and correspondence?
Do you believe in the right to free movement in and out of the country?
Do you believe in the right to asylum in other countries from persecution?
Do you believe in the right to a nationality and the freedom to change it?
Do you believe in the right of peaceful assembly and association?
Do you believe in the right to participate in government and in free elections?
Do you believe in the right to desirable work and to join trade unions?
Do you believe in the right to a social order that articulates all these rights? And consequently, do you believe in the freedom from the state or personal interference in these rights?
I don’t think anyone in his right minds would say “no” to any of these. These are fundamental rights that govern what it means to be a freedom-loving human being in the world. Hence, they are called “human rights,” here presented as an exhaustive list of imperatives arrived at by socially conscious individuals in history, taking note of what has ailed and challenged humanity in the course of its existence.
That one has to articulate them like this, in a list for dummies, speaks darkly of our age which has become a time steeped in gross misinformation.
Save for the lone voice out of the First District, our congressmen from Negros Oriental—in voting to give the Commission on Human Rights a one-thousand-peso operating budge—have articulated they do not care at all about any of these.
They might as well be shouting “no” to each of the questions above.
“Do you believe in freedom from slavery?” No!
“Do you believe in the right to education?” No!
“Do you believe in freedom from torture and degrading treatment?” No!
If you think about it, the import of their vote is chilling.
But they only voted to toe the party line, they said by way of explaining their votes. Which makes me wonder about their political designation and role. Are they “representatives” of the people, their constituents? Or are they “representatives” of the age-old “trapo” politics that have continued to bedevil us as a nation?
Labels: human rights, politics
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