IN A one-hour special, American Rick Steves travels back a century to learn how fascism rose and then fell in Europe—taking millions of people with it.
The story of fascism in 20th-century Europe teaches the world that strong and charismatic leaders can capitalize on fear to lead a society astray.
Democracy is fragile. It requires a vigilant and engaged populace. If we allow popular leaders to take unconstitutional measures to solve complicated social problems, we stand to lose our freedoms.
The film emphasized the rule of law to stop totalitarianism. The past weeks, lawyers talked of “void ab initio” or void from the start.
This is in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s attempts to nullify the 8-year-old amnesty given to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in a still unsuccessful attempt to jail the President’s top critic.
Unlike in Europe at that time, the justice system is fighting back. Philippine democracy has still several aces up its sleeves.
For retired Supreme Court Justice Vicente Mendoza, one of the country’s authorities in constitutional law, declared “Only courts declare anything void, whether void ab initio or otherwise also known as voidable. That is a judicial function.”
Then there’s Section 5, Article VIII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which says that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over “all cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any treaty, international or executive agreement, law, presidential decree, PROCLAMATION, order, instruction, ordinance, or regulation is in question.”
Mendoza said that if the President wanted to declare Trillanes’s amnesty void ab initio, he should have gone to the courts first because it involves judicial power.
No, William Shakespeare was wrong when he declared “Let’s kill all the lawyers” in his Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2.
We take heart with the statement of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Negros Occidental Chapter:
“Any attack against a lawyer weakens the practice of law and demoralizes lawyers from fulfilling their sworn duty to defend their clients. It threatens the independence of lawyers and judges, hindering their pursuit toward an effective administration of justice. Ultimately, an attack against a lawyer is a threat against civil liberties and should not be tolerated.”
Yes, lawyers and judges are democracy’s shock troops to defend our democratic way of life. (bqsanc@yahoo.com)