The good citizen

The good citizen
By Belarmino Dabalos Saguing

"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation."

Becoming a good citizen is very hard in a country like the Philippines. If the strict defination of being a good citizen is followed a person may find oneself confronted by a set of laws that goes against his human nature.

In a country like the Philippines, as in many countries, laws are enacted by men to satisfy their vision of what is right (or wrong). Laws are either good or bad, depending on the ideals (or lack of it) of the person authoring a law.

When a country is governed by a few wealthy and powerful and laws are tailored by their cohorts and minions ensuring that their benifits alone are safeguarded,  justice lose its true meaning. The state becomes so powerful that its machineries are geared to protect the ruling few and turn against the majority of workers and ordinary ciizens. (What the System of Justice should be http://bdsguing.blogspot.it/2013/05/what-system-of-justice-should-be.html).

 The institutions may still survive but not for the reason for which they were originally built, but only to protect the interests of the people who are part of the system. Those who protect these systems are the very people who themselves do not feel protected and secured; thus, being part of it gives them protection so they protect its status quo. Therefore, the neglect and abandonment of the country’s system is felt hard by people who are not within the system, but who were part of the original reason for its creation.

When a country reach this stage, the overthrow of the system is the only way to be a truly good citizen. Revolution becomes a necessity to save the nation. The conditioning of blind obedience must be thrown away if genuine democracy is to prevail. The status quo must be done away to pave the way to a better governance that upholds the interest and the will of the majority which is the people.