The appreciation of democracy

Ike Señeres

IT’S a great irony, I think, that some people in Mindanao are asking for autonomy that they already have while the rest of the country are already wallowing in a democracy that they also already have, but do not appreciate. Sad to say, this makes me think that some of our compatriots are asking for something that they do not really know what it is while they are also already in possession of something that they also do not really know what it is. To give everyone the benefit of the doubt however, perhaps it is better to say that most people actually know what democracy really is, but it seems that they do not really appreciate it as much as they should.

It has been said that Christians living in democratic countries do not really appreciate their faith as much as Christians living in communist countries do, simply because they just take their faith for granted, being able to practice it without any difficulties. Similar to that is the fact that people of all faiths who live in democratic counties would tend to take their freedoms for granted oftentimes not appreciating it, unlike the people who live in communist countries who could only long for their freedoms, and could not even appreciate what it means to be free.

In theory, democracy is a social contract wherein the citizens of a democratic country are supposed to have certain duties and obligations, supposedly in exchange for the freedoms and other benefits that they could get. Going back to the basics, most of our citizens presumably know that people, territory, government and sovereignty are the four elements of a State. I mentioned that, because most of our citizens should probably be reminded that their government is not alien to them, meaning that it is not apart from them because they own it, being the sovereign people that give life and substance to it.

Other than that, it seems that most of our citizens should also be reminded that the social contract is a two way agreement that involves law enforcement on one hand, and obedience of the law on the other hand. What that means is that the government has the duty to enforce the laws, but the people also have the duty to obey the laws. That is actually a symbiotic relationship wherein one could not really exist or survive without the other. In an ideal situation however, there should be no more need to enforce the laws if only the citizens would voluntarily obey these.

For example, most of our citizens are probably taking it for granted as a matter of fact that the government has to deploy so many traffic enforcers in our streets, to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. Presumably, most of our citizens would think that our motorists would obey the laws more if there are more traffic enforcers. Ideally however, all of our citizens should obey the traffic laws even if there are no traffic enforcers. I say ideally, because that is very far from our present reality now. The real situation now is that most of our motorists would only obey the traffic laws when traffic enforcers are around, out of fear perhaps that they would either be apprehended or fined.

As it is supposed to be, sovereignty is not supposed to be a static concept, because it is supposed to be expressed in the sovereign will of the people to make democracy work, both from the side of the government that is supposed to enforce the laws, and from the side of the people who are supposed to obey the laws. The worst situation that could possibly happen in a democracy however is when the government would fail to enforce the laws, while at the same time the people would also fail to obey the laws. We see that happening in our streets, because that is probably the cause of the slow movement of traffic, if not the paralysis of it.

As provided for in the Local Government Code (LGC), the Barangay Councils are supposed to convene the Barangay General Assembly (BGA) at least twice a year, without any limits as to how many more times it could be convened within the year. That is what the law says, but what is actually happening now is very far from what the law says. What is actually happening now is that very few Barangay officials are convening their BGAs, an act of omission or negligence that could actually drag them into an Ombudsman case. In a manner of speaking, a BGA is just like a Stockholder’s Meeting in a corporation, wherein all stockholders could vote.

As provided for in the LGC, each and every registered voter in a barangay has the right to vote in a BGA, in much the same way that every registered stockholder could vote in a Stockholder’s Meeting. Not only that, the BGA has the power to overrule or repeal any and all measures or resolutions passed by the Barangay Council, in much the same way that the Stockholder’s Meetings could overrule or repeal any and all measures or resolutions passed by the Board of Directors of a corporation.

Well, there is really no “chicken and the egg” situation here, because the registered voters in a barangay could actually demand that the Barangay Chairman should convene the BGA, whether he or she likes it or not. What is simply needed here is for these registered voters to gather the courage to assert their political will by invoking their vested rights, while at the same time suggesting strongly that the Barangay Chairman is already under threat of being bombarded with Ombudsman cases.

Just to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, we could perhaps say that the registered voters in a barangay are not filing cases against their barangay officials out of tolerance. Hopefully, it is not because of ignorance of what their vested rights are. The fact is, many barangay officials are getting away with not obeying the LGC, either because the registered voters do not know what to do, or they simply do not care to do anything. There may be a cure for ignorance, because an educational campaign could probably take care of that, but there is apparently no cure for apathy. It is apathy that weakens democracy, in much the same way that passivity weakens Christianity.

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