With so many people claiming that “due process” is not working or is, as one person on Facebook put it, a “due process is merely a quaint notion”, I had to check with my lawyer friends about it because I had actually become a little unsure of myself.
I messaged them on Facebook and they told me that due process was still in place, working as it should. Sure, people still break the law and it takes time for law enforcement to catch up with them after which it will take years if not decades for the court to hand down a decision.
But yes, INDEED, due process is still working because we still have somewhat of a government that, in varying degrees, inefficiently and ineffectively sees to it that laws are applied or misapplied to whomever is unfortunate enough at the moment.
Of course, being the lawyers, I guess you can’t really trust what they say. Why? Because… LAWYERS!
But before we get lost in semantics, let’s try to figure out what we refer to when we talk about due process.
Article Three Section One of the 1987 Philippine Constitution says, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”
Article Three is called “The Bill of Rights”, it protects the citizens from The State.
What section 1 says is that The State is not allowed to kill, imprison/detain, or steal property from its citizens WITHOUT FIRST checking with a bunch of law books interpreted by a bunch of lawyers and judges. Moreover, the state is supposed to safeguard the interests of its citizens equally as stated by law.
The things being pointed out as proof that there is no due process is that people think they can cite numerous cases proving that the state has unlawfully killed, imprisoned, or taken property.
This is fallacy of composition arises when one infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole.
For example, if I see part of President Noynoy’s head doesn’t have hair and another part doesn’t have hair, it wouldn’t be logical for me to conclude that he is completely bald. Sure, I can say he is ugly and it may be true, but that’s besides the point.
Thing is, Duterte’s supporters point to the Ampatuan massacre or the numerous crimes that haven’t been resolved or the numerous criminal cases that haven’t been decided upon to bolster claims that the criminal justice system isn’t working either in part or in whole.
ERGO, their argument goes, the solution is to elect Duterte as President because he promises to do away with due process and the criminal justice system.
And if you say anything contrary to what they claim is a good solution, they’ll hit you with other fallacies:
- Argumentum Ad Miserecordiam or the fallacy of appealing to pity, where they will tearfully speak of the horrors and heartaches of people who have been victims of criminals.
- Fallacy of False Dilemma, where in they try to force you to choose between ONLY two out of a universe of other choices. They will indignantly tell you it is a choice between junking due process and allowing criminality to rein over the country. Or, because you say that you don’t agree that Duterte will provide the solutions to crime and corruption, then you are automatically branded as an agent of criminals and corrupt government officials.
- Argumentum Ad Baculum, where in force, coercion, or even a threat offorce is used in place of a reason in an attempt to justify a conclusion. And this is the funniest one, especially when it is played out on social media because sometimes you have some guy using a fictitious account lobbing threats of bodily harm or curses on another person with a fictitious account.
I used to be annoyed when I encounter people using these fallacies, but these days I am only grateful to people who give me a taste of these things because it gives me some reason to think that I still possess a rational mind.
Lastly, I’d be fine with Duterte taking away due process, but only on the condition that the state supplies me guns as well as ammunition so that I can kill every stupid idiot that crosses my path.
And yes, if I die defending my rights… Bury me with my guns on, so if I see Duterte in hell, I can shoot him right between the eyes.
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