Power as a Demon

     1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION ARTICLE III, BILL OF RIGHTS

Section 4. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances. 

  I started my entry with this excerpt from our nation’s Bill of Rights because this fundamental right has been placed in jeopardy recently, and it is all because of a five letter word called power. Ahh…power. When used for good, it spells as greatness. However, if this word was used for one’s own motives, it also spells as the word evil.

Recently, we have seen the ugly face of power as 64 people were killed brutally in Maguindanao by people who thirsted  for power and supremacy over the area. The incident was probably one of the most concrete examples about how this concept drives people to do atrocious things to their fellowmen. The photos and the news items were enough to tell me how awful the things that these victims experienced at the hands of their killers.

However, abuse of power does not only happen in a big incident like this. It happens everyday. We do not have to be a leader in order to abuse power. Whether it be bribing a traffic enforcer, bullying their classmates or simply taking credit for something you did not do, we all have been guilty of abusing power at some point in our lives. The only way that we can end this pattern of abuse is when we all start putting each other over oneself. If we value and serve one another in our own way, power can still be used for good.

It may seem a simple concept, but it becomes harder when you have to exercise power for the good of everyone else each day of your life especially in this time where individuality and self-awareness has been highly prioritized. I am not saying that these concepts are evil, but we also have to realize that putting too much importance to ourselves make us forget that the world is not just about us. You just have to set aside your interests for the good of the majority. Hey, I had to constantly remind myself of this one since I seem to forget about it a lot.

I hope the upcoming leaders as well as the incumbent ones be reminded of this thought during the coming elections. As idealistic as it may seem, I also hope that election violence stops here in this incident as well.