I am very grateful for this opportunity
to once again speak before you my dear students and teachers of this beloved
school. I accepted this invitation not because I am a worthy guest who could
give a scholarly discussion on the subject but foremost because it really is my
passion to share something I have learned, experienced or understood. In fact I
am very much excited as again, I would be able to exercise one of my human
rights, my freedom of speech. Thanks for reaching me out.
Today we celebrate the Human Rights
Month. The United Nations declared the 10th of December as the Human
Rights Day for this day in 1948 was the day when the UN General Assembly codified
and inked the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which declared that the “Human
Rights is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace,” and which paved the
way to an insurmountable amount of progress against prejudice and
discrimination.
The best way to celebrate Human Rights month is to take time to understand what exactly this codified set of freedoms does for you. Studying and researching it is a way to honor the work and lives that went into making sure this document came to exist for the good of all mankind.
Bago itong declaration of Human Rights, during World War II, there were four basic goals stated by the Allies, that every man and woman should know and experience. They spoke of four freedoms: Freedom of Speech (malayang pananalita), Freedom of Religion (kalayaan sa paniniwala), Freedom from fear (kalayaan mula sa takot), and Freedom from want (Kalayaan mula sa kahirapan). These ideas were set in place and upheld, but as was made clear by the atrocities committed by Hitler and others fascists, they were woefully insufficient to guarantee and enforce the freedoms they represented. So it came to pass in December of 1948 that the United Nations General Assembly put forth 30 articles that cover everything from rights to education, freedom, health, and more. Since this event these articles have served to help protect civilians in time of war or dictatorship, to help bring POW’s home, and to ensure that people everywhere are allowed to live in liberty and safety.
The theme this morning is very much
appropriate and relevant. Napag-uugnay ito
lalo na’t kasalukuyang pinag-uusapan sa buong Pilipinas ang pagtakbo ni Mayor
Duterte at Bongbong Marcos sa pinakamataas na katungkulan sa pamahalaan.
Forgive me for having to connect them to the subject but every time their names
are mentioned, one thing normally crossed my mind: HUMAN RIGHTS. I hope you already
get what I meant because I wouldn’t want to elaborate on it further.
Para po sa
kaalaman ng lahat, throughout history there have been instances of wanton
cruelty, and a blatant violation of the rights and privileges of mankind.
Whether that was based on the color of one’s skin, their nationality, religion,
or merely being unfortunate enough to be living under the regime of another
country, people have regularly been treated like animals, or worse. Human
Rights Month is here to remind us of that day in 1948 when the UN codified the
basic human rights of every individual on the planet.
This month also marked the foundation of the Department
of Education, which was established on December 20, 1863, by virtue of the
Educational Decree of 1863, so that it would also be right to celebrate the
same, for if not for the establishment of the educational system in the
country, wala siguro ni isa man sa atin
ang nandito ngayon.
However, let me give emphasis more on issue with regard
to Human Rights. But what is human rights? What comprises of human rights? How
are human rights protected in this country and internationally? How is human
rights connected with education? Ito’y
iilan lamang sa mga katanungan na maaaring manatili sa ating mga isipan bilang
mag-aaral o guro. A very popular phrase, but what do we really understand
of HUMAN RIGHTS?
Karapatang
pantao. The
basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are considered to be entitled.
Inherent in all persons, from conception to birth until after our death, these
rights are guaranteed not only by our laws but by the law of nations as well. Hindi ito binibili, hindi hinihingi, sa
halip ito’y nakaugnay na sa atin simula sa ating pagkabuhay, o bago pa man tayo
isilang hanggang sa kamatayan at lampas pa duon. Kaya nga po me dabate sa RH
Law dahil sa pangangalaga ng karapatang
pantao ng mga sanggol o mga hindi pa isinisilang.
We may never be cognizant of it but all
of us must know and understand our basic rights. Pero anu-ano nga ba ito? Napakarami po, napakalawak po, at nakadikit sa
kahit na napakaliit na mga gawain ang ating mga karapatang pantao.
Basic to our human rights are our right
to life, right to liberty and right to property. Pinananagutan ng ating Saligang Batas at ng Pandaigdigang Kalipunan ng
mga Bansa ang mga karapatang pantaong ito.
Right to life. Karapatang mabuhay. Kasama rito ang karapatan ng mga sanggol na
ipanganak at mabuhay. Karapatan ng mga bata na mabigyan ng pagkain, mapag-aral
at makapagsalamuha sa lipunan. Ngunit hindi lamang mga bata ang may karapatang
mabuhay. Right to life does not identify any age, race, sex, civil status
or financial standing. Lahat tayo sa mundo
ay may karapatang mabuhay, bata-matanda, babae-lalake, me asawa o wala, me
trabaho o wala, mahirap-mayaman. Walang pinipili ang pagkakaroon ng karapatang
pantao.
Hindi
nga ba’t pinatigil pagpapatupad ng Death Penalty dahil sa pagpapatibay ng karapatang ito? Hindi nga ba’t mahigpit na
pinagbawal ang pang-aalipin o pagbebenta ng mga alipin? Hindi nga ba’t may mga
batas na itinakda para protektahan ang buhay? Kaya nga po may paglilitis, kaya
nga po may husgado, kasi ito ay pagbibigay-halaga sa buhay. Ito ay pagpapatunay
na walang karapatan ang sinuman na kunin ang buhay ng isang tao kahit gaano pa
man siya kasama hangga’t walang paglilitis na patas at walang kinikilingan.
Extrajudicial killings, summary executions, salvaging are violations of right to
life, violations of human rights.
Right to liberty. Karapatang maging malaya. You cannot be detained or imprisoned
without due process of law. Walang
karapatan ang sinuman na ikulong ang kanyang kapwa kung walang dahilan at
walang paglilitis. This is the reason why the law penalizes illegal
detention at kidnapping. This is the reason why we have courts, upang litisin ang mga may sala. We
cannot just send or drag criminals to prison. Why? Because everyone is entitled
to his right to liberty or freedom.
Kasama
sa mga karapatang ito ay ang ating iba pang karapatan tulad ng Freedom of
expression (karapatang magsalita),
freedom of the press (karapatan sa
pamamahayag), Freedom of association (karapatang
makipag-ugnayan), right to travel and abode (karapatang maglakbay at magkaroon ng tirahan) at marami pang iba.
Right to property. Karapatan sa pagmamay-ari. Who among you here wants his property
taken for no reason at all? Kaya nga po
the law penalizes theft, pagnanakaw,
corruption. This is to protect our right to property. Corruption is a form of
violation of human rights, particularly of our right to property, don’t you
know that? Why? Because we have a government of the people. The Philippine
Government is owned by the Filipino People, so that anyone who takes away or
plunders the property of the people should be held responsible.
Included in this right is the right of
suffrage o ang karapatang bomoto. Sa
pagboto, pumipili tayo ng ating mga pinuno na mangangalaga ng ating pamahalaan,
who will protect our property in the government.
There are a litany of human rights but
if we would be discussing each of them right now, we would be spending too much
time and I will already be violating your right to attend your classes or to
have some rest.
But let me discuss a very relevant
subject. Very relevant to you now is your right to education. Karapatang makapag-aral, matuto at
mabigyang-kaalaman. This is the reason why the government spends budget for
free basic education. Libreng pag-aaral
sa elementary at highschool. Libre po
ang edukasyon mula elementarya hanggang highschool. Maaaring kulang ang mga pantugon ng pamahalaan sa mga karapatang ito,
ngunit kahit sa maliit na paraan, ito ay pagpapatunay lamang na dapat
pahalagahan ang ating karapatan sa edukasyon.Sa pagpapalakas ng karapatang ito.
Public elementary and high schools are probihited to reject enrolees for any
reason, it may be because of failure to pass entrance examinations, overcrowding
or others. Walang karapatan ang mga
pampublikong paaralan sa elementarya at sekondarya na tanggihan ang sinumang gustong
magpatala. Any violation of this is an actionable wrong and would subject
the administrator to certain sanctions. Kailangang
gawan ng paraan na pagbigyan at tanggapin ang mag-aaral.
However, but, datapwat, ngunit, subalit, may kasabihan, ani Uncle Ben ni Spiderman, “With great power comes
great responsibility.” Napakalawak man
ating mga karapatan, lahat ng ito ay may kaakibat na responsibilidad o
tungkulin. Every right must be exercised with due respect to the rights of
others. Any abuse in the exercise of these rights are considered violations of
the rights of others. Dire la kit
mapatunga sa ato mga katungod, because other people around us have their
human rights also. Yes, yaon ka katungod
magkanta saim videosinco, pero dire karuyag sidngon na puede ka magngalngal
mag-aga hasta makapurisaw saim mga higripid, because by that you are already
violating the right of your neighbours to have a good sleep.
So that, if you have the right to
education, you also have the responsibility to study. You have to make sure
that you exercise you right fully and responsibly. The government spends for
your education so much, don’t let that expense go in vain, because you are
actually violating the right to property of the people who pay taxes, from
where this budget for education are being drawn.
With these I would like to end by
saying, “Learn and harness your human rights, exercise them but with fairness, justice
and with due regard to the rights of your fellowmen. #
Thank you and good day.