Proem

Last Sunday I wrote that the awareness of President Duterte regarding the overall situation in the Philippines today is of the fifth level of awareness or Avatar.  It comes from the insight or instinct and not primarily from information.

The fifth level of awareness always competes with the fourth level of awareness which comes from logical and scientific analysis of data or Skepticism.  The fourth level of awareness is the general level in school, government, society, and other aspects.

Every now and then an Avatar will come along.  He then shows his awareness and very few from the general public can understand or follow the unusual logic.

“Gravity” as Analogy

Before the time of Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) nobody understood why objects will fall and why heavenly bodies have orbits.  Newton introduced his concept of gravity.  He said that it is the property of masses to attract each other and the force of attraction is directly proportional to the masses of the objects and inversely proportional to the distance between them.  Newton said that gravity is a force of attraction.

When his formulas were applied to the movements of objects and heavenly bodies it gave accurate results.  The accuracy of the results made many scientists overlook the fact that when the logic is carried further, the results will be inconsistent.

However, some scientists were still uncomfortable because if all objects in the universe attract each other the result will be immobility.  It is like the spokes in the wheel of a bicycle.  Since the heavenly bodies are still moving, then there must be another explanation.

Theory of Relativity

After many years of scientific applications many scientists discovered that the Laws of Newton have limitations.  In year 1906, Albert Einstein produced his Special Theory of Relativity and in 1916 his General Theory of Relativity.

In these theories the gravity is not taken as a force of attraction but a curvature of Time and Space.  Time does not exist but it is combined with space to become the fourth dimension known as Time and Space or Space-Time.

When a body or mass travels, it causes the Space-Time to curve that is perceived in the Newtonian Law as attraction or falling.  The theories of Einstein are beyond normal human experience but the results are applicable to the very big universe or the subatomic particles.  In other words, Einstein was an Avatar.

One hundred years have passed and the Theory of Relativity is not generally taught and studied in school.   However, our college physics is mainly taught using the theories of Newton.  Majority of the people still think that gravity is a force of attraction and not a curvature of Space-Time.

Human Rights and EJK

Before the creation of the United States Constitution, the concept of Human Rights and EJK (Extra Judicial Killing) were only philosophical concepts.  In fact it is the United States of America that started the concept of making the written Constitution as the fundamental and highest law of the country.  In other countries the King was higher than the Constitution.  In Muslim countries the Holy Koran is higher than the Constitution.

When the United States became powerful and influential, as it is today, many of its political practices were prescribed or forced upon others.

Since the Philippines copied it’s political, judicial, educational, and many other systems from the United States of America majority of our educated people presume that we also follow the Human Rights and EJK concepts of the Americans.  We neglect the fact that we have a different history, culture, and traditions from the Americans.

US Concept

In the USA concept, each individual have rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights.  These stated rights were reaction to their experience when they were yet colonies of England.  When any agent of the law or government will violate these rights, it is then called human rights violation.

According to the US Constitution, no person shall be deprived of life, property, or liberty without due process of law.  If a person is killed without due process, then it is extra judicial killing, except during a war.

Newtonian Analogy

According to the Americans, each individual whether law abiding or not, have right.  No agent of the law or government can violate this right.  However, if it is a criminal who will violate the right of the law abiding individual or the police, it is only a crime statistic and not Human Rights violation.

This concept is comparable to the “Laws of Newton”.  It is the principle in the American practice but very questionable when applied to other situations.

PDU30’s Concept

The concept of Pres. Duterte has a different twist in application that will render the American practice inapplicable or needs new definitions.  I will compare it to the Theory of Relativity when referring to gravity because the variables are changed.

In the American concept that some Filipinos want to follow is to make the Police or law enforcers act as a “referee” to the law abiding citizens and the criminals. The police will act only when a crime is committed, about to be committed, or was committed.

President Duterte puts the police and law enforcers between the law abiding citizens and criminals, drug pushers, and other violators.

PDU30 then declared war on the drug lords, drug pushers, and all those victimizing the citizens to become drug users.  He then urged everyone to surrender, including the drug users.

In the Duterte procedure the criminals are identified from the victims.  The criminals are then pursued for doing a continuing crime.  It is debatable whether it will be a Human Rights violation because the drug users and pushers are known.

However, judging upon the reaction of the people, the concept of putting the police between the criminals and the innocent people is understood by the people.

The fight against the criminals is done according to the rules allowed by law.  The recent statistics indicate that 1,105 where killed during the police buy-bust operations for fighting against the police, 16,891 arrested, and 712,484 surrendered.  (Note: 8 police are killed.)

In the American concept of extra judicial killing, the police will be pursuing the criminals.  In the PDU30 concept, the citizens are at the back protected by the police who are facing the criminals in a fight.  It is a slight alteration in the logic but the people accepts that it is not extra judicial killing. (By Jes B. Tirol)