I'm Glad There's Television

Some people just don’t watch t.v.

I have a blockmate who doesn’t watch t.v. Just try asking her about any local celebrity or show and chances are, she is absolutely clueless. And up until two days ago, I thought she’s unique. Apparently, I’m wrong for it turned out that many government officials (or at least, those who came to the joint session in Congress last Monday) don’t watch t.v. either. Devenadera claimed that one of the justifications for the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao was the military’s inability to take control of the situation there. Yeah, right. Every person who follows the news know saw the closing down of the local municipal hall and the detention of the people from the Ampatuan household inside their home last week. And of course, who is not aware of the massive crackdown that occurred subsequent to the massacre, i.e., the many warrantless search and seizure and arrest performed by the authorities? And yet, we have the government trying to convince the people that all these are mere apparitions and hallucinations, and do not reflect the real state of affairs in Maguindanao.

And it got worse. It seemed that no one in the Administration has access to any decent copy of the RPC.

Art. 134. Rebellion or insurrection; How committed. — The crime of rebellion or insurrection is committed by rising publicly and taking arms against the Government for the purpose of removing from the allegiance to said Government or its laws, the territory of the Philippine Islands or any part thereof, of any body of land, naval or other armed forces, depriving the Chief Executive or the Legislature, wholly or partially, of any of their powers or prerogatives.

Art. 248. Murder. — Any person who, not falling within the provisions of Article 246 shall kill another, shall be guilty of murder and shall be punished by reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death, if committed with any of the following attendant circumstances:
1. With treachery, taking advantage of superior strength, with the aid of armed men, or employing means to weaken the defense or of means or persons to insure or afford impunity.
2. In consideration of a price, reward, or promise.
3. By means of inundation, fire, poison, explosion, shipwreck, stranding of a vessel, derailment or assault upon a street car or locomotive, fall of an airship, by means of motor vehicles, or with the use of any other means involving great waste and ruin.
4. On occasion of any of the calamities enumerated in the preceding paragraph, or of an earthquake, eruption of a volcano, destructive cyclone, epidemic or other public calamity.
5. With evident premeditation.
6. With cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanly augmenting the suffering of the victim, or outraging or scoffing at his person or corpse.

Art. 249. Homicide. — Any person who, not falling within the provisions of Article 246, shall kill another without the attendance of any of the circumstances enumerated in the next preceding article, shall be deemed guilty of homicide and be punished by reclusion temporal.

It doesn’t take a lawyer or a law student to understand the difference between Articles 134 and 248. But how come the representatives from the Administration last Wednesday couldn’t get this right? I have three theories on this:
1) The government doesn’t have access to RPC.
2) The government’s version was lifted from Hitler’s diaries or from Despotism for Dummies. Some public officers just mistook it for the RPC.
3) The government is engaged in its own brand of statutory construction (or maybe “distortion” is the more apt term) that is abysmal and dangerous.

The Bill of Rights was meant to protect the people from abuse perpetrated by the government. And the media is a potent tool that we can use to safeguard our rights, especially when those in power has began manipulating the law itself to further their iniquitous interests. And shall I say, I’m glad there’s television.


Jen T. Paguntalan
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