DEMOCRACY

 “Our system of democracy is committed irrevocably to a government of

laws, and not of men.” (Dissenting Opinion of Justice Sereno in League of
the Cities of the Philippines v COMELEC, G.R.No.176591, June 28,2011)

RULE OF LAW

 Justice Holmes said: “The law is the witness and deposit of our moral life.
In a liberal democracy, the law reflects social morality over a period of
time. Occasionally though, a disproportionate political influence might
cause a law to be enacted at odds with public morality or legislature might
fail to repeal laws embodying outdated traditional moral views. Law has
also been defined as something men create in their best moments to
protect themselves in their worst moments. Law deals with the minimum
standards of human conduct while morality is concerned with the
maximum. Law also serves as a helpful starting point for thinking about a
proper or ideal public morality for a society in pursuit of moral progress.”
(Estrada v. Escritor, A.M. No. P-02-1651, 04 August 2003, 408 SCRA 1)

 Obedience to the rule of law forms the bedrock of our system of justice.
(People v. Veneracion, G. R. No. 119987-88, 12 October 1995, 319 Phil. 364.)

CONDUCT OF POLICEMEN

 What is here said should not by any means be taken as a disapproval or a

disparagement of the efforts of the police and military authorities to deter
and detect offenses, whether they be possession of and traffic in
prohibited drugs, or some other. Those efforts obviously merit the
support and commendation of the Courts and indeed of every responsible
citizen. But those efforts must take account of the basic rights
granted by the Constitution and the law to persons who may fall
under suspicion of engaging in criminal acts. Disregard of those
rights may not be justified by the objective of ferreting out and
punishing crime, no matter how eminently desirable attainment of
that objective might be. Disregard of those rights, as this Court has
earlier stressed, may result in the escape of the guilty, and all because the
"constable has blundered," rendering the evidence inadmissible even if
truthful or otherwise credible. (Separate Opinion of Justice Narvasa in
People v Malmstedt, G.R. No. 91107, June 19,1991)