Republic of the Philippines

COMMISION ON HIGHER EDUCATION

GOV. MARIANO E. VILLAFUERTE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Potot, Libmanan, Camarines Sur

REFLECTION IN:
RIZAL LIFE & WORKS

Ma’am Almyra B. Balares

Instructor

Justine A. Pelareja
2A- BS Entrepreneurship

Reflection No. 1
 In a democratic society, people can voice their opinions to the government and ultimately play an
important role in the make-up and organization of society. To a new nation, these attributes of our society
are quite attractive. Many new nations today are making the switch to democratic government. The
problem with this is that most of these nations have never been democratic before. Therefore, new nations
are having great difficulty because such a switch is not easily accomplished. Developing a democratic
society has taken more than an entire century. These new nations tend to rush the change and in the end,
they become frustrated because such a switch is not as easily accomplished as thought. The features of a
modern democratic state are firstly a society dedicated to the preservation of rights and freedoms. From
that, a government system must adhere to developing a form of government that encompasses the values
of a working society. In other words, a government for the people, run by the people, and a system into
which they have invested.

In a democratic political system it is important that all citizens are able to have an equal say about
this. It is also important that the law is applied equally to all citizens, and that no one is above the law.
This concept is sometimes known as the rule of law. Finally, laws should comply with human rights. This
is important to make sure that laws are fair and that they are not abused as a means of oppression or
dictatorship. As a law-abiding citizen, I can do the following things to uphold the rule of law - First of all,
I have to follow the basic rules and laws in our personal lives because personal efforts are always
necessary to do something on a big scale. Then, according to our personal capabilities, I have to protest
against any kind of disobedience of law and order. Lastly, I also need to spread awareness among the
other people, to maintain the law and order as our personal duties. The above-mentioned efforts will
surely help us actively uphold the rule of law in a nation.

Without the rule of law, those with power - guns, gangs, political power, etc. - make and apply
the rules as they wish. So if they want to arrest someone to take their home, it will happen. If they want to
kill someone and their family to make an example of that person, it will happen. If they want to let their
friend go free and throw the book at someone else or frame someone else, they will do that. Our
democratic society is not being eradicated; it is being eroded by uncompromising self-interest, greed, and
extremism. Vote for worthy candidates who actually possess and believe in ethics. Law is the glue that
holds a democratic society together. All law-abiding citizens need to do to uphold the rule of law is to
carry on being law-abiding and to protest against unlawful actions. Failure to respect the rule of law
results in arbitrary government and tyranny.