Flipping coins

Here I was, a staunch advocate for the respect of human rights. Even extending my sympathy to felons and thugs, I am always emphasizing the consideration of human rights despite the bleakness of background or whatsoever. Oftentimes, I come to debate this stand with some of my friends who are in the military and in the police force as these branches of the government security are notorious for carrying out blatant disregard and disrespect for human rights. Time and again we are exposed to the cases of torture, enforced disappearances, organized crime groups, abduction, molestations and other crimes perpetrated by the military and the police in the course of their so called pursuit for justice.

However it is indeed a different case when you or one of your family would come across a situation that would test how strong you are on the stand you have chosen to take. My campaign for the popularization of the idea on human rights would personally benefit me as the third sex is also a frequent victim of human rights violations. My campaign then for the overall observance of all rights is in part a  personal campaign to gather respect and be treated as an equal by other people.

Early this week, my brother was heavily mugged by 5 able men at the public market in Baguio City. I am confident that should there have been 3 thugs, my brother would have been able to match them. But going against five is a thing for the action stars and not for my brother who is barely 18 years old. After mugging him, they robbed him off his phone, his money and even his shoes. Unbelievably, these people are really that needy or greedy to be robbing down to the shoes. Raising the point that shoes in Baguio City should be cheap given the rampant ukay ukay stalls. So my brother walked the distance of about 5 kilometers just to get home with his swollen face, aching body and only his socks on his feet. 

Having this incident  happen in our life makes me contemplate and justify the reasons behind enforced disappearances and torture and vigilante acts and salvaging. I came to a point where I was questioning my once solid stand on human rights. But that was all wrong. I am still solid on my stand to uphold human rights. On the case of these thugs, I would not care if one of these days they would be victims of salvaging or the likes (which I pray would be the case) for I believe no sane human being can ever do that stunt without holding back or thinking twice. The likes of these people lost their sense of humanity along the way. They are human no more. I believe a human rights activist has no thing for them and maybe PAWS can be more accommodating.

*no offense meant for PAWS