TREASON (Article 114) Allegiance is that duty which is due from country.
which is due from country. But the idea cannot have any
Treason is a war crime. It is not an all-time
offense. It cannot be committed in peace
time. While there is peace, there are no
traitors. Treason may be incubated when
peace reigns. Treasonable acts may
actually be perpetrated during peace, but
there are no traitors until war has started.
As treason is basically a war crime, it is
punished by the state as a measure of self-
defense and self-preservation. The law of
treason is an emergency measure. It
remains dormant until the emergency
arises. But as soon as war starts, it is
relentlessly put into effect. Any lukewarm
attitude in its enforcement will only be
consistent with national harakiri. All war
efforts would be of no avail if they should
be allowed to be sabotaged by fifth
columnists, by citizens who have sold their
country out to the enemy, or any other kind
of traitors, and this would certainly be the
case if he law cannot be enforced under
the theory of suspension.
Allegiance has been defined as the
obligation for fidelity and obedience which
the individual owes to his government or
his sovereign in return for the protection
which he receives.
every citizen to the state, a political duty
binding on him who enjoys the protection
of the Commonwealth, to render service
and fealty to the federal government. It is
that duty which is reciprocal to the right of
protection, arising from the political
relations between the government and the
citizen. Wallace vs. Harmstad, 44 Pa. (8
Wright), 492, 501.
due from all men born within the King's
dominions immediately upon their birth, for
immediately upon their birth they are
under the King's protection. Natural
allegiance is perpetual, and for this
reason, evidently founded on the nature of
government.
Allegiance. — The tie which binds the
citizen to the government, in return for the
protection which the government affords
him. The duty which the subject owes to
the sovereign, correlative with the
protection received.
To those who think that sovereignty is an
attribute of government, and not of the
people, there may be some plausibility in
the proposition that sovereignty was
suspended during the enemy occupation,
with the consequence that allegiance must
also have been suspended, because our
government stopped to function in the
place under our Constitution. If
sovereignty is an essential attribute of our
people, according to the basic philosophy
of Philippine democracy, it could not have
been suspended during the enemy
occupation. Sovereignty is the very life of
our people, and there is no such thing as
"suspended life." There is no possible
middle situation between life and death.
Sovereignty is the very essence of the
personality and existence of our people.
Can anyone imagine the possibility of
"suspended personality" or "suspended
existence" of a people? In no time during
enemy occupation have the Filipino
people ceased to be what they are.
The idea of suspended sovereignty or
suspended allegiance is incompatible with
our Constitution.
NOTES on CRIMINAL LAW Book 2 Page 1 of 1