HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PHIIPPINES

Source: hurights.or.jp

Human rights are universal, inalienable and indivisible. They are dynamic and continue to evolve
in response to the growing needs, concerns and aspirations of individuals and communities. These rights
are enriched in the course of the struggle for their full recognition. The human and peoples’ rights affirmed
in this declaration are wholly consistent with contemporary international standards. Nothing in this
declaration shall be used to negate or deny any other rights – whether specified or inferred found in
national or international human rights instruments.

The promotion of human and peoples’ rights is pursued through individual and collective action.
They are the product or purposive struggle and are linked to the real conditions and concerns of the
people. While much has been achieved, much remains to be done. In this new millennium, there will
remain the need for human rights defenders so long as repressive regimes, systems and structures exist
that threaten to thwart our gains.

In our world today, more and more people have become aware and thus aspire to live in an
environment that protects the universal standards of human rights. Human rights are a source of strength
and power for people – they enable us to continue to work for peace, prosperity, progress and sustainable
development. The cause of human rights enlivens our commitment to the realizations of the fullness of
life. This is our collective task as a people in solidarity with all the people of the world.

Step-By-Step Improvement

Despite the precarious condition of human rights in The Philippines, the Duterte administration
enjoys the highest public approval rating on record for a Filipino government dating back to the 1980s. On
the other hand, international criticism of the administration’s War on Drugs and human rights record
continues to pour in.

It’s encouraging that the international community and numerous Filipinos have refused to stay
quiet over the current human rights condition. As a result, the topic of human rights in the Philippines has
become a prominent global issue, which in itself is a step in the right direction towards positive change
and improvement.                                                     -Taylor Pace

LITERARY DEVICES

 These are techniques which shape narrative to produce an effect on the reader.

Plot Device – is an object, character or concept introduced into the story by the author to advance its
plot.
Plot Twist – any unexpected turn of the story that gives a new view on its entire topic. A plot twist at the
end of the story is called a twist ending.
Flashing Arrow – a technique used to focus the reader’s attention on an object or a location that will be
important later in the story.
Red Herring – a plot device that distracts the reader’s attention from the plot twists that are important for
the story. It is used to maintain tension and uncertainty.
Death trap – a plot device that the villain uses to try to kill the protagonist and satisfy his own sadistic
desires.
Comic Book Death – a technique which makes a major character “die or disappear forever”, but the
character re-appears later in the story.
Dark and Stormy Night – a cliché-like opening that usually includes darkness, violent lightning and a
general mood of solitude.
Reverse Chronology – a technique where a story begins at the end and works back toward the
beginning.
In medias res – a literary technique where the narrative starts in the middle of the story instead from its
beginning. The characters, setting and conflict is often introduced through a series of flashbacks.
Analepsis (flashback) – presents the events from previous to the current time frame. Flashbacks are
usually presented as character’s memories and are used to explain their backgrounds and the back-story.
Prolepsis (flash forward) – presents events that will occur in the future.
Foreshadowing – it is a premonition, much like a flash forward, but only hints at the future.
            *FINALES. There are several patterns for story endings:
Cliff-hanger – an abrupt ending that leaves the plot incomplete, without denouement. It often leaves
characters in a precarious or difficult situation which hint at the possibility of a sequel.
Twist Ending – an unexpected finale that gives an entirely new vision on the entire plot. It is a powerful
technique but it can leave the reader dissatisfied or frustrated.
Happy Ending – a finale when everything ends in the best way for the hero
Poetic Justice – type of a happy ending where the virtue is rewarded and the vice is punished.
Deus ex machina – a plot device dating back to ancient Greek theatre, where the conflict is resolved
through a means (by god, deus) that seem unrelated to the story. This allows the author to end the story
as desired without following the logic and continuity of the story.

BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR

Source: content.lib.washington.edu

Carlos Sampayan Bulosan (c. 1911– September 11, 1956) was a Filipino American author, poet,
and activist. A chronicler of the Filipino American experience during the 1930s - early 1950s, he is best
remembered for his semi-fictional, semi-autobiographical novel America Is In the Heart (1946) — a staple
in American Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies classes.

Bulosan’s works describe the experience of growing up poor in a rural area of the Philippines,
chronicling social and economic conditions created by the American occupation and centuries of Spanish
colonialism. Bulosan’s work captures the “push” factors that drove his generation to the United States.
Like Bulosan, they hoped to find a better future and forged resilient and adaptive communities in the face
of an often-hostile and exploitative European American culture in the United States.

Bulosan is a central figure in Filipino American history. His words and image appear in murals
and exhibits throughout Seattle’s International District. He is remembered as a progressive anti-colonial,
pro-labor, humanitarian voice by an array of communities including Asian/Pacific Islanders, organized
labor, academics and intellectuals, and a wide range of social justice; ethnic; and activist communities.

MY FATHER GOES TO COURT

By Carlos Bulosan

My Father Goes to Court is a humorous story by Carlos Bulosan. It is perhaps the most famous one
among the stories in his collection The Laughter of my Father, published in New York by Harcourt and
Brace 1944, having previously appeared in The New Yorker on 13 November 1943.

SETTING: In the City

CHARACTERS:

the young narrator

poor father, wife and his children
rich man, rich man’s children
servants
policeman
judge and the lawyer
 

PLOT

Exposition:

There was a young narrator describing his family who lived in a town with a rich neighbor. This family's
children often goes out to play along with each other and always find themselves laughing, while the rich
man's children are always kept inside the house. The family often hang and stand beside the rich man's
window to see whatever they are up to. They always unintentionally smell the rich aroma of those foods
their neighbor's maids are cooking.

Rising Action:

As time went on, the rich man's children became thin and anemic, while the young narrator's family grew
even more robust and full of life. Their faces were bright and rosy while the others were pale and sad.
Soon, the rich man started to cough and his wife began too. Then their children started to cough, one
after the other. Until one day, the rich man suddenly closed their windows after seeing the young
narrator's siblings; healthy and full of life.

Climax:

One morning, a policeman from the presidencia came to the young narrator's house. The rich man had
filed a complaint against them stating that they've been stealing the spirit of their wealth and food. The
day came for the two families to face the trial in the court. The rich man had a lawyer while the young
narrator's father stood by his decision to not hire any.

Falling Action:

The trial began by the rich man's lawyer started to ask annoying questions to the father. After answering,
the father requested to bring the complainant's children to the stand and began to ask almost the same
questions he answered. After being somehow proven guilty by the lawyer and the rich man's children, the
father agreed to pay the crime they committed.

Denouement:

The father agreed to pay the crime they committed. He walked over to where his children were sitting and
took his straw hat and began filling it up with centavo pieces. With the permission from the judge, he
strode into the other room with the hat full of coins in his hand while the doors of both rooms were wide
open. The sweet tinkle of the coins carried beautifully in the courtroom. All the people heard the sound.
He talked to the rich man and said: "That's the spirit of money, you are paid". The rich man fell to the floor
as the father stands the case to be dismissed.

 
THE STORY IN A NUTSHELL

1. There was a Happy family who always enjoys the day. The children were always playing outside
with a smile, bathing in a cold river from mountains, full of enjoyment.

2. Until one day, there was a Sad family who came home in their house. They always locked the
windows tightly that no sunlight enters.

3. The children were curious on that house because they looked up in the window, pale and thin
children looking to their place. The children were always watching the other children, playing
outside with the sun shines.

4. The rich man’s servants were cooking special foods. Thus, the happy children always stay in the
window to smell the spirit of the food.

5. Until the day came that the rich man filed a case against the Father because of stealing the spirits
of his food and wealth. Though, they end up in the court, with their family.

6. The father always agrees to all questions regarding the smelling of the aroma of their food, but
not wealth.

7. After that, the father stood up and get some coins to his children and wife and put them in his
straw hat. Then, he walked to the rich man and sounded the coins and then he said to him if he
heard the spirit of the sound, then the rich man agree and he fell down.

8. The jury stopped the case and congratulated the father and he want to hear his children laugh.
They laugh out loud but the jury laughed harder.