A case without reason
Few years ago, there were rambunctious court cases filed against then Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama by informal settlers. In my mind, they put unnecessary social stress and senseless discord to our otherwise peaceful city because, to a certain extent, their suit rubbed salt to the divide between the rich and the poor. I do remember distinctly one such case that was rowdily initiated by those living along the banks of Mahiga River because not only did it figure prominently in our media outlets, it reminded me of the political philosophy written by one British barrister named Dennis Lloyd.
Lloyd, in his book The Idea of Law, theorizes that man is born good and if he only lives to be such good a person, he does not need the majesty of any law to enjoy life fully. For instance, as a good person he knows the full range of his dominion over things he owns. Other men, supposedly equally good, do nothing to interfere with his property rights. Similarly, he does not need a law to respect the ownership by other persons of some things and nor attempt to deprive the owners of whatever rights they have over their possessions. But, somehow, social demands tell him to yearn for more and where he is unable to get what his heart desires for, he sallies forth into the dominion of other men. It is in the process of trying, under pressures of the social environment, to reach out for what unreachable things he yearns for that he crosses the borders of goodness. Environment indeed, corrupts him and the rest of his fellow human beings so that for him and for them to enjoy life, in that context, they need law to uphold their rights.
The squatters in the cases I mentioned above, did not