We have a society now where obedience to the law is really a

The fierce and controversial leader, Rodrigo Duterte, declared these piercing words: “We have a society now where obedience to the law is really a choice, an option only.” In this lament, he speaks not only of his own nation but of the condition of mankind in a world where rules are written but not always honored, where justice exists in books but not always in deeds. His words reveal the danger of an age where laws, once sacred and binding, are treated as mere suggestions, to be obeyed when convenient and ignored when troublesome.

For in the ancient order, law was more than statute—it was the backbone of civilization, the sacred covenant that bound kings and peasants alike. When the law is firm, society stands like a fortress; when the law is treated as an option, society crumbles like sand before the tide. Duterte’s cry is one of warning: if obedience to law becomes mere preference, then justice dies, and with it the very order that keeps chaos at bay.

History offers grave testimony to this truth. Consider the fall of Rome, when corruption seeped into the veins of the empire. The laws that once disciplined legions and governed provinces became pliant, bent by bribes, ignored by the powerful, and unenforced among the weak. Citizens began to see obedience as a choice rather than a duty, and the mighty empire rotted from within. The barbarians who entered its gates were not the cause of the fall, but the final blow to a society that had already forsaken its reverence for law.

Yet we also see the opposite in history’s shining moments. The Magna Carta in England bound even the king to the law, declaring that no man was above it. For centuries, this principle gave strength to the people, for obedience to law was not an option—it was a necessity. Where law is honored, liberty grows; where law is despised, tyranny or anarchy soon follows. Duterte’s lament serves as a reminder that when law is disregarded, a nation stands at the edge of ruin.

The meaning of his words is both sharp and uncomfortable: civilization cannot endure if law is no longer sacred. When the citizen treats obedience as a matter of preference, corruption spreads like wildfire. When leaders themselves treat laws as options, hypocrisy poisons trust. And when trust dies, no society, however rich or strong, can long survive. The law must be more than paper—it must live in the conscience of the people.

The lesson for us, then, is urgent and personal. Obedience to the law must not be a matter of convenience but of conviction. For while laws may sometimes be flawed, their abandonment opens the floodgates to chaos. If the law is unjust, let it be changed through rightful means; but let not society descend into a realm where each man chooses which rules to follow, for that path leads swiftly to destruction.

Practical wisdom flows: respect the laws that guard peace, protect the weak, and uphold justice. Do not yield to the temptation of shortcuts, corruption, or excuses. Teach children that obedience is not slavery but the very fabric of freedom. And when laws themselves are corrupted, work not to ignore them, but to reform them—always upholding the principle that law, rightly guided, is the guardian of order and liberty.

So let Duterte’s warning resound like a bell: “Obedience to the law is really a choice, an option only.” Do not allow society to make it so. Uphold the dignity of law, for in its strength lies the strength of nations, and in its weakness lies their ruin. Remember always: the health of a people is measured not by wealth or armies, but by the reverence they show for justice and for the laws that embody it.