Words by Rey David Gayas
“A hungry stomach knows no laws.” I read this while reading commentaries on Labor law, in Azucena, where hunger and law are intertwined. The saying is also so much feasted upon, echoed by politicians, especially in the streets of Maynila. Erap coined that. Lacson used it. So celebrated, yet less explained.
This is not a political stance.
I just wanted to see how things correlated between law and hunger. Primordial, first, and so ancient are the two. Their essence vivifies in ancient religions, such as the Judeo-Christian doctrines and Confucianism. Aswanglaut, a novel written by Alan Derain, was themed about hunger. It surely speaks of how primordial hunger is. Jokingly, the Garden of Eden is perfect but Adam and Eve still feel the need to eat. That is how old hunger is.
“Do unto others what you want to do unto you” – the golden rule is universal as we think. Jesus, as the Bible tells, and Confucius, through the Analects, have echoed the same. In C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, he speaks of it as the Law of Human Nature.
And here we all are, making hundreds of laws, filling the void to achieve true order. It is because that simple “Law of Human Nature” is time and time again, failed so many times that we need contracts to sign for us just to fulfill a role we ought to do for ourselves. Just like how hunger is being filled, time and time again. Human nature is an enigma of endless possibilities, where nothing can contain such uncertainty of what to do, just to fill what is always lost: order.
The Platform juxtaposes this reality. There was no law in the setting of the movie. Prisoners were just given floors where food trickled down through the platform. Chaos is there. Killings were present. Like a bloody war, it was hellish when the food went down to rock bottom. Yet, if you are knowledgeable that there were persons who needed you to just eat your fill, everything will fall into place. So, the prisoners were randomly placed each time: sometimes you are fortunate, near the top; most of the time, a bottom feeder. Law and hunger may have ruled society long enough that we forgot the simplest rule: do what is right, and avoid what is evil. But time and time again, the vicious cycle of forgetting will roll.
That is why we need lawyers, who may choose to remember “the Law of Human Nature” or become jesters serving the platform.
THE BARRISTER 