One of the hardest tasks of a leader is to choose between favoring the freedom of one or few and the general welfare and interests of the many. Either option will expose him to criticism. But leadership calls for firmness, determination, and the courage to bite the bullet, and decide, no matter who gets hurt.
One of the inherent powers of the state, aside from taxation and eminent domain, is police power. Any freshman in Law school, or even a high school student can tell you that police power is that inherent authority of the state, acting through the government, to sacrifice individual rights, freedoms, or properties in order to uphold the defense of the nation or the community, or to protect the majority from the caprices, whims, or impulses of the minority. No individual, in a republic state like ours, can recklessly disturb the peace and quiet of a community and run away with his mischief by brandishing liberty or human rights. The police power of the state won't allow him to go scot-free for his folly.
The reason why the founding fathers of America installed the Bill of Rights, as a series of amendments to their constitution, was because they came from the authoritarian regime of the king of Great Britain. And our own founding fathers in 1935 copied the Bill of Rights of America almost verbatim. And some people now just invoke these rights without deeply and conscientiously understanding the letter and the spirit behind their enactment. Many of our people believe that the rights are absolute. They aren’t. For instance, you cannot invoke freedom of the press to unduly alarm the people with inaccurate figures of COVID-19 infections at a time of crisis.
We have the freedom to speak, write, publish, or post in social media, but once our speech or written pieces violate the dignity, honor, and good name of another, or undermine the powers of the state, we can be charged for libel or oral defamation and prosecuted for violating the law. We have the right to peaceful assembly but we don’t have the right to commit sedition, insurrection, or treason. We have the freedom of travel and of movement, but the state, acting through the duly-constituted authorities, can regulate and even prevent us from going out of our homes. Call it a lockdown or quarantine, there is a higher purpose and a nobler reason that the state wishes to achieve.
And we cannot defeat the state by invoking our freedom, especially at a time of crisis. Brilliant people, like writers and commentators, those in the print and broadcast media, theater, and the movies need to be reminded of the most fundamental laws of all in Article 19 of the civil code: Every person, in the exercise of his rights, and in the performance of his duties, must act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith. Spider-Man reminds us that with freedom, like great power, comes great responsibility.
I hasten to add an adage I learned from my law books, "Sic utiretuoutalienum non laedas." So use your right as not to injure the rights of others. Especially the right of the silent majority. The police power of the state will make sure that you adhere to that, and behave.