By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III
I used to wonder if the “horizon” is just a figure of speech. If it is only part of the script in that fairy tale ending to a romantic movie.
On the 18th floor of this building where I’m at, rows of roofs lead to the Guimaras strait and across it are the forest green mountains of Guimaras. From my vantage point, it seems that the sea is just within eye level- which is not possible as sea level is always below land; otherwise there would be inundation. Or is it that the sea is within my eye level because the world is not flat?
Upwards is the blue sky canvass painted with cotton candy-like white clouds. It is vast and one can only be amazed by how everything seems connected, and in harmony.
Naturally, life, too, is expected to be in harmony.
But it isn’t.
We have to sail rough seas and trek mountains. We need to deal with everyday weather: hot or cold, but mostly hot.
In the city we battle with traffic most of the time.
From my vantage point, different shapes of buildings and houses could be seen. I can just imagine that inside each tenement is a business being run, an activity being conducted, or a life being lived.
Perspectives.
Different people have different perspectives.
To this lawyer-columnist, all these have meaning in law.
The mountains and seas belong to either the state or the local government. They are important to commerce and the spurring of the economy and thus they must be within the government’s control and regulation. The constitution and law on property dictate this.
In contrast, the law on property states that the sky and the clouds are beyond the “reach” of people, including the government, because they are “not capable of being owned or appropriated.” Article 414 of the Civil Code only considers something as “property” in the legal sense, when it is capable of being owned or appropriated.
People’s privacy is also a closed door in law. Article 26 0f the Civil Code holds sacrosanct one’s privacy and their home and anyone who meddles can be enjoined by the court and will be liable for damages.
Yet the horizon is farthest from all these. Perhaps it only means that while most properties can be placed within a person’s control – as they can be owned- the horizon is only visible to one who is willing to look far. To go further with the vision.
And can the horizon be appropriated too?
I think so.
You can read. Or just open your mind. And you can broaden your horizon.
Each one’s horizon is free.
According to Justice Brandeis, the right to pursue happiness is protected by the constitution. To me, what happiness means to each person depends on his/her horizon.
So let us widen our horizon and take our happiness from there.
(The author is the senior partner of ET Reyes III & Associates– a law firm based in Iloilo City. He is a litigation attorney, a law professor, MCLE lecturer, bar reviewer and a book author. His website is etriiilaw.com).
