IN a previous column, I tackled how we are likely to find our own concept of human rights in our concept of “katuwiran” and in the writings of our heroes. I also emphasized that although “human rights” itself may not be evident in our culture, Andres Bonifacio’s writings, for example, may hint that we do have a concept of human wrongs—what we ought not to do to our “kapatid.” In an essay entitled “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog,” he emphasized that because of the ritual of the “sandugo” that our datus performed with them, we treated the Spaniards as our brothers. But, as Bonifacio said, “And if we dare beg for scraps of compassion, they respond by banishing us, by sending us far away from our beloved children, spouses and aged parents. Every sigh we utter is branded by them as a grave sin, and is instantly punished with brute force (hayop na kabangisan).”