Title: Death Penalty in the Philippines: Never Again

1. IntroducThe tion

A. Hook: implementation of death penalty in the Philippine government has always

been a heated discussion between those who are against it and those who are fine

in using it for punishing those who are guilty of a crime.

B. Background Information: Death penalty is actually one of the earliest forms of

punishment in the world (Rivera, 2018).

C. Background Information on Topic: Death penalty was actually used before in the

Philippine government as early as during the Spanish Era (Rivera, 2018).

D. Background Information on Topic: Death penalty was abolished later on as a

capital punishment by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in June 2006 by

signing the Republic Act No. 9346, which is also known as “An Act Prohibiting the

Imposition of the Death Penalty in the Philippines” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2016).

E. Statistic or Personal Anecdote

F. Thesis Statement: The death penalty should not be implemented in the

Philippines again since it is not an effective form of deterrence, the state should

uphold the rights of its citizens, irreversible decisions and mistakes happen

especially in the country, and there is evident discrimination against the poor.

2. Death penalty is not an effective form of deterrence.

A. Effectivity of deterrence is not only about the punishments severity but, also how

certain and frequent it is applied.

B. Given the punishment can be effective deterrent even only if its is consistently

employed, but conditions cannot be met by death penalty. (American Civil Liberties

Union, 2018)

3. It is the responsibility of the State to uphold the rights of its citizens.

A. Heinousness is not a determinative compliant reason to impose death penalty.

B. According to Article 2 Humans Right Acts, Everyone’s right to life shall be

protected by law. In defence of any person from unlawful violence.

IV. Death penalty should not be implemented since irreversible decisions and

mistakes happen especially in the country

A. Execution is irreversible.

B. The Supreme court noted that death sentences had been wrongfully imposed in

907 death penalty cases it had reviewed in 1993 (Villarin, 2017).

V. There is evident discrimination against the poor.

A. The death penalty system is applied in a very unfair and in an unjust manner
against the country’s fellow people
B. It takes places that innocent people are much more often sentenced to death

ever since 1973, over 156 people had been released from death rows in 26 states

with wrong accusations and resulting into innocence, and recorded nationally, at

least one person is exonerated for every 10 that are executed (American Civil

Liberties Union, 2018).

VI. Conclusion: If we want to uphold human rights, minimize the pain, and maximize

the utility, death penalty should not be reinstated in the Philippines.

Death Penalty in the Philippines: Never Again

 “The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it”
-McCan Erikson Berrlin

The implementation of death penalty in the Philippine government has always

been a heated discussion between those who are against it and those who are fine in
using it for punishing those who are guilty of a crime. Death penalty is actually one of
the earliest forms of punishment in the world. The first-ever established death penalty
dates as far as the Eighteenth Century BCE in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon
where death is the punishment for 25 different crimes during that time. Meanwhile,
during the Athenian age, it was believed that the only suitable punishment for crimes is
death (Rivera, 2018). Death penalty was actually used before in the Philippine
government as early as during the Spanish Era. A great example of the victims to this
type of punishment was our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, who was executed because
of death penalty. This type of punishment for crimes did not stop even until the
American Period. There were public executions held even though there were some laws
that were passed in order to minimize the scope of death penalty. The capital crimes
listed were treason, piracy, kidnapping, murder, rape and robbery with homicide. During
that time, death penalty was primarily used against the Nationalist Filipinos who built a
resistance against the American colonizers. It was the proposed solution of the
Americans to stop the Filipino resistance. When the country was under the influence of
the Japanese, no recorded death penalties were known since extrajudicial killings were
the most evident and it was practiced as part of the pacification of the Philippines
(Rivera, 2018). Death penalty was abolished later on as a capital punishment by former
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in June 2006 by signing the Republic Act No. 9346,
which is also known as “An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of the Death Penalty in the
Philippines”. The reason for this decision of abolishing the said law by Arroyo was that
death penalty was not proven to be a deterrent to crime. The RA 9346 changed the
death penalty to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment instead (Philippine Daily
Inquirer, 2016). The death penalty should not be implemented in the Philippines again
since it is not an effective form of deterrence, the state should uphold the rights of its
citizens, irreversible decisions and mistakes happen especially in the country, and there
is discrimination of the poor.
Death penalty should not be implemented again in our country since it is
not an effective form of deterrence. Effectivity of deterrence is not only about the
punishments severity but, also how certain and frequent it is applied. Given the
punishment can be effective deterrent even only if its is consistently employed, but
conditions cannot be met by death penalty. (American Civil Liberties Union, 2018). This
claim has been repeatedly discredited, and there is no evidence that the death penalty
is any more effective in reducing crime than life imprisonment. (Erikson, 2017) Berlin If
we look at the individuals who committed heinous crimes, they were more likely
motivated by their anger, stress and the heat of the moment with a little consideration
for their legal repercussions. Many heinous crimes are committed when logical thinking
is suspended such as when someone is in the influence of alcohol or drugs. But even if
the person is determined to commit a crime, he or she may concentrate on escaping
detention, arrest and conviction.
Death penalty should not be implemented again in our country since it is
the responsibility of the State to uphold the rights of its citizens. It is clearly stated
in Section 9. Paragraph 1, Article of the constitution that “Neither shall death penalty be
imposed, unless compelling reasons involving Heinous crimes…” Heinousness is not a
determinative compliant reason to impose Death Penalty. The Philippines ratified to
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that then Philippines
committed to abolish death penalty and not to impose it. Our constitutional Laws will
carry our international obligations. On the other hand, granting but never conceding the
severe punishment deters crimes committed the reclusion perpetua is severe enough to
deter individuals from violent crimes. More than the idea of the prison cells in the
Philippines, criminals will be forced to stay there for decades or even a lifetime.
According to the Article 3 of the Philippine Constitution the power to freedom, explore
socialize, to vote will be stripped from the prisoner. Given the gravity of this punishment,
it can deter individual to deter from commiting crimes. If there were true severity of
punishment it is a slow and painful experience, then life imprisonment is a better
deterrent. According to Article 2 Humans Right Acts, Everyone’s right to life shall be
protected by law. In defence of any person from unlawful violence. No one shall be
deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following
his conviction of a crime for which the penalty is provided by law.
Death penalty should not be implemented again since irreversible
decisions and mistakes happen in the country. Execution is irreversible. The risk of
executing an innocent person can never be eliminated. If it is carried out, it is already
final and mistakes made cannot be unmade. A possibility of a wrong person may be
convicted, that person can be released but the execution can never be reversed. The
Irregularities and mistakes that happened in the decisions of the Judiciary when death
penalty was reinstated in the Philippines. The Supreme court noted that death
sentences had been wrongfully imposed in 907 death penalty cases it had reviewed in
1993 (Villarin, 2017). If it is applied of different political interest and flawed justice
system there is a high chance for wrongful convictions for the innocent person could die
if death penalty is reinstated. These things can further lead to injustice, denial of human
rights, and a lot more suffering.
Death penalty should not be implemented since there is evident
discrimination against the poor. The death penalty system is applied in a very unfair
and in an unjust manner against the country’s fellow people. Large number count of
people are mostly dependent on how are they in life just like on how much money can
they earn or the money that is inside their pockets and banks. It also counts the skill of
their attorneys and whether the race of the victim and where the criminal incident took
place. According to American Civil Liberties Union (2018), the FBI stated that ranking
the highest death penalty murder rates belongs in the States. It takes places that
innocent people are much more often sentenced to death ever since 1973, over 156
people had been released from death rows in 26 states with wrong accusations and
resulting into innocence, and recorded nationally, at least one person is exonerated for
every 10 that are executed. One main reason behind this disparity is that rich inmates
have much more resources to aggressively defend themselves in court compared to
poor inmates. The death penalty will only continue to be a vehicle for “selective justice”.
Crime cannot be stopped and this is one composition that death penalty is not an
effective ways of stopping crime rate. So what’s the point of taking lives? Instead. There
are a lot of different ways of punishing criminals that should be approved legally by the
constitution under the supervision of the political party. Alternatives like life
imprisonment without parole can be one, becauses cases are when you give life
imprisonment you are also giving the criminal a chance to correct himself. Also chances
are the killing of the innocent will not occur neither it will subside. Negative
consequences due to this matter is a certain opinion. One of this is the Canada’s
capital that already abolished it since 1976 and ever since murder rate from the country
started to decline. This is one proof that better options can be offered to offensive
criminals in ways of abolishing capital punishment or mostly known as death penalty
rather than accepting this inhumane acts. There are nothing right under giving the
capital punishment such as giving lethal injections, beheading, shooting or hanging
everything stated above are real life proof of being against the human acts. Capital
punishment should be abolished in all parts of the world. In addition, if death penalty will
be reinstated, it is going to be inconsistent to the country’s history as a nation as a
leading Human Rights Discourse in Asia. (Javier, 2017) The Philippines already ratified
an international treaty in 2007 that prohibits the executions and agrees that the country
should abolish death penalty. If we want to uphold human rights, minimize the pain, and
maximize the utility, death penalty should not be reinstated in the Philippines.

References
[1] American Civil Liberties Union (2018). The Case Against Death Penalty. Retrived
from: https://www.aclu.org/other/case-against-death-penalty
[2] Erikson, M. (2017). Amnesty. Retrieved from: https://amnesty.org/en/what-we-
do/death-penalty
[3] Javier, K.. Amnesty International: ‘Yes vote on death penalty will shame Philippines.
Retrieved from: http://philstar.com/headlines/2017/03/03/1677275/amnesty-
international-yes-vote-death penalty-will-shame-philippines
[4] Philippine Daily Inquirer (2016, May). IN THE KNOW: Death Penalty. Retrieved from:
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/785954/in-the-know-death-penalty
[5] Rivera, K. (2018). Background History of Death Penalty. Retrieved from:
https://www.academia.edu/8644703/Background_History_of_Death_Penalty
[6] Villarin, T. (2017, Jan). “Duterte Wants the Death Penalty Back”. Retrieved
from:https://nytimes.com/2017/01/29/opinion/duterte-wants-death-penalty-back.html