The Ghost of the Inquisition

The present administration is planning to reintroduce a barbaric penalty in our

penal system, a system that would cleanse the society of its criminals; we call this
the death penalty. Death penalty would rid the society of its criminals, it promises to
do justice to those who were victims of malevolent individuals. These individuals
who have done wretched things towards other individuals in the past would no
longer be in the carcerals, they would be in another world far from ours, a place of
“who knows where.” Death penalty would be reintroduced in our society, since it
would show people justice towards those who were victimized, and would show
others a lesson in case they have plans to take advantage of others. This system
however, is a system that is nothing more than a superficial solution to criminality.

It should be resolved that our present administration should not reintroduce death
penalty as punishment for criminals in our society. Our government should not look
into it as an option in punishing individuals who have done wrong in the society.
Our society should re-think their position about this matter since it would not only
affect this generation but also the generations to come. Death penalty should not be
an option, and ultimately it should not be a solution to the crimes committed by
individuals. Individuals who have erred in the society should not be sentenced to
death; as if we are saying that all hope of changing is lost because of their societal
defects.

Death penalty is a system of barbarity; it is nothing more than a superficial solution

for the criminality our society faces today. It is an easy escape for officials who are
implementing peace and order in our society. The authorities of our society no
longer have to think about the quantity of years they would give to criminals who
committed heinous crimes the only thing they should do is point and shoot, and the
deed would be done. Death penalty is a coward escape from the human
responsibility of transforming others into productive members of the society, they
could no longer be productive if they are dead, and they would only be productive
and beneficial to plants that would grow from their graves. Death penalty is not a
solution to the problems of our society for those who committed heinous crimes

Nevertheless, on the other hand, those who are in favor of this kind of system say
that these criminalities we specifically describe as heinous crimes should result into
death penalty, since these crimes are gravely heavy that brought trauma, emotional
damages, and psychological damages to those who were victimized. Rape for
example is a heinous crime that numerous individuals have done; sexually torturing
other individuals is indeed grotesque and inhuman; it is heinous and should not be
allowed of impunity, since if we allow impunity we would commit a great injustice
towards those who were victimized by the rapist. Justice should be served in all
means necessary, since the victim was forced by all means by the criminal. These
kinds of criminals should be punished, and punished without any consideration of
morality since they have done the crime without moral constraints. Death penalty is
a just punishment for them and it should be done without moral constraints since
they have done the deed without moral constrains, and this is how justice should be
served.

However, if we implement death penalty to these individuals who committed

heinous crimes, would our society be any better? We teach peace and love in our
schools, we teach children to forgive those who hurt them yet we would show them
a contrary practice that we think would teach them what justice is. In reinstating
death penalty, would we teach the next generation that justice is served if one gets
what he deserve? If we would teach children that justice is served only if an
individual gets what he deserves, it would be the same thing in teaching children to
punch those who punched them, we would teach children to get back on each other
when they are wronged, we are simply teaching them vengeance. We have coated
vengeance in the guise of justice and teach that vengeance is a necessary evil.

When we say that death penalty is a necessary evil, it is an evil that would bring
good to the whole society despite that its essence of evil manifests. Nevertheless, it
would only victimize individuals, and these individuals whom I am referring to are
those individuals who are living in depraved economic conditions. The economically
deprived individuals in our society would be the inevitable and the most vulnerable
victims of this system of punishment, since they do not have means to protect
themselves unlike those individuals who are economically privileged that could
summon the best of lawyers that could defend them from any legal suits that are
against them. When death penalty was still in effect in the past, the number of
criminality statistically did not decrease, this then is neither a necessary evil for the
society because it didn’t help in decreasing the number of criminality nor it is a way
of teaching Filipinos, it only inculcated the consciousness of a punitive and barbaric
society. Death penalty is neither a showcase of justice nor a tool that give educative
value to Filipinos; it is only a tool that would instil fear.

I do not think that Filipinos are lacking in fear when it comes to be judged according
to the law, since I believe that we as Filipinos are in nature fearing and respectful of
laws. I believe that Filipinos neither lack fear nor lack respect of the law; I stand on
the claim that Filipinos are lacking in comprehension of the law, and that death
penalty is the easiest way to force Filipinos to respect and obey the laws. We only
fear and respect something that is known to us; individuals would dare do things
that they don’t know to be dangerous, since they haven’t comprehended nor
experienced the cause of the pain produced by the action. It would take
comprehension of laws to respect laws. Our government should instil educative and
moral values that lead to the respect and obedience to the law, and not instil fear.

Death penalty is a culture of backwardness, a barbaric system of a punitive society

and a remnant of the mediaeval consciousness. The history of great societies like
France had done away with this kind of punishment because it did not help their
society in transforming their citizens into productive members of their society. I
believe that the Philippines could achieve something greater than other societies
had achieved without reinstating this kind of capital punishment. Unless, however,
our government and some individuals still believe that death penalty could change
our society that would somehow revive the spirit of inquisition that is rooted in the
mediaeval consciousness.