AMMENDMENT OF THE DEATH PENALTY, A JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS or

A MURDER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES.

A persuasive essay
Presented to
The instructor of Ili, National, Highschool
Mrs. Joy B. Canipas

In Partial Fulfillment
of the requirements for Grade 10 – Gardenia

By

TINA ROSE G. SAKIW

August 2019

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 INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

In the Philippines, the practice of death punishment predates recorded history, and only
with the accession of Mrs. Corazon Aquino to presidential office, and the drafting of the
new constitution, was death punishment abolished in 1987. The Aquino government was
responsible for restoring various democratic institutions, including the Congress once
regulated by Marcos. In 1993, the Philippine Government under the Ramos administration
reinstated the capital punishment through the Republic Act (RA) 7659. The law argued
that certain criminals deserve to die because of their horrendous acts; such crimes are
considered so evil that killing the perpetrators is the only just way to deal with it.
According, RA 7659 included thirteen classes of crime, but was later expanded to 46
capital offenses (Chan Robles, retrieved 2002).

As of June 002, the manmade was responsible in bringing 1007 (including women,
minors, and aged) inmates to death row at the New Bilibid Prison and the Correctional
institution for Women in Manila (FLAG 2002). The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG)
estimated that numbers were higher since inmates sentenced from the provincial prisons
are still waiting to be transferred to the death row in the capital. FLAG further stated that
the majority of the prisoners are poor and barely educated. Sixty percent of them earned
less than the government mandated minimum wage prior to conviction. Eighty-six had
their death sentences confirmed, mostly for rape (crimes involving rape, rape of a minor,
incestuous rape and other aggravated forms of the crime). The death penalty law allows
two years and six months after the inmate’s sentence is confirmed. The law maintains
death is only by lethal injection.

Marcos Aftermath

The years after Marcos was removed by the 1986 People Power Revolution brought
major transformations that were significant in producing varying approaches by the
government in the application of Death Punishment. The passing of the New Constitution
1987 was among the first symbolic victories for many advocates of the human rights,
since the new Bill of Rights addressed the basic issues significant in reestablishing
democracy.

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Abolishment of Death Punishment

The Philippines abolish death penalty punishment in June 2006 when president Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo signed Republic Act. 9346, also known as an act of prohibiting the
imposition of the death penalty in the Philippines.

Arroyo said the death penalty should be abolished because it had not proven to be
deterrent to crime and had become a dead letter law. RA 9346 downgraded the death
penalty to life imprisonment.

The Philippines has had a history of invoking and scrapping capital punishment since
world war II. Between 1946 and 1965- the year Ferdinand Marcos became the president
35 people were executed, mainly convicted of particularly savage crimes marked by
senseless depravity or extreme criminal perpetrator.
Following the Edsa People Power Revolution that toppled Marcos from power, then
President Corazon Aquino promulgated the 1987 constitution, which abolished the death
penalty” unless for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes.

In 1993, Congress passed RA 7659, or the Death Penalty Law, which reimpose capital
punishment.

Under RA 7659, crimes punishable by death included murder, rape, big time drug
trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, treason, piracy, qualified bribery, parricide, infanticide,
plunder, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery with violence or intimidation,
qualified vehicle theft and arson.

In March 1996, through RA *177, the law was amended prescribing death by lethal
injection for offenders of heinous crimes.

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But opposition from human rights groups held up executions until 1999.Between 1999-
2000, during the term of deposed President Joseph Estrada, seven inmates were put to
death.
The first execution was Leo Echegaray, on Feb. 9 1999, and the last was Alex Bartolome,
on Jan. 4,2000. Echegaray was convicted of raping his 10year old step- daughter.
Bartolome was convicted also of raping his daughter more than 100 times over two years,
starting when she was 16. (source inquire research).
The Philippine government abolished death penalty under article III, section 19 of the
1987 constitution. President Fidel Ramos reimpose the death penalty in 1993 as a crime
control but President Gloria Arroyo reinstated abolition in 2006.

Conclusion

Is death penalty a justice for the victims or an unlawful act of murder?

Death Penalty is not just a justice for victims but an unlawful act of murder, justice is only
achieved by seeing the perpetrator or the convicted person perished for their crimes for
them to realized the crimes they have made, not by just killing on ne shot basis of lethal
injection. Will you be happy if the person who has just made mistakes becomes also your
fault of their fate at death? it only represents that you as a victim commits also the same
mistakes as the convicted person by letting the person dies and actually counts as you
murdered him or her. Will not you as victim commits the sin that god has said with one of
the 10 commandments thou shall not kill? Letting the victim perish for what he/she has
done is the punishment they should face and not letting the justice slit through our barely
hands for which God is the only judge who can give the final punishments for these evil
doers who does not know how to ask forgiveness for what they have done. Also, Death
penalty is not an answer for those crimes, what are the cause of these crimes? Is it not
because of poverty that most crimes are being committed, If people from the congress
and the president sees that its not death penalty is the answer to stop crimes but it’s the
poverty of the filipinos. Poverty is the root of all the evil, people does unlawful acts for the
sake of money, for the sake for them to feed their families, for the sakes so that they can
live and survive facing this poverty.

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Unemployment’s are also connected to these crimes, because even if they want to live
and abide the law if the current situations in our country in which you can only be
employed with various requirements, also with those a degree holder yet even a degree
holder can’t get employed how much more for those people who cannot even afford to go
to school because of this poverty. Nowadays people will most likely be employed if you
have a connection and even other people used money in order to be just employed.

Its great to see what President Rodrigo has done to our country most likely the build build
build program which open an employment for daily wager and also creates an
employment if the project will be done and less filipinos will be able to go to abroad just
to earn money. But with our current economic situation on which the price the of goods
becomes higher and the salary is very low how can people make a living. The government
should increase the salaries of all the workers for them not to be tempted to do evil for
the sake of money.

I strongly opposed with amendment of the death penalty on which the crimes are most
likely just products of poverty. God has given us the most precious gift he could have
given us and that is life and resurrection. If God has forgiven us for our crimes then who
are we t not forgive to those who have sinned to us. Death penalty is unconstitutional for
which instated at the article 3 bill of rights that everyone has the right to live. Death penalty
has not been proven to reduce crimes. God has ordered us not to kill, what if the person
put in death punishment was not even the real perpetrator but was just framed or because
of the false evidence made. We can’t deny that there are people put in the prisons for the
crimes they have not done so why reimposes death penalty? They should have just focus
on the roots crimes being made and understand our economic condition.

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