The Philippines has a long history with capital punishment, but it was most recently suspended in the year 2006 and replaced with the life imprisonment and reclusion perpetua.
In 1946, murder, rape, and treason were grounds for the death penalty. Until 1961, 51 were sentenced to death by the law. This number soared high under the leadership of strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
Under the Marcos regime, drug trafficking was added to the list of crimes punishable by death. Electric chairs were the primary instrument for execution during Marcos’ time, which were replaced by firing squads in 1976. When Marcos was overthrown during the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines became the first country in Asia to abolish death penalty by virtue of the 1987 Constitution.
Death penalty was reinstated under the rule of then-President Fidel Ramos, which used gas chambers and electric chairs to dispense judgment. Executions continued until the second suspension of the death penalty under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who suspended it under Republic Act No. 9346 in 2006.
The return of death penalty?
During the campaign season of the 2016 national and local Elections, former frontrunner and current president Rodrigo Duterte vocally supported the reinstatement of death penalty to aid him in his war against drugs.
In July last year, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Capiz Representative Fredenil Castro authored House Bill 01, calling for the reinstatement of death penalty via lethal injection on heinous crimes. Similarly, Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao filed Senate Bill 185 proposing the return of death penalty against heinous crimes in October 2016. Other politicians, like Senator Panfilo Lacson, also supported the return of death penalty by filing bills for its reinstatement.
A few months later in December, the House Justice Committee approved the bill on a vote of 12-6, with one abstaining. Many expected the bill to be passed into law by Christmas. However, further debates and actions were deferred by the House of Representatives until early 2017.
While many politicians appear to support the reinstatement of death penalty, many have also stood ground against it. Vice President Leni Robredo has been staunch on her opposition of death penalty, stating that there has been no sufficient evidence nor study that presents death penalty as effective in deterring crimes. Furthermore, she has been quoted as citing that the country is a signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits the nation from reinstating death penalty.
Causes and concerns
Amnesty International (AI) has called out the reintroduction of death penalty in the Philippines last year in its public statement for Philippine lawmakers to oppose such attempts. “The re-introduction of the death penalty would not only represent a major setback for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country but also violate the Philippines’ obligations under international law,” the statement, released on November 25, read.
AI is just one of many organizations which oppose the reimplementation of the death penalty. Aside from citing that death penalty tarnishes a person’s natural human rights, AI also touches on the political and erroneous side of death penalty. According to AI, the risk of sentencing innocent people to death row is too high. Since 1973, for example, 150 United States prisoners sentenced to death penalty have been absolved and exonerated.
Another reason why AI believes that death penalty must be abolished is due to the sentence being used as a political tool in skewed justice systems. According to the organization, the top three executing countries of China, Iraq, and Iran have issued death sentences to convicts after unfair trials. Many of these sentences were carried out after “confessions” obtained through torture and unethical methods.
AI also cited that the death penalty has been used by politicians to preserve power and stamp out their opponents legally. Their data shows that in Ghana, between 1983 and 1986, around 50 political prisoners have been executed after being placed through unfair trials. The organization also noted that authorities in countries such as Iran and Sudan use death penalty to punish political opponents.
On the international scale
While views of death penalty in the Philippines remain highly mixed, around two-thirds of the international community oppose death penalty. In data showed by AI, 140 of all countries worldwide do not practice death penalty.
In Europe, for example, 96 percent of states have completely abolished death penalty, with Latvia most recently joining the number in 2012. As a precondition to entering the European Union (EU), a state must fully abolish death penalty in all forms and precepts. The EU believes that death penalty is an inhumane action and “has not shown in any way to act as a deterrent to crime.” Of all the countries in Europe, only Belarus still maintain death penalty in law and practice.
At the end of the day, the death penalty still remains a highly debated and controversial topic. The Philippines will greet 2017 with fresh exchanges and plenaries regarding the reinstatement of death penalty into law.
