The Revival of Death Penalty

On the Fifth State of the Nation Address or SONA of President Rodrigo Duterte, He calls for the revival of the death penalty through lethal injection for crimes specified in the Comprehensive Drugs Act of 2002.

This is what surprised and shocked of the Filipino people in the state of the nation address of the president.

Should death penalty be implement again in the Philippines?

The Death penalty is also known as the Capital Punishment, it is an execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. The crimes that are subjected to punish by this law are treason, qualified piracy, parricide, qualified bribery, murder, infanticide, kidnapping, serious illegal detention, robbery, and destructive arson.

Going back to the history of death penalty in the Philippines, from the end of World War II to the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos, the death penalty has been implemented as punishment for heinous crimes. There are different ways of killing as punishment such as firing squad and electric chair.

But the former President Cory Aquino rejected it when the constitution was changed in 1987. The Philippines was the first country in Asia to do so. But when the time of the former President Fidel Ramos, it was re-enacted under Republic Act 7659. There were fourty-six types of crimes including plunder could have been executed but only by lethal injection. This continued until the time of former president Erap Estrada.

But he implemented a de facto moratorium because of the strong opposition from the Catholic church. In 2001, the death penalty of former President Gloria Arroyo was repealed. In 1999, large-scale executions were carried out, crime incidents increased by fifteen percent compared to last year.

In the year 2016, according to the CNN Philippines News, President Rodrigo Duterte said in his first press conference that he will ask lawmakers to approve the hanging as a death penalty for certain crimes in Davao City.

In the fourth State of the Nation Address of President Duterte last 2019, he requested the congress to restore the death penalty. It was filed by the senators Ronald Bato Dela Rosa, Christopher Bong Go, Manny Pacquiao, and Panfilo Lacson. But due to the oppositions of the minority and opposition of the senators even though the president has many allies in proposing the death penalty, it is still unclear whether it will be passed due to the strong opposition of some senators and the upcoming 2022 Election.

Human Rights' decision regarding the death penalty has not changed because there is no solid evidence that the death penalty is effective in reducing the number of crimes in the country but imprisonment is sufficient.

And this July 27, 2020 on the Fifth State of the Nation Address or SONA of President Rodrigo Duterte, He calls for the revival of the death penalty through lethal injection for crimes specified in the Comprehensive Drugs Act of 2002.

The opinion of the Filipino people with regards of the revival of the death penalty are divided. Some may believe that this is not appropriate. Some believes that it is now the time to implement this law for the prevention of the crimes such as rape and murder.

If I am asked, I agree with the implementation of the death penalty in the country because in the Bible times, the supreme God authorized the penalty as a punishment to those who will commit crimes and due to the prevalence of crime in the country and the lack of fear of the government, the death penalty will be way to prevent the people for committing heinous crimes. This is one of the ways to bring justice to the victims of violence. There is also no evidence that proves that life imprisonment can change the state of crime in the country.