Danielle F.

Figuracion

Comm 2-G (MTh 1:00-2:30 pm)

March

21, 2013
Outline
Death Penalty: More Like a Crime itself, than a Solution
Thesis Statement: Capital Punishment should not be re-introduced in the
Philippines

because

it

is

against

human

rights,

discriminatory towards the lower classes and does not

necessarily lessen heinous crime rates.
I

The death penalty is against human rights.

A. Violates Article 6.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights
B. Minors in Death Row

II

It is discriminatory towards the lower classes in society.

A. Most of the people in the death row before were people who are
in the lower class.
B. Majority of the countrys population come from poverty stricken
families who are willing to do anything just to survive their dayto-day life.
C. Due to this discrimination, chances are, innocent people might
die.

III

The death penalty does not necessarily lessen heinous crime rates.
A Not much change in the crime rates in the Philippines after death
penalty was re-introduced in 1993.
B The death penalty was made to lessen crime rate, but in fact it is
the justice system in the state that is flawed and not the system
of laws.

Capital Punishment, also known as the death penalty, dates way back
in 1800 B.C. in Babylon, during the Hammurabi Code Era. The Hammurabi
Code is known as the first set of laws ever written, and the death penalty is
implied to people who commit various offenses and crimes after trail-byordeal. After, capital punishment was also applied in other codes in ancient

societies such as the Hittite Code in 1400 B.C., the Draconian Code in 1700
B.C., and the Romanian Law of the Twelve Tablets. The execution of the
punishment ranges from beheading, boiling in oil, burying alive, burning,
crucifixion, disembowelment, drowning, flaying alive, hanging, impalement,
stoning, strangling, being thrown to wild animals, and quartering (Death
Penalty, 2006).
As time passed by, the execution of the punishment became less and
less barbaric. There were no more slow ways of executing criminalsthey
were now hung, beheaded using guillotine or the garrotte. These means of
execution were visible in Britain from the 10 th Century A.D. on, and in the
United States of America from 17th Century A.D. (Death Penalty, 2006).
In the nineteenth century, the idea of human rights rose into
perspective and movements on the abolition of the death penalty sprung to
life. And it was in the twentieth century that most nations/states abolished
death penalty. Although there were still some state that kept the penalty
until present. Some of these are the United States of America, China, Japan,
and Iran. In the USA, out of 50 states 12 do not authorize death penalty while
the other 38 do. These twelve include Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont,
West Virginia, and Wisconsin (Sharp, 2005).
Here in the Philippines, there used to be death penalty for heinous
crimes such as rebellion, murder, and drug-trafficking. This penalty was
abolished during the time of the late President Corazon Aquino under the
1987 Constitution of the Philippines. But during President Fidel Ramos
administration, the death penalty was re-imposed to address the rising
criminality and incidence of the heinous crimes (A timeline of death penalty
in the Philippines, 2006). Now, death penalty is abolished under the
administration of President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III, but there are talks
on re-imposing it once again.
The re-establishment of the death penalty is a very heated topic in
debate and discussions nowadays, so I cant help but share my view in this
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issue. Although the death penalty is Constitutional as per Article III Section
17 (1) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, I move against the re-imposition of
death penalty in the Philippines.
The death penalty is against human rights
First of all, it violates Article 6 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights which states that Every human being has the inherent
right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily
deprived of his life. The death penalty proposes the execution of people who
have committed heinous crimes--murder and rape being examples of some
of whichthrough various methods such as gassing, shooting, or injection of
a drug, depending on the state (Capital Punishment, The World Book
Encyclopedia, 1995). The act of execution, itself, is depriving ones right to
life. By hanging prisoners who have done heinous crimes, their right to life is
taken away from them. No matter what crime they have committed, they are
still human and they still have the right to life.
Second is, it was found that there were minors in the death row before.
It came into view when a person Philippine Jesuit for Prison Services
organization interviewed inmates in the death rowtwo of them claimed that
they were minors then when they committed their crime. One was proved to
be shy of eighteen when the crime happened, while the other just turned
eighteen when he committed the crimethe former was acquitted, but the
latter was not. This shows that the death penalty does not follow Article 6 (5)
of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights which prohibits
the imposition of the death penalty to minors and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, that capital punishment nor life imprisonment shall be
imposed for crimes committed by minors (Commission on Human Rights of
the Philippines, 2007).
It is discriminatory towards the lower classes in society.

Picture this. There is a man in his thirties, striving to provide the needs
of his family, when one day, he got firedhis family is starving and he
doesnt have money to buy food. So, he goes to the bakery and steals 5
loaves of breadenough to feed his family. At the same time, there is
another man, he is around twenty-five and is involved in illegal practices
such as gambling and drug dealing, but he is the son of an influential person.
They both got caught in the act of the crimes they were committing. But at
the end of the day, the family man was sentence to death while the drug
dealing boy was acquitted. Why is this so?
Studies have shown that most of the people in the death row before
were people who are in the lower class (Commission on Human Rights of the
Philippines, 2007).

This is because to the upper class have money and

connectionsthey are so rich that they can afford to hire the best lawyers in
the country so that they can be acquitted, they are so powerful that they can
make it seem that they were innocent and that they can sometimes
influence the decisions of the court. Compare to the upperclassmen, the poor
are powerless, they dont have money. They cant afford a lawyer to defend
them, and sometimes, being the judgemental society that there is, they are
even prejudiced to be guilty even just through their physical appearance.
Another is that majority of the countrys population come from
poverty stricken families who are willing to do anything just to survive their
day-to-day life. Being the poor and powerless people that they are, their one
and biggest concern is their day-to-day survival. Some even think that it is
do-or-die. They are willing to do anything just to survive the day and not
starve to death. Yes, that is the sad reality of todays society. If the
philosophy behind the death penalty is to lessen crimes due to the fear of
people to be killed, then it is not valid. These people are willing to do
anything, may it be through legal or illegal means to survive. The death
penalty will have no effect on them. If they do not commit the crime, they
starve to death. If they do, and if theyre lucky enough to get away with it,
they will live another day but if they do get caught and be sentenced to
4

death, it is still the same story as to if they dont commit the crimethey
die. So for them, it would be better to take the chance and do the crime just
to survive and live another day.
Due to this discrimination, innocent peoples lives might be taken
away. Since the poor do not have the resources to defend themselves,
chances are, they will be declared guilty and they will be sentenced to death.
But what if they are actually innocent but they just lack evidences to support
their move due to the limited resources that they have? There is a very big
chance that the person they are going to execute or hang is a perfectly
innocent person.
The death penalty does not necessarily lessen heinous crime rates
Although

in

other

countries,

crime

rate

lessened

after

the

implementation of death penalty, it is not the same here in the Philippines.

There was not much change in the crime rates in the Philippines after death
penalty was re-introduced in 1993. Crime rate neither lessened nor rose up
once the death penalty was re-introduced. It was only in 1999 when there
was an actual difference in the crime rates in the country, and it was not
goodmore heinous crimes were committed.
Despite the enactment of the death penalty law and the execution of
seven convicts, more heinous crimes have been committed. From January to
October 1999, the reported cases of rape, which is considered as a heinous
[crime] under the statute, have substantially increased (Commission on
Human Rights of the Philippines, 2007).
The death penalty was made to lessen crime rate, but in fact it is the
justice system in the country that is flawed and not the system of laws. The
flaw lies in the implementation of the laws made against criminal activities.
The police power is not enough to protect the safety of the citizens and the
justice system is not just enough in judging the situations. Even the best law
made, will become the worst law ever made if not implemented properly. The
5

secret to a peaceful and harmonized society lays the in hands of the justice
system of the state.
Conclusion
In the end, I can say that Capital Punishment should not be reintroduced

in

the

Philippines

because

it

is

against

human

rights,

discriminatory towards the lower classes and does not necessarily lessen
heinous crime rates.

It is not in line with the human rights, in the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights specifically, and the fact
that there were minors (below 18 years of age) in the death row. It was
discriminatory towards the lower classes in the sense that the lower classes
are powerless and cannot afford the best lawyers. And it does not lessen
heinous crimes, not until the justice system in the state is fixed.
The establishment of death penalty in the country is not the answer to
the problem of increasing crime rates in the country. There should be a
proper justice system in the countryaffordable, systematic, quick, proper
and fair. The police should also know the laws well and be stricter in
implementing the laws, not favouring anyone--just doing their job properly of
implementing lawscatching the law breakers and rewarding the law
abiders. Another possible solution of lessening crime rates is the promotion
of programs that will give jobs to people. This way, they can do away with
illegal means of acquiring their needs and earning their way to life and
comfortable living.
To wrap it all up, Death penalty is not the solution to criminality. What
deters criminality is faithful and diligent enforcement of laws and due
administration of the

criminal

justice

system

without fear

or favour

(Justice Secretary Leila De Lima as

cited in Torres, 2012).

Works Cited:
A. Print
Capital Punishment. (1995). In The World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 3,
pp. 144-145).

Cleaveland,

Ohio: Scott Fetzer Company.

Death Penalty. (2006). In Gale encyclopedia of everyday law. Vol. 1, 2nd

ed. (pp. 447-

452). Detroit: Gale. From Gale Virtual Reference

Library.
Sharp,

S.F.

(2005).

Encyclopedia of

Capital

Punishment.

In

M.

Bosworth

(Ed.),

prisons and correctional facilities ( Vol, pp. 96-

103) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Reference. From Gale

Virtual

Reference Library.
The Philippine Constitution. (1987).

B. On-line
A timeline of death penalty in the Philippines. (2006, April 18).
Retrieved

on

March

http://pcij.org/blog/2006/04/18/apenalty-in-the-

20,

2013

from

timeline-of-death-

philippines

Commission on Human Rights Philippines. (2007). The Philippine

Experience in
from

Abolishing the Death Penalty. Retrieved

http://www.chr.gov.ph/

MAIN%20PAGES/about

%20hr/advisories/pdf_files/abolishing%20death%20penalty.pdf

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (1976, March 23).

Retrieved from
website,

University of Minnesota Human Rights Library

http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b3ccpr.htm

The Legal, Political, and Social Implications of the Death Penalty (2009,
November 12).

Retrieved on March 20, 2013, from University

of Richmond website,

http://lawreview.richmond.edu/the-legal-

political-and-social-implications-of-the-death-penalty/
Torres, T. (2012, November 06). Death penalty not solution against
criminalityDe

Lima.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/

Inquirer

news.

Retrieved

from

302724/death-penalty-not-solution-

against-criminality-de-lima