1.

Morality
"[W]e reserve the death penalty in the United States
"As superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, I
for the most heinous murders and the most brutal and planned and carried out that state's only two
conscienceless murderers. This is not, as some critics executions in the last 54 years I used to support the
argue, a kind of state-run lottery that randomly
death penalty. I don't anymore...
2.
Constitutionality
chooses an unlucky few for the ultimate penalty from
among all those convicted of murder. Rather, the
I was charged with executing two inmates on the
capital punishment
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deaththan
row,tryDouglas
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Harry Charles
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since put to death, raping and murdering an 11
a more basic question: whether the death penalty
3.
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way,
to
sentence
killers
like
those
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the fact that I was now to
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thecrimes,
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to less
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failunusual'
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be the
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nullify
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the
penalty

presumably
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into
a deeper
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capital
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legal
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period inbecause
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is the only
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Amendment.
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to the heinousness
of the
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jurors,
on a moral
level, and
life was
either
were charged
by crime.
a sovereign
State with
murder. convinced
They thethat,
'inflict[ion]'
of 'cruel
unusual
punishments.'
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and the loved
ones
of
murder
victims
understand
this
hallowed
or
it
wasn't.
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I
wanted
it
to
be...
were afforded counsel and tried before a jury of their Amdt. 8. The Court has recognized that a 'claim that
essentialpeerstried
point...
twice, once to determine whether they
punishment is excessive is judged not by the standards
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I
retired
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were guilty and once to determine whether death was that prevailed
in 1685...in
or2010,
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the mission
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capital
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sentence.
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adopted,people
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thosepunishment
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penalty]
promotes
belief
in
and
respect
for
a
failed
policy.
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should
no
longer
accept
the
and sentenced...
prevail... Indeed, the Constitution prohibits various
the majesty of the moral order and for the
of
myth
thatgruesome
capital punishment
plays
constructive
punishments
thatany
were
common...
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human law
that
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and
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that
role
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criminal
justice
system.
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will
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[N]ot once in the history of the American Republic
moral order."
bring anIn
end
to the
wethe
will
be a
has this Court ever suggested the death penalty is
1976,
thedeath
Courtpenalty,
thoughtbut
that
constitutional
"Those
in support
of abolishing
deathispenalty
want toasget
as many
as could
I can to
healthier
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a result."
categorically
impermissible.
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obvious:
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infirmities
in
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death votes
penalty
beabolish
healed;this
the
Edward
Feser,
PhD
point
to
the
possibility
of
an
innocent
person
being
death
penalty...
is impossible
to hold
unconstitutional
that which the
Court in effect delegated significant responsibility to
Associate
Professor ofinnocent
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at Pasadena
City College
Semon Frank Thompson
executed...
take solace
inFifth
knowing
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explicitly contemplates.
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to develop ofprocedures
that Penitentiary
would protect
Joseph
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Bessette,
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6.
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Death
in
Prison
Former
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the
Oregon
State
that
a
unanimous
jury
of
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citizens
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the
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150
people
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last
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at held to against those
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Men,"40 years
death
verdict
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exhaustive
trial
where
the
taken
off
death
row
because
they
were
innocent.
I
Claremont
McKenna
College
nytimes.com
answer for a capital...crime, unless on a presentment
of studies, surveys, and experience strongly
indicate,
"Why
the
Death
Penalty
Is
Still
Necessary,"
accused
murderer
is
represented
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two
highly
know
there
are
people
who
want
to
believe
that
no
15, 2016
"Much
of the cost,
indeed,Jury,'
much
of that
the criticism
"One
of the
most
about the
or indictment
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and
no personof
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competent
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and
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innocent
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death
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isofthe
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thevictims
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Julythose
21, 2016
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one
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blame
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families
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judge
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fair
trial.
country.
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people
It
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unsurprising
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the
loudest
complaints
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money
because
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(1)
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come
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and
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capital
punishment
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rate
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Retributivists
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penalty
the
In
their
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loss,
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entitled
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thatand
desire.
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the
criminals
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row
innocent,
there
is
no
escaping
the
conclusion
that
opponents
who
have
created
them...
death
penalty
were
to
be
measured
at
the
time
of
an
Historically,
Eighth
Amendment
was
understood
unconscionably
long to
delays
underminefrom
the death
life sentences
ordeterrence
eventhe
death.
Americans
Whetherlaws
one exist
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similar
general
orMost
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us. And
wehomicide.
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have
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of
the
most
heinous
crimes.
innocent
people
have
been
executed...
"Death
penalty
opponents
state
it
is
inherently
unfair
execution,
"There
is
a
that
particular,
might
indeed
fundamental
be
true.
flaw
But
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as
our
every
justice
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bar principle
only thoseno
that added terror,
pain, penaltys
penological
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aspunishments
just...
movements
of homicide
in Canada
andown
the vision
US when
over-punishing
less
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vengeance
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justice.(4)
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Claimed
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believe,
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or
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prosecutor,
system
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defense
other
candidates
attorney,
appear
and
judge
to
lack
knows,
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or
disgrace
to
an
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permissible
capital
most
places
within
the
United
States
have
abandoned
only
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latterdorestored
the
death
penalty, or
in
obscene
that
aggravated
murderers
who
behave
well
anyway
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for
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a
victim
kills
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families
California
andvarious
their
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cases
where
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behest
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ofthroughout
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aresoftball.
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sentence
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the
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American
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watch
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play
perpetrator)
then
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8.
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itweismay
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they
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into
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the
increase
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death
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attorneys
racially
biased
must
punishment,
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and
and
begin
also
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a
long
period
in
would
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presume
to tell
parents
whose
life has
For
the
reasons
I have
forth
inseeking
this and
opinion,
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majority
studies
track
effects
over
abolishing
the
death
penalty
in set
the
mid-1990s
the I of
future that
benefits,
we
justify
punishment
feel
empathy
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such
a victim
revenge,
Justice
is
a
reformed,
not
eliminated
death
penalty."
there
were
defendants
who
were
coerced
into
entering
the
since
cost
1977
of
isdeserved.
asstates
without
follows:
parole
48.6
cases
percent
ifathere
white;
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no
investigation
deterring
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pre-trial
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selection,
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been
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by
the
brutal
murder
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athe
child
believe
it crime...
highly
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death
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many years
and
across
orLet
counties
find
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greatly
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there
because
it'slife
the
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fitwere
Nietzsche's
warningthat
when
fighting
monsters
a
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to
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they
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death
percent
penalty.
black;
Criminal
8.9
percent
defendants
Hispanic;
who
and
are
1.6
facing
percent
the
trial
itself,
and
initial
appeals
will
consume
years
of
life imprisonment is punishment enough."
the
Amendment."
deterrentthat
effect.
is noJD
detectable
effect
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capital
onyourself
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crime
youEighth
must
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Michele Hanisee,
death penalty
other.
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race

of
which
defendants
today
executed
must
be
pleaded
in
the
U.S.
by
time
Our
nation's
and
enormous
legacy
amounts
of
slavery
of
and
money
racial
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injustice
an find
The
best
econometric
studies
reach
the
same
Deputy District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles and should be remembered. Killing by the state
is wrong
Ernie Chambers,
JD
Antonin
Scalia,
JD continued
Steven
G. Breyer,
prosecutors
since
1976
is
up
56
front
percent

often
white;
want
35
percent
to
make
black;
a
deal
7
by
execution
is
offense
on
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in
horizon
our
use
of
the
death
penalty.
OurJD
President
of
the
Association
of
District
Attorneys
Indeed, other
recent[of
investigations,
using awrongly
variety equate
of conclusion
Nebraska
StateanSenator
Opponents
the
death
penalty]
as
well,
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even
worse
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killing
by
Former
Associate
Justice
of Penalty
the US Supreme
Court
Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court
"Justice
a Swift
Death
in California,"
pleading
Hispanic;
guilty
toRequires
2first
percent
degree
other.
murder
exchange
for death row population
is more
than 40%
black
-- nearly
Transcript
of Nebraska
legislature
floor
debate,
samples percent
and statistical
consistently
retribution
andmethods,
revenge,
because
they in
both
would
Concurring
opinion
in marinscope.com
Glossip
v. Gross, individual...
Dissenting opinion in Glossip v. Gross,
legislature.ne.gov
a
sentencing
recommendation
of
life
without
parole.
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three
of
times
the
the
studies
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conclude
of
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the
death
population.
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those whosupreme.justicia.com
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inflicted
27,
2016 year roughly 14,000 murders were committed
Apr. 16, 2015
existence
reason
for
of
the
the
discrepancy
death
penalty
in
the
as
a
execution
possible
rate
system
is
far
more
expensive
than
an
alternative
June 29,
2015
June 29, 2015
reduced The
murder
rates...
In
short,
capital
punishment
but
only
35
executions
took
place.
Since
murderers
pain and suffering on us.
In my view, the death penalty is morally,
socially
and
sentence
leads
toand
guilty
whites
pleas
is that juries
save the
deciding
money
system
which
our criminal
the
maximum
justice
sentence
system
toissave
life
and
in
does, in between
fact, saveblacks
lives."
typicallyReforming
exposeinthemselves
to
far
greater
immediate
politically
wrong.
Morally,
killing
is wrong.
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spent
whether
on to
trials
impose
andknows
limit
the death
the
penalty retribution
have
forconcluded
appeals."
prison."
more
as simple
assome
changing
risks, theredeem
incredibly
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that
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no opportunity
bounds,
must
onlikelihood
behalf
ofisalives
stateisisnot
wrong
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mayjust
David
Muhlhausen,
PhD
in
cases involving and
black
defendants that
there
one thing.
But
should
be able
admit
that we
small chance
of that
execution
many
years
be more
limited,
appropriately
directed:
thewe
death
penalty
isafter
a to
just
and
Research
Fellow proportional
in Empirical
Policy Analysis
at theRobert
Heritage
B.Evnen,
JD believe
Richard
C. moral
Dieter,
MS, JD
were
extenuating
circumstances
militating
in
favor
of
must
do
more
of
what
works
to
save
lives,
we
a crime
will
influence
the
behaviour
of and
avictims
The retributive
the crime
for Director
the
most
serious
of
crimes;
Attorney andpunishment
Co-founder of fits
Nebraskans
Foundation
for the Deathcommitting
Penalty punishment
Former
Executive
of the
Death
Penalty
Information
Center
a lesser
penalty...
stop
doing
things
that do
sociopathic
who
would
otherwise
be work.
willing
"Local
"Capital
View: Thoughts
Punishment
about
Works:
the Death
It Deters
Penalty:
Crime,"
Correcting
the should
"Testimony
Submitted
tonot
the
Nebraska
and deviant
their
families
are
morally
entitled
to longLegislature,"
for
toit.kill if revenge.
his only penalty
were
imprisonment.
We should only execute those whodailysignal.com
most deserveRecord,"
However,
thelife
social,
politicaldeathpenaltyinfo.org
andAny
economic
Oct.
4,
2014
journalstar.com
Mar.racial
13, 2013
The
American
public
still
supports
the
death
penalty,
As
a
prosecutor,
I
saw
that
the
death
penalty's
criminal
who
actually
thought
he
would
be
caught
And not randomly. Refine our death penaltyJuly
statutes
costs
of
such
retribution
are,
in
my
opinion,
too high...
11,
2015
notwithstanding
the hammering
capitalonpunishment
legacy
could notofbelife
excused
orparole
explained
would find
the prospect
without
to beaway
a -- and
and review the sentences
of everyone
death row.
receives
each
year...
Im
glad
the
American
public
that
too
many
innocent
lives
were
being
taken
penalty.interest
Any criminal
who human
didnt think
Release into general population those who don'tmonumental
really No national
can justify
rights by this
does."
flawed
practice.
he wouldprofoundly
be caughtsuch
would
be
untroubled
by or
anytorture."
deserve to die. The rest we should execute worst
violations
as the
death penalty
sanction."
first."
Edward Koch, LLB So I decided to fight for the death penalty's repeal."
Ivan Simonovic, PhD, LLM

Former Mayor of New York City

Special Adviser to the United
John J.Nations
Donohue
Secretary-General
III, JD, PhD
on the
RobertNot
Blecker,
JD
"Statistics Show Death Penalty
Racist,"
Professor of Law at Stanford
Responsibility
University
Martin O'Malley,
to Protect
JD
Professor of Law at New York
Law
School
newsmax.com
"There's
"Introduction:
No EvidenceAnThat
Abolitionist's
Death Penalty
Perspective,"
IsFormer
a Deterrent
Governor
in Moving
against
ofAway
Maryland
from
"Q&A: Death Penalty Proponent Robert
Blecker,
Sep. 27, 2011
"Why the Death Penalty
Crime,"
the Death
NeedsPenalty
to Go,"
dallasnews.com
theconversation.com
ohchr.org
cnn.com
Apr. 2014
Aug. 8, 2015
Aug.
Nov.31,
6, 2015

"Whatever your feelings are toward the death penalty,

one thing most people will never know is the pain
experienced when a family member, or in my case,
family members are brutally tortured and murdered.
In 1984, my mother, sister and two nephews were
cold-heartedly shot to death by an 18-year-old gang
member named Tiqueon Cox...
Tiqueon was sentenced to death by a jury of his peers
and has been on death row for 30 years after
exhausting all of his appeals at both the state and
federal level... Cox, while on death row, attempted a
violent takeover of the Super Max Adjustment Center
at San Quentin with a goal to kill as many guards as
possible.
I urge a no vote on Prop. 62 and yes on Prop. 66 to
ensure the worst of the worst killers receive the
strongest sentence. A yes on Prop. 66 brings closure to
families while saving California taxpayers millions of
dollars every year."
Kermit Alexander
Former NFL player and President of the NFL Players Association
who lost his mother, sister and two nephews when they were
murdered in 1984
"Letters to the Editor, Oct. 1,"
sfchronicle.com
Sep. 30, 2016

"To me, the death penalty also is something else a

sad reminder of how our justice system typically
offers punishment instead of healing for the survivors
of violent crime
For a growing number of victims of violence, the
thought of honoring our loved ones by killing another
human being is not only counter-intuitive, but
abhorrent. Perhaps more than others, I understand
acutely that an execution would just visit pain on
another family.
Moreover, the death penalty typically brings the
opposite of what survivors of crime most need:
accountability, healing and closure
The death penalty also keeps us stuck in an angry
stage of grief. The death penalty requires all of us,
victims and spectators alike, to actively summon
feelings of hatred and contempt in order to justify the
murder of another human being. I have felt all of
those things at various times towards my sisters
killer
While not all murder victim family members feel this
way, many of us do. For all these reasons, I say to
prosecutors who seek the death penalty: Not in my
name."
Tanya Coke, JD
Senior Program Officer for Criminal Justice at the Ford Foundation
and the sister of a murder victim
"Death Penalty Punishes Survivors Like Me: Column,"
usatoday.com
Aug. 28, 2016

"The next urban legend is that of the threadbare but

"Perhaps the most important factor in determining
Attorneywhether
Quality
plucky public defender fighting against all9.
odds
a defendant will receive the death penalty is
against a team of sleek, heavily-funded prosecutors
the quality of the representation he or she is provided.
with limitless resources. The reality in the 21st
Almost all defendants in capital cases cannot afford
century is startlingly different... the past few decades their own attorneys. In many cases, the appointed
have seen the establishment of public defender
attorneys are overworked, underpaid, or lacking the
systems that in many cases rival some of the best
trial experience required for death penalty cases.
lawyers retained privately... Many giant
have even been instances in which lawyers
10. silk-stocking
Physicians There
at Executions
law firms in large cities across America not only
appointed to a death case were so inexperienced that
provide pro-bono counsel in capital cases, but also
they were completely unprepared for the sentencing
offer partnerships to lawyers whose sole job is to
phase of the trial. Other appointed attorneys have slept
promote indigent capital defense."
through parts of the trial, or arrived at the court under
the influence of alcohol. The right to an attorney is a
Joshua Marquis, JD vital hallmark of the American judicial system. It is
District Attorney of Clatsop County, Oregon
"The Myth of Innocence," essential that the attorney be experienced in capital
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology cases, be adequately compensated, and have access to
Mar. 31, 2005 the resources needed to fulfil his or her obligations to
the client and the court."
Death Penalty Information Center
"Death Penalty Representation,"
deathpenaltyinfo.org
(accessed Sep. 29, 2016)

"We expect physicians to offer comfort care to the

dying, even if the treatment, like morphine to dampen
end-stage cancer pain, will inevitably hasten death.
These physicians are not killing their patients; they
are comforting them in their final moments of life...

"No matter how one feels about capital punishment, it

is disquieting for physicians to act as agents of the
state in the assisting, supervising or contributing to a
legally authorized execution. Physicians are
fundamentally healers dedicated to preserving life
when there is hope of doing so. The knowledge and
Death row inmates have certain parallels to dying
skill of physicians must only be used for care,
patients. Death is coming. A physician can do nothing compassion and healing. To have the state mandate
to change that. All that can be offered is professional that physician skills be turned against a human being
care during the final moments of life. And that should undermines a basic ethical foundation of medicine
be of comfort to the condemned...
first, do no harm.
The idea that physicians may participate in executions
does not mean that they must do so. But it should be
an option for those who believe that they have a duty
to ease suffering and that this duty includes caring for
those who will die at the hands of the state...

The American Medical Association is troubled by

continuous refusal of states to acknowledge the ethical
obligations of physicians that strictly prohibit
involvement in capital punishment. The AMA's policy
is clear and unambiguous requiring physicians to
participate in executions violates their oath to protect
Physician involvement in lethal injection can make
lives and introduces deep ambiguity into the very
capital punishment less grotesque, more palatable, and definition of medical care.
even routine. But so long as the state uses the tools of
the physician to kill its citizens, those who wish to
Oklahoma and other states that continue to authorize
step in to ensure that executions are, at the very least, lethal injections must honor the well-established
competently handled should have the option to do so. principle of medical ethics that prohibits physician
Anything else is death penalty politics at the expense participation in capital punishment."
of the condemned. And no matter where you come out
Ardis Dee Hoven, MD
on capital punishment, no one should be sentenced to
Chair of the World Medical Association
a botched execution."
"State Mandates for Physician Participation in Capital
Kenneth F. Baum, MD, JD
Partner at Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum, LLP
Julie Cantor, MD, JD
Attorney Of Counsel at Goldman, Ismail, Tomaselli, Brennan &
Baum, LLP
"Doctors Can Ease Suffering, Even in Executions,"
nytimes.com
Apr. 30, 2014

Punishment Violate Medical Ethics,"

ama-assn.org
May 2, 2014

The Advantages of the Death Penalty

It shows that the justice system has no sympathy for the criminals.

When criminals escape from the capital punishment, they repeat their crimes and take more innocent
lives.

The availability of modern testings such as DNA testing reduces the chances of punishing the innocents;
therefore, capital punishment can be an effective tool to control the crimes.

The death penalty can address the problem of overpopulation in the prisons.

It gives closure to the families of the victims who have already suffered a lot.

( I am against abortion-the murder of the innocent unborn children but in favor of death penalty
to heinous criminals)

By Eric V. Encina

Pasay Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Pedro Corales backed the restoration of the death
penalty during a rights dialogue forum in Davao City held in 2005
(http://ccadp.proboards.com/index.cgi?board-news&action=display&thread=3107) of the
Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty (PDI 12/24/2011)

"Imprisonment is expensive for the state, so the best way to deter criminality is to execute those
with death sentences...If you don't execute how long should the state provide and spend for their
existence and how sure are we that he ( heinous criminal(s)) would not kill anybody anymore."

DEATH PENALTY?
TO PRACTICE JUSTICE IS A JOY FOR THE JUST, BUT TERROR FOR EVILDOERS. Proverbs 21:15

HE LOVES JUSTICE AND RIGHT; OF THE KINDNESS OF THE LORD THE EARTH IS FULL. Psalms
33:5

Other than that, pestiferous and heinous crimes committed by the Government officials against
the people should be put to death penalty as a matter of justice, not for the sake of death, not
for the sake of killing, but for the sake of eliminating pestiferous elements in the government and
in our society.

For the sake of justice, I am in favor of the restoration of Death Penalty in the Philippines upon
the heinous criminals and particularly to those Government officials who have committed
heinous crimes against the Filipino people like graft and corruption and electoral sabotage,
among other heinous crimes.

Even in the THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, alluding specifically to the 5th
Commandment, You shall not kill (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) No. 2266: Preserving the
common good of society requires rendering the aggressor unable to inflict harm. For this reason
the traditional teaching of the Church has acknowledged as well-founded the right and duty of
legitimate public authority to punish malefactors by means of penalties commensurate with the
gravity of the crime, not excluding, in cases of extreme gravity, "the death penalty". For
analogous reasons those holding authority have the right to repel by armed force aggressors
against the community in their charge.
The primary effect of punishment is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his
punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiration. Moreover,
punishment has the effect of preserving public order and the safety of persons. Finally
punishment has a medical value; as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the
offender. (Luke 23:40-43).
LEGAL ASPECT OF DEATH PENALTY.

Penalty is the suffering inflicted by the State for the violation of a law.

Our 1987 Constitution in Section 9 (1) Article III of the Bill of Right provides: Excessive fines not
be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted. Neither shall the death
penalty be imposed, unless, for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress

hereafter provides for it. Any death penalty already imposed shall be reduce to reclusion
perpetua. (2) The employment of physical, psychology, or degrading punishment against any
prisoner conditions shall be with by law.

Here, we shall emphasize a persons right against cruel, degrading, or inhuman punishments,
which can only be invoked after conviction. (1) As to form: we can say that punishments are cruel
and / or inhuman when they involve torture or lingering death, such as burning alive, mutilation,
starvation, drowning, and other barbarous forms of punishment.
However, "Death penalty" by hanging, electrocution, or musketry is not considered cruel within
the meaning of that word as used in our Constitution. Nor it is inhuman. Destierro or banishment
from a certain locality as punishment is neither cruel nor inhuman and so valid. Punishment if
degrading when it brings shame and humiliation to the convict, or exposes him/her to contempt
or ridicule, or lowers his dignity and self-respect as a human being. (2) As to quantity or duration:
punishments greatly disproportionate to the nature of the offense as to be shocking to the
human conscience would be both cruel and inhuman. This, life imprisonment or even dearth is
not cruel nor inhuman when imposed for treason,parricide,murder and other heinous offenses
especially when aggravating circumstance attended their commission; but it is cruel and
inhuman if imposed for petty crimes like slander or theft of small value. Punishment that is cruel,
degrading, or inhuman is prohibited by our Constitution.

Section 19 merely suspended, not abolished, the death penalty. It should not be inflicted unless
Congress decides to reinstate it for compelling reason, involving heinous crimes Philippines in
which case it shall apply only to such crimes subsequently committed. Death penalty already
imposed when the New Philippines Constitution took effect in 1987 was automatically communed
to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.

HEINOUS CRIMES. The Philippines Constitutions does not define what heinous crimes are but
they can be said to cover offense that are exceedingly or flagrantly bad or evil or those
committed with extreme cruelty as to shock the general moral sense, such as treason, parricide,
drug- trafficking, murder, robbery with homicide, killing a person in stages, etc. especially if the
crimes is committed against children or defenseless people. Thus the death penalty has the
following arguments:

1. It is not cruel and inhuman because the manner by which it is executed (by electrocution or by
lethal injection) does not involve physical or mental pain nor unnecessary physical or mental
suffering, and it is imposed only for heinous crimes:
2. It discourages others from committing heinous crimes and its abolition will increase the
crime rate (Deterrence Theory is based on the argument that practically all human beings fear
the loss of their lives so that death penalty cannot but have a powerful deterring influence on
human conduct);
3. A convict by his own acts has forfeited his right to life and shown his moral incapacity to be
rehabilitated and formed;
4. The imposition of death penalty is filled with numerous legal safeguards; and
5. The State has the absolute right to take the life of a person who has proved himself-defense
and as an simple and warning to others.

Under Article 47 of the Revised Penal Code, death penalty may not be imposed in the following
cases:

When the guilty person is below 18 years of age when the crime was committed;
When the guilty person is more than 70 years old;
When upon appeal or automatic review of the case by the Supreme Court, the vote of 8
members is not obtained for the imposition of the death penalty.
JUSTIFICATION FOR DEATH PENALTY:
Social defense and exemplarity justify the penalty of death. In People vs. Carillo, 85 Phil. 611,
635, the convict has proved himself to be a dangerous enemy of society. The death penalty
imposed upon him is a warning to others. When we compare this justification with the Thomistic
justifications for defense of persons, societies, state, common good, and authority (See above
Pars. 2263-2267, page 3), we can formulate a common ground in their justification: all authority
is derived ultimately from God. We can safety imply this common ground from a passage in the
Gospel of St. John 19:10-11). When Pilate told Jesus, You wont talk to me? Dont you realize that
I have the power to release you or to crucify you? Jesus answered, You would have no power at
all over Me unless it was given to you from above.

If both civil authority and the Magisterium of the Church justifies legitimate self-defense, defense
of persons, communities, and societies in the imposition of death penalty within the bounds
prescribed by their respective standards, then I personally give my opinion, individually and
professionally, that death penalty can be justified in proper circumstances. I believe that already
suggested the different dimension of death penalty.

A timeline of death penalty in the Philippines

THE imposition of the death penalty in the country has had a repressive history. For the most part (from 1848 to
1987), it was used to curtail the liberties, freedoms and rights of the Filipino people. In recent history, however,
the death penalty was reimposed as a knee-jerk response to what has largely been seen as rising criminality in
the country. The following, with help from the Mamamayang Tutol sa Bitay-Movement for Restorative Justice,
traces the death penaltys historical roots and context in Philippine society:
Spanish Period (1521-1898)

Spanish colonizers brought with them medieval Europes penal system, including
executions.

Capital punishment during the early Spanish Period took various forms including burning,
decapitation, drowning, flaying, garrote, hanging, shooting, stabbing and others.

Capital punishment was enshrined in the 1848 Spanish Codigo Penal and was only
imposed on locals who challenged the established authority of the colonizers.

Between 1840-1857, recorded death sentences totaled 1,703 with 46 actual executions.

Filipinos who were meted the death penalty include Magat Salamat (1587); the native
clergies Gomez, Burgos and Zamora who were garroted in 1872; and Dr. Jose Rizal,
executed on December 30, 1896. All of them are now enshrined as heroes.

American Period (1898-1934)

The American colonizers, adopting most of the provisions under the Codigo Penal of 1848,
retain the death penalty.

The Codigo Penal was revised in 1932. Treason, parricide, piracy, kidnapping, murder,
rape, and robbery with homicide were considered capital offenses and warranted the
death penalty.

The Sedition Law (1901); Brigandage Act (1902); Reconcentration Act (1903); and Flag
Law (1907) were enacted to sanction the use of force, including death, against all
nationalist Filipinos.

Macario Sakay was one of those sentenced to die for leading a resistance group. He was
sentenced to die by public hanging.

The capital punishment continued to be an integral part of the pacification process of the
country, to suppress any resistance to American authority.

Japanese Occupation (1941-1945)

There are no recorded or documented cases of executions through the death penalty
during this period simply because extrajudicial executions were widely practised as part of
the pacification of the country.

Post-World War II

Espionage is added to the list of capital offenses.

The Anti-Subversion Law called for the death penalty for all Communist leaders. However,
no executions were recorded for any captured communist leader.

For the period of 1946-1965, 35 people were executed for offenses that the Supreme Court
labeled as crimes of senseless depravity or extreme criminal perversity.

The Marcos Years (1965-1986)

Deterrence became the official justification for the imposition of the death penalty. This
is the same justification used for the declaration of Martial Law in 1972.

The number of capital crimes increased to a total of 24. Some crimes which were made
punishable by death through laws and decrees during the Marcos period were subversion,
possession of firearms, arson, hijacking, embezzlement, drug-related offenses, unlawful
possession of firearms, illegal fishing and cattle rustling.

Jaime Jose, Basilio Pineda, and Edgardo Aquino were executed for the gang rape of movie
star Maggie dela Riva in 1972. Despite prohibitions against public executions, the
execution of the three was done in full view of the public.

Nineteen executions took place during the Pre-Martial Law period. Twelve were executed
during Martial Law.

Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was sentenced to die by firing squad for charges of murder,
subversion and illegal possession of firearm in 1977.

The last judicial execution under the Marcos years was in October 1976 when Marcelo San
Jose was executed by electrocution.

Similar to the reasons for the imposition of capital punishment during the Colonial Periods,
the death penalty during the Marcos Regime was imposed to quell rebellion and social
unrest.

President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (1986-1992)

The Death Penalty was abolished under the 1987 Constitution.

The Philippines became the first Asian country to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

All death sentences were reduced to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.

In 1988, the military started lobbying for the imposition of the death penalty for crimes
committed by the CPP-NPA.

President Fidel Valdez Ramos (1993-1998)

A series of high profile crimes during this period, including the murder of Eileen Sarmenta
and Allan Gomez, created public impression that heinous crimes were on the rise.

The Ramos administration reimposed the death penalty by virtue of Republic Act No. 7659
in December 1993 to address the rising criminality and incidence of heinous crimes.

The Death Penalty Law lists a total of 46 crimes punishable by death; 25 of these are
death mandatory while 21 are death eligible.

Republic Act No. 8177 mandates that a death sentence shall be carried out through lethal
injection.

President Joseph Ejercito Estrada (1998-2001)

Leo Echegaray was executed in February 1999 and was followed by six other executions
for various heinous crimes.

In 1999, the bumper year for executions, the national crime volume, instead of abating,
ironically increased by 15.3 percent or a total of 82,538 (from 71,527 crimes in the
previous year).

Estrada issued a de facto moratorium on executions in the face of church-led campaigns to

abolish the death penalty and in observance of the Jubilee Year.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001-present)

Arroyo publicly stated that she is not in favor of executions.

Due to the rise in crimes related to drugs and kidnappings that targeted the FilipinoChinese community, she announced that she would resume executions to sow fear into
the hearts of criminals.

Arroyo lifted the de facto moratorium issued by Estrada on December 5, 2003.

Even as executions were set to resume on January 2004, this did not push through by
virtue of a Supreme Court decision to reopen the Lara-Licayan case.

Since then, the administration has been issuing reprieves on scheduled executions without
actually issuing a moratorium.

With the amendment of Republic Act No. 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997) and Republic Act
No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs act of 2002), there are now 52 capital
offenses, 30 of which are death mandatory and 22 are death eligible.