anti death penalty in the philippines essay

DEATH PENALTY

We know that, together, we can end the death penalty everywhere..

Every day, people are executed and sentenced to death by the state as punishment for a variety of crimes – sometimes for acts that should not be criminalized. In some countries, it can be for drug-related offences, in others it is reserved for terrorism-related acts and murder.

Some countries execute people who were under 18 years old when the crime was committed, others use the death penalty against people with mental and intellectual disabilities and several others apply the death penalty after unfair trials – in clear violation of international law and standards. People can spend years on death row, not knowing when their time is up, or whether they will see their families one last time.

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception – regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the   crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution.

Amnesty International holds that the death penalty breaches human rights, in particular the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Both rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948.

Over time, the international community has adopted several instruments that ban the use of the death penalty, including the following:

• The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. • Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty, and Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances. • The Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Although international law says that the use of the death penalty must be restricted to the the most serious crimes, meaning intentional killing, Amnesty believes that the death penalty is never the answer.

The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it.

Execution Methods

• Beheading • Electrocution • Hanging • Lethal injection • Shooting

WHERE DO MOST EXECUTIONS TAKE PLACE?

In 2022, most known executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the USA – in that order.

China remained the world’s leading executioner  – but the true extent of its use of the death penalty is unknown as this data is classified as a state secret; the global figure of at least  883  excludes the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out there.

Excluding China, 90% of all reported executions took place in just three countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The global view: death sentences and executions 2008-2022

*This map indicates the general locations of boundaries and jurisdictions and should not be interpreted as Amnesty International’s view on disputed territories.

**Country names listed reflect nomenclature in May 2023

Juvenile Executions

The use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18 is prohibited under international human rights law, yet some countries still sentence to death and execute juvenile defendants. Such executions are few compared to the total number of executions recorded by Amnesty International each year.

However, their significance goes beyond their number and calls into question the commitment of the executing states to respect international law.

Since 1990 Amnesty International has documented at least 149 executions of child offenders in 10 countries: China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, the USA and Yemen.

Several of these countries have changed their laws to exclude the practice. Iran has executed more than twice as many child offenders as the other nine countries combined. At the time of writing Iran has executed at least 99 child offenders since 1990.

Executions per year

Amnesty International recorded at least 657 executions in 20 countries in 2018, down by 5% from 2018 (at least 690 executions). This figure represents the lowest number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded in at least a decade.

Death sentences per year

Amnesty International recorded at least 2,307 death sentences in 56 countries in 2019, a slight decrease from the total of 2,531 reported in 2018. At least 26,604 people were known to be under sentence of death globally at the end of 2019.

HOW MANY DEATH SENTENCES AND EXECUTIONS TAKE PLACE EACH YEAR?

Death sentences.

Amnesty International recorded at least 2,052 death sentences in 56 countries in 2021, an increase of 39% from the total of 1,477 reported in 2020. At least 28,670 people were known to be under sentence of death globally at the end of 2021.

Amnesty International recorded at least 579 executions in 18 countries in 2021, up by 20% from 2020 (at least 483 executions). This figure represents the second lowest number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded since at least 2010.

Reasons to abolish the death penalty

It is irreversible and mistakes happen. Execution is the ultimate, irrevocable punishment: the risk of executing an innocent person can never be eliminated. Since 1973, for example, more than 160 prisoners sent to death row in the USA have later been exonerated or released from death row on grounds of innocence. Others have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt.

It does not deter crime. Countries who execute commonly cite the death penalty as a way to deter people from committing crime. This claim has been repeatedly discredited, and there is no evidence that the death penalty is any more effective in reducing crime than life imprisonment.

It is often used within skewed justice systems. In many cases recorded by Amnesty International, people were executed after being convicted in grossly unfair trials, on the basis of torture-tainted evidence and with inadequate legal representation. In some countries death sentences are imposed as the mandatory punishment for certain offences, meaning that judges are not able to consider the circumstances of the crime or of the defendant before sentencing.

It is discriminatory. The weight of the death penalty is disproportionally carried by those with less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds or belonging to a racial, ethnic or religious minority. This includes having limited access to legal representation, for example, or being at greater disadvantage in their experience of the criminal justice system.

It is used as a political tool. The authorities in some countries, for example Iran and Sudan, use the death penalty to punish political opponents.

What is Amnesty doing to abolish the death penalty?

For 40 years, Amnesty has been campaigning to abolish the death penalty around the world.

Amnesty monitors its use by all states to expose and hold to account governments that continue to use the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. We publish a report annually, reporting figures and analysing trends for each country. Amnesty’s latest report, Death Sentences and Executions 2019, was released in April 2020.

The organisation’s work to oppose the death penalty takes many forms, including targeted, advocacy and campaign based projects in the Africa, Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe and Central Asia region; strengthening national and international standards against its use, including by supporting the successful adoption of resolutions on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty by the UN General Assembly; and applying pressure on cases that face imminent execution. We also support actions and work by the abolitionist movement, at national, regional and global level.

When Amnesty started its work in 1977, only 16 countries had totally abolished the death penalty. Today, that number has risen to 106 – more than half the world’s countries. More than two-thirds are abolitionist in law or practice.

In the Philippines

More than a decade ago, the Philippines recognized that the capital punishment is the ultimate violation of the right to life by abolishing the Republic Act 7659, later ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights which further emphasized the cruel and inhuman nature of capital punishment. Since the start of President Duterte’s term in 2016 however, he has sought to reinstate the death penalty, and almost succeeded when the House of Representatives voted to pass the bill in 2017.

Today, we call on the Philippine Senate to reject any and all proposals for the reinstatement of the death penalty. Call on our Senators to recognize that the death penalty fails as a deterrent to any form of crime and contributes to a culture that continually devalues life.

Recorded executions skyrocket to highest figure in five years

The death penalty is an inhumane, unlawful and ineffective response to drugs, death penalty myths debunked.

In Defense of the Right to Life: International Law and Death Penalty in the Philippines

Background to the death penalty in the Philippines

The Philippines first abolished the death penalty under the 1987 Constitution. It was the first Asian country to abolish the death penalty for all crimes. [4] Following this abolition, all death sentences were reduced to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.

During the early part of former President Fidel Ramos’ administration, the death penalty was re-imposed by virtue of R.A. No. 7659, which was passed in December 1993. A convict, Leo Echagaray, was executed in February 1999, followed by six other executions for various allegedly heinous crimes. However, notwithstanding the re-imposition of the death penalty, national crime rate increased by 15.3 percent or a total of 82,538 (from 71,527 recorded crimes in the previous year). [5]

Subsequently, President Joseph Estrada declared a de facto moratorium on executions. President Gloria Arroyo lifted the de facto moratorium on 05 December 2003 “to sow fear into the hearts of criminals.” [6] Although executions were set to resume on January 2004, the administration in fact issued reprieves on any scheduled executions. [7] At the same time, the Supreme Court decided to reopen the Lara-Licayan case. [8] The Court admitted newly-discovered evidence, which exonerated both Lara and Licayan from culpability. [9]

The Philippines ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 23 October 1986. Ratification of the ICCPR reinforced the commitment of the Philippines to promote and protect civil and political rights, including the right to life enshrined in Article 6 of the Covenant.

In 2006, the Philippines signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Second Optional Protocol). On 20 November 2007, the Philippines ratified the Second Optional Protocol. The Second Optional Protocol prohibits, absolutely and permanently, the imposition of the death penalty in the Philippines. [10]

Notwithstanding these binding legal commitments, House Bill No. 4727, is now before the House of Representatives, following approval by the House Justice Committee on 7 December 2016. Amendments to the Bill were the subject of vote in March 2017.

In the Senate, Senate Bill Nos. 4, 42, 185, 186, 187, 889, 985, and 1294 are under the consideration of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Further consideration of the Senate Bills are suspended as of writing pending consideration by officials of the effect of relevant international agreements ratified by the Philippines and other international obligations.

PGA’s vision is to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe, sustainable and democratic world.

Philippines and the Death Penalty

Although the Philippines was the first Asian country to abolish the death penalty under the 1987 Constitution, it was re-imposed during the administration of President Fidel Ramos to address the rising crime rate in 1993, only to be abolished again in 2006, after the then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed a law reducing maximum punishment to life imprisonment. The country subsequently signed and ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (ICCPR-OP2) on 20 November 2007.

The May 2016 election of President Rodrigo Duterte, who vowed to reintroduce the death penalty to combat drug trafficking in the Philippines and other crimes during his campaign, posed a new serious threat to the protection of human rights in the country. On 7 March 2017, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Bill No. 4727 on the reinstatement of the death penalty for drug-related and “heinous” crimes. The Bill, however, remained stalled in the Senate for the following months due to a lack of support from Senators, including several PGA Members who publicly spoke out against the reintroduction of capital punishment in the country.

Yet, the mid-term elections of May 2019, which gave a majority to senators from President Duterte’s party (PDP-Laban), relaunched the pro-death penalty movement, and 18 concerning bills on this matter were presented to the House of Representatives in September that same year. Although unsuccessful, other attempts were made again in 2020, following a shooting in Tarlac .

On 2 March 2021, the House of Representatives adopted House Bill No. 7814 , allowing the reintroduction of the death penalty under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 – the second bill in five years proposing a return to capital punishment that passed to the Senate. But support from Senators who previously positioned themselves in favor of such reinstatement diminished, thus reducing the risk of a return to the use of capital punishment.

Overall, vigilance must prevail, notably considering the coming to power of Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Junior as President and Sara Duterte as Vice President following the presidential elections of May 2022. The threat of a possible reintroduction of the death penalty in the Philippines remains latent.

The Philippines has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1986 and its Second Optional Protocol aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (ICCPR-OP2) in 2007 .

PGA activities on the abolition of the death penalty in the country:

30-31 October 2018:  PGA organised, in partnership with ADPAN and Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), a regional parliamentary seminar entitled “Standing Against Death Penalty in Asia: The Role of Parliamentarians ” in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Hon. Tomasito Villarin , Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, attended the event and gave an intervention on the experience of the Philippines with the death penalty, including recent efforts to block its reintroduction.

29 November 2017:  PGA organized a side-event to its 39 th  Annual Forum in Milan (Italy), entitled  “Moving Away from Capital Punishment in Asia” . The event focused on the issues and arguments particularly relevant to the abolitionist movement in Asian countries. This gave the opportunity to PGA Member  Sen. Antonio Trillanes  to share his experience with fellow Asian parliamentarians and discuss how to best act against the reintroduction of the death penalty in abolitionist countries.

16 October 2017:  PGA issued a  statement  welcoming the move by nine of the twenty-four Filipino Senators, including PGA Members  Sen. Antonio Trillanes  and  Sen. Leila de Lima , to speak out against the government’s move to reintroduce the death penalty in the country, which led to the relevant Committee to defer its discussion of the bill. Sen. Trillanes also published a  statement .

Parliamentary Guidebook on the Abolition of the Death Penalty

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Factsheet for Parliamentarians Death Penalty and Poverty

Parliamentary Factsheet on the Death Penalty and Terrorism-Related Offences

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Parliamentary Factsheet on the Death Penalty and Mental Health