Capital punishment in the Philippines

Capital punishment in the Philippines has a varied history and was abolished on June 24, 2006 (the second time since 1987).

Filipinos have mixed opinions about the death penalty, with many opposing it on religious and humanitarian grounds, while others advocate it as a way of deterring crimes.

Spanish and American periods [edit]

During Spanish colonial rule, the most common method of executions were shooting by the firing squad (especially for treason/military crimes, usually reserved for independence fighters) and garrotte (a notable case would be the Gomburza).

A prominent example is the country's national hero, Jose Rizal, who was executed by firing squad on the morning of December 30, 1896.^[1]

In 1926, the electric chair was introduced, by the United States colonial government. This made the Philippines the only country besides the United States to employ this method.

1946 to 1986 [edit]

The capital crimes after regaining full independence were murder, rape and treason. A well-publicised triple execution took place in May 1972, when Jaime José, Basilio Pineda, and Edgardo Aquino were electrocuted for the 1967 abduction and gang-rape of the young actress Maggie dela Riva. Death by firing squad was also allowed for some cases.

Under the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos, drug trafficking also became punishable with death by firing squad. A notable execution was that of drug trafficker Lim Seng, whose death was broadcast on national television.

The electric chair was used until 1976, when execution by firing squad eventually replaced it as the sole method of execution. During the Marcos regime, however, countless more people were summarily executed, tortured, or simply disappeared for opposition to his rule.^{[neutrality is disputed]}

After Marcos was deposed in 1986, the newly-drafted Constitution limited the application of the death penalty to a certain few crimes. This in effect meant that it was totally abolished, making the Philippines the first Asian country to do so.

Reinstatement and moratorium [edit]

President Fidel V. Ramos promised during his campaign that he would support the reintroduction of the death penalty in response to increasing crime rates. The new law, drafted by Ramos, restored capital punishment by defining "heinous crimes" as everything from murder to stealing a car.

This law provided the use of the electric chair until the gas chamber (chosen by the government to replace electrocution) could be installed.

The first execution by lethal injection took place under Ramos' successor, Joseph Estrada, following on a personal appeal by his spiritual advisor, Bishop Teodoro Bacani. Estrada called a moratorium in 2000 to honour the bimillenial anniversary of Jesus' birth.^[2] Executions were resumed a year later.

Estrada's own successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, was a vocal opponent and also approved a moratorium, but later permitted executions and denied pardons.

Second abolition [edit]

An old embarkation card (erroneously) warning visitors of the death penalty for drug trafficking. The caveat has since been removed from subsequent versions.

On 15 April 2006, the sentences of 1,230 death row inmates were commuted to life imprisonment, in what Amnesty International believes to be the "largest ever commutation of death sentences".^[3]

Capital punishment was again abolished via Republic Act No. 9346, which was signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on 24 June 2006. The bill followed a vote held in Congress earlier that month which overwhelmingly supported the abolition of the practise.^[4] The penalties of life imprisonment and reclusion perpetua (indeterminate sentence, 30-year minimum) replaced the death penalty.^[5] Critics of Arroyo's initiative called it a political move meant to placate the Roman Catholic Church, some sectors of which were increasingly vocal in their opposition to her rule.

Aftermath [edit]

President Arroyo controversially pardoned many prisoners during her presidency, including a 2009 pardon for all remaining felons convicted for the 1983 assassination of former Senator and opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr..^[6]

In 2013, the Philippines executed a Taiwanese fisherman Hong Shicheng due of his ship trespassing its Exclusive economic zone or Terrortrial waters as PHI sounds.

Methods [edit]

The Philippines was the only country aside from the United States that used the electric chair. Until its first abolition in 1987, the country reverted to using death by firing squad.

After re-introduction of the death penalty in 1993, the country switched to lethal injection as its sole method of execution.

References [edit]

• Philippines 'restores' death penalty - By John McLean (BBC correspondent in Manila)
• Lamban, S. 2000. Death Penalty in the Philippines