The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said the government should focus on restorative justice instead of re-imposing the death penalty, noting there are more benefits to be found in the former.
"There are countless factors that go into a case that involves capital punishment. We must work towards a system that focuses on restorative justice, where justice and empathy prevails," the Commission tweeted.
Contrary to what most people think, the CHR said re-imposing the death penalty will not put an end to crime and criminality.
"Murder rates in places that still have death penalty exceeded those in places that have abolished it by no less than 42 percent," it shared.
At the same time, the Commission noted death penalty cases last longer and are more costly, due to numerous appeals. More often than not, death penalty cases last up to 20 years.
"Death penalty cases can be three times more expensive than non-death penalty cases, which is paid for by the government," it continued.
The CHR further said that scientists and studies agree, by an overwhelming majority, that death penalty is not a good deterrent.
President Duterte has long pushed for the return of the death penalty in order to bolster the government's fight against illegal drugs. He last discussed it during his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July.
"I reiterate the swift passage of a law reviving the death penalty by lethal injection for crimes specified under the Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2002," he said.
Right after the president's pronouncement, the CHR through its Spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that bringing back the capital punishment to the country "will be a breach of international law."
In particular, the reinstatement of the death penalty will conflict the tenets of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the Philippines ratified in 2007.
De Guia added that it even goes against two affirmations made by the government during the 2020 SONA, which is to put human lives above all and to uphold its obligation for human rights.
"We too believe that crimes must be punished. But the call for justice should not result further violations of human rights, especially the right to life," she said.