The Commission on Human Rightss (CHR) dubbed as “a win for the sanctity of life” the move of Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III’s to withdraw support for the reimposition of death penalty in the country.
CHR Focal Commissioner on Anti-Death Penalty Karen S. Gomez-Dumpit said the two senators’ move would also pave the way to stop a punishment that can possibly "end the life of an innocent."
"We ask other legislators who have given their support for this counterproductive measure to reconsider their position and urge them to affirm the right to life and dignity of all persons," Dumpit said.
In a statement issued on Friday, Nov. 5, Dumpit stressed the CHR’s "consistent stand" against death penalty and reiterated that any act of deliberately ending the life of a person is inherently wrong.
Dumpit said: "Death penalty violates human dignity and runs counter to the basic principles of human rights. The Philippine Constitution includes a clear State Policy to value the dignity of every human person and to guarantee respect for human rights. The reimposition of death penalty is also violative of our international legal obligations, specifically under the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of death penalty."
She stressed that the suspension of death penalty in 2006 "did not result in the increase in crimes,” as she cited a previous CHR study.
She pointed out that “death penalty is an ineffective measure to deter and curb criminality.”
Dumpit also said:
"The Commission’s study revealed that the support for death penalty mainly lies in wanting to be safe and secure. The heightened fear of becoming a victim to a crime is pushing Filipinos to support harsher penalties. However, the harshness of the penalty is not a deterrent but the certainty of punishment.
"In various advisories, we have stated that what deters crimes are the increased likelihood of apprehension and the certainty and immediacy of conviction, if one is proven guilty of committing a crime. If the court dockets will be decongested and the more sentences will be handed down in an expeditious manner, this may prove to be the real deterrent to criminality.”
Dumpit said that the swift administration of justice must be coupled with the rehabilitation of offenders, which is actually part of improving the criminal justice system.
"Placing convicted individuals in prison is not the end goal. Any discourse on sustained peace and order necessarily includes the reintegration of offenders to mainstream society. Thus, there is a need to strengthen restorative justice programs in the country," she said.
In 1992, one of the first bills that Sotto filed was the reimposition of the death penalty, which was removed in the 1987 Constitution.
The death penalty or capital punishment was reinstated under former President Fidel Ramos' leadership in 1993 and had been a legal form of punishment in the country until it was abolished by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo 13 years later in 2006.
In 2014, Sotto filed a death penalty bill again, while Lacson filed his own in 2019.
Dumpit said the CHR hopes that Lacson and Sotto's move will help turn the tide in the Senate and halt the proposals to reintroduce capital punishment in the country.