In Defense of the Right to Life: Analyzing Factors Affecting Filipino Opinion About Death Penalty III. Findings A. The death penalty should be re-instated for peoples who were proven by the courts to have really committed heinous crimes As shown in Figure 2, there was a moderate support for the death penalty, with 60% who agreed (strongly + somewhat) that, “The death penalty should be re-instated for peoples who were proven by the courts to have really committed heinous crimes”; only 32% disagreed, and 8% neither agreed nor disagreed. To gauge the top-of-mind reason for supporting or not supporting the death penalty, the survey asked in an open-ended manner what are their reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the main statement on support for the death penalty. The main reason for support was that death penalty deters crime, with 55%, followed by 37% who said the death penalty dispenses justice. The main reason for not supporting the death penalty was religious reasons, with 42%, followed by 21% who cited the possibility of reform, 14% who said there are alternative forms of punishment, and 10% who cited questionable/ issues with the justice system. But these reasons for support or opposition to the death penalty were just the tip of the iceberg. The paper will now delver deeper under the surface and examine if the same set of factors will be observed after a systematic multivariate analysis of all other factors. Table 2 in the annex shows the descriptive statistics of attitudes of Filipinos towards the death penalty. Most Filipinos feel safe with the death penalty. While 55% disagreed that a life that is taken is also paid for by a life, 61% believed that most people in prison are actually guilty of committing the crimes they are in jail for – which indicted that while most believe that offenders should be punished in jail, they need not be punished by as severe as death. Most Filipinos were also concerned of wrongful execution/sentencing of persons to death. About 6 in 10 believed that the death penalty somehow provides some sense of justice to the victims, such as repairing harm, providing comfort to the victim’s family, and speeding up disposition of justice. Except for reparative payments, around 7 in 10 were in favor of alternative punishments, such as life imprisonment or prolonged prison sentence. Table 3 in the annex shows the preliminary zero-order correlations of the predictors used in the study. Results indicate support for the death penalty was stronger in urban areas, among males, among those with higher education, among those who would follow the law, and among those who would feel safe with death penalty in place. Support for the death penalty was likewise higher among those who believe that the death penalty serves some justice: repairs harm done, provides some comfort, and speeds up justice. Moreover, those who do not approve of various alternative modalities of punishment also tended to support the death penalty than those who approve of the alternatives. 13