In Defense of the Right to Life: Analyzing Factors Affecting Filipino Opinion About Death Penalty I. Background of the Study A. The Brief History of the Death Penalty in the Philippines The Philippines abolished the death penalty under the 1987 Constitution. In 1993, however, capital punishment was reintroduced under Republic Act No. 7659 to address perceived rising criminality.2 Seven executions were committed in 1999, signaling the enforcement of the law and an attempt to abate criminality. In the same year, criminality increased by 15.3%.3 Appeals from groups against the death penalty, which cited its non-deterrent effect in the commission of crimes compelled the Philippine government to issue a moratorium. In 2003, de facto moratorium on executions were lifted, but reprieves were since then issued on scheduled executions because of evidence that exonerated persons on death row. On 24 June 2006, R.A. 9346, “An Act prohibiting the imposition of the Death Penalty in the Philippines” was enacted and effectively abolished the death penalty in the country, for the second time. The Philippines ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966) on 23 October 1986, reinforcing its commitment to promote and protect civil and political rights, including the right to life enshrined in Article 6 of the Covenant. On 20 November 2007, the Philippines ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (ICCPR 2nd OP, 1989). Article 6 of the Second Optional Protocol further states that “the present Protocol shall not be subject to any derogation,” signifying that there is no mechanism provided for the State Party to withdraw from the Covenant, thus guaranteeing against reinstatement of the death penalty. Presently, the legislative agenda of the government includes the re-imposition of the death penalty yet again. In his inaugural speech, President Rodrigo Duterte, espousing for real change in government, announced his political policies in eliminating corruption, criminality and the rampant trade of illegal drugs. This commitment to eradicate the ills of society was reiterated in his first State of the Nation Address and the reimposition of the death penalty has been declared to be one of the means to eliminate [criminality],4 and further emphasized once again in his fifth State of the Nation address.5 On 7 March 2017, House Bill 4727,6 a bill that proposes imposing death penalty for narcotic offenses, was passed on third reading at the House of Representatives with a final vote of 217 in favor and 54 against. The bill was approved at the level of the House of Representatives. Should the Senate approve the same version that year, it would be sent to the President for signing into law. However, the Senate did not approve the death penalty bills lodged with them. As of October 2019, fourteen (14) bills on the re-imposition of the death penalty have been filed in the House of Representatives while eleven (11) bills were filed in the Senate, with inclusion of plunder and trafficking in persons as offenses punishable by death. An Act to Impose the Death Penalty on Certain Heinous Crimes, Amending for that Purpose the Revised Penal Code, as Amended, Other Special Penal Laws, and for Other Purposes, Republic Act No. 9346, (2006). 3 Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, “The Philippine Experience in ‘Abolishing’ the Death Penalty,” January 2007. 4 Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, Advisory on the Reimposition of the Death Penalty, CHR (V) A2016-002, at 2 (7 November 2016). 5 Office of the President, 5th State of the Nation Address of Rodrigo Roa Duterte to the Congress of the Philippines [Delivered at the Session Hall of the House of Representatives, Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City] (27 July 2020) available at https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2020/07/27/rodrigo-roa-duterte-fifth-state-of-the-nation-address-july-27-2020/ (last accessed 4 September 2020). 6 An Act Imposing the Death Penalty on Certain Heinous Crimes, Repealing for the Purpose Republic Act No. 9346, Entitled “An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines”, And Further Amending Act No. 3815, As Amended, Otherwise Known as the “Revised Penal Code”, And Republic Act No. 9165, Otherwise Known as the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002,” House Bill No. 4724, House of Representatives, 17th Congress (2017). 2 1