Key Points HUMAN RIGHTS ADVISORY ON THE DENUNCIATION OF AND WITHDRAWAL FROM INTERNATIONAL TREATIESTO RE-IMPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY [CHR (V) A2017-002] Dated October The revival of the death penalty in the Philippines will severely impact our campaign to exonorate or rescue Philippine migrant workers or Filipinos abroad who are on death row. 4, 2019 1. This Advisory is used to guide the Philippine government on its initiatives to reimpose capital punishment. 2. The pronouncements of the Philippine government have made it clear that the current drive to restore the death penalty is based on the value that is placed in retribution, over rehabilitation, as a form of justice. 3. The Philippine government should instead focus on its obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human promote a responsible, restorative justice system. rights, and should impartial, and 4. The Philippines ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on October 23, 1986 which includes the right to life in Article 6 of the Covenant. On February 2, 1987, the Constitution the Philippines was plebiscite. Under of the Republic of ratified by a national the Constitution, the generally accepted principles of international law are adopted as part of the law of the land. It further mandates in Article 3, Section 19 (1) that death penalty shall not be imposed, unless, provided for by Congress for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes. It expressly reduced existing death sentences to reclusion perpetua. Signing and launch of the paper, "In Defense of the Right to Life: International Law and the Death Penalty in the Philippines,” with the authors, Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit Dr. Christopher Ward, February 2017. of the CHR and