reinstatement of death penalty in the philippines thesis statement

Analysing the Success of Death Penalty Campaigns in the Philippines: Strategies, Tactics and Framing

Australian Journal of Asian Law, Vol. 24, No. 1, Article 03: 19-34, 2023

16 Pages Posted: 13 Sep 2023

Neri Javier Colmenares

Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne

Date Written: September 12, 2023

Asia remains a rich field of study for death penalty scholars because a comparatively large number of Asian countries continue to statutorily impose capital punishment, despite a worldwide trend to abolish it. Asian countries (excluding China) handed down at least one-third of the 28,670 death sentences worldwide in 2021. The Philippines, the first Asian country to abolish the death penalty ( in 1987), is also of interest because it continues to be the arena for one of the most ferocious battles between the retentionists, who advocate for the retention or reinstatement of capital punishment, and the abolitionists. While the 1987 Philippine Constitution abolished the death penalty, it also granted Congress the power to reimpose capital punishment through legislation. This shifted the arena of contention to Congress, rather than the judiciary, as retentionists and abolitionists battled it out through legislative skirmishes (Kim, 2016: 606) that often spilled out to street rallies and raucous public debates. Barely a few months after the 1987 Constitution abolished the death penalty, the heated campaign for its reinstatement ensued and culminated in the reimposition of capital punishment in 1993. Immediately thereafter, a strong abolitionist campaign commenced, and successfully occasioned the second abolition of capital punishment in 2006, a clear sign not only of the contentious nature of the debate but, also, of the vacillating tendency or ‘mixed feelings’ of Philippine policy-makers. Since then, the abolitionists managed to successfully stave off the reinstatement of capital punishment. This article examines the specific strategies, tactics and framing narrative that may have contributed to the abolitionists’ successful campaigns resisting the strong retentionist efforts to reimpose the death penalty after its second abolition in 2006, up to the period of 2016-22, when President Rodrigo Duterte attempted to reinstate it. The paper will compare the Philippine campaign strategy with those employed by transnational activists who successfully campaigned for the passage of various United Nations Resolutions, calling for a moratorium on the imposition of death penalty in 2007 and succeeding years.

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Neri Javier Colmenares (Contact Author)

Melbourne law school, the university of melbourne ( email ).

University Square 185 Pelham Street, Carlton Victoria, Victoria 3010 Australia

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• DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3763271
• Corpus ID: 233747828

Death Penalty in the Philippines: Evidence on Economics and Efficacy

• Imelda B. Deinla , R. Mendoza , +1 author Ray Paolo R. Santiago
• Published 10 January 2021
• Economics, Law, Political Science
• Asian Law eJournal

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Death penalty: maintenance or removal access from singapore and philippines expenrience, 71 references, the deterrent effect of capital punishment: a question of life and death, governing through killing: the war on drugs in the philippines.

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Philippines - Universal Periodic Review - Death Penalty - March 2022

• Philippines - Universal Periodic Review - Death Penalty - March 2022 (PDF 320.5 KB)

This report addresses the Philippines' compliance with its international human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty. For years, the Philippines imposed the death penalty, particularly for so-called heinous crimes. In 2006, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo abolished the death penalty. Since then, however, lawmakers have introduced numerous bills to reinstate the death penalty, with the House adopting Bill No. 7814 as recently as March 2, 2021.

The report examines the current state of the death penalty in the Philippines, including (1) acceptance of international norms; (2) proposed legislation reintroducing the death penalty; (3) torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in enforcing drug control; (4) conditions of detention; and (5) administration of justice and fair trial. 

This report recommends that the Philippines continue the abolition of the death penalty, refrain from reintroducing the death penalty, honor its international commitments, and implement a human rights-based approach to anti-drug policy.

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The Punisher’s Punishment: The Effectiveness of the Death Penalty in the Philippines

In the Philippines, the war on drugs still rages on. Reports on the deaths and killings related to the drug trade have become an almost a daily occurrence in the media. Aside from letting extrajudicial killings committed by the police slide, the Duterte administration has begun drafting a bill to reinstate the death penalty . If fully implemented, will the ultimate punishment truly deter crime in the country? The death penalty is a controversial topic, and different countries across the globe implement it or don’t. This article is not meant to declare whether or not capital punishment is right or wrong, as that is the business of societal norms and personal beliefs. Rather, it is meant to be an analysis in order to determine whether or not reinstating capital punishment is truly the right direction for civil society in the Philippines.

The country has had a long, turbulent relationship with the death penalty. Capital punishment was implemented until Corazon Aquino took power in the late 1980s. As part of the 1987 Constitution , it was prohibited except for extremely compelling situations. It was reinstated , again, during her successor’s, Fidel Ramos, time in office. Republic Act Number (RA No.) 7659 imposed the death penalty on certain heinous crimes such as treason, kidnappings for ransom, murder, rape, and plunder. Human rights activists constantly opposed capital punishment, and they were satisfied when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo suspended it again in 2006 . In place of the death penalty, RA No. 9346 prescribed life imprisonment instead. With Duterte in power, it appears that capital punishment is making a coming back to Philippines.

Death is not something to be taken lightly, especially by the government, so why does it continue to swing its opinion on the subject?

It could be that it is used as a tool by the ruling government to keep power instead of truly determining the just punishment for certain crimes. Those reinstating it show their supporters their strong will and determination to keep crime off the streets, while those repealing it show compassion for the citizens to gain more support. The implementation of capital punishment in the Philippines has become dependent on the leader and the projected main issue of the time instead of something the government truly believes is just.

The majority of the arguments concerning the death penalty circle around the idea of deterrence. While this is effective in many countries, it is doubtful to see how it will help deter crimes in the Philippines. While the national police have claimed that incidents of crime fell by 13% last year in relation to Duterte’s election, the number of murders has increased significantly . The main reason for this spike was the extrajudicial killings by either the police or vigilante groups. In their effort to clean up the streets of the country, those who are meant to protect the citizens end up murdering them without much consequence even though they committed a crime. Despite almost a year of Duterte’s hardline on drug-related crimes, the industry has yet to show a decline in operations. In most cases , the police apprehend drug users and not the dealers. The police shootings and raids were an attempt to deter drug-related crimes from spreading, but there has been no evidence to show that much progress toward finding the leaders and stopping the industry.

The issue with the war on drugs is that it mainly affects the poor. President Duterte himself admitted that this is the case, and targeting the poorer areas is necessary to destroying the industry. While one can find certain links in the poorer areas, the illegal drug industry needs more than just operations in these zones to be successful. For example, while most drug mules are from poorer families, the industry also relies on those with presentable backgrounds to traffic drugs abroad. Respectable business fronts are a common strategy to hide underground narcotics operations. Targeting the poor is not only ineffective, but also a societal danger. With the reinstatement of the death penalty, majority of those to be executed will be from poorer backgrounds. This has the potential to increase the already polarizing gap between the rich and poor of the country. Money will not only buy security against others, but from the government as well. The poor will not have the proper resources to defend themselves in courts. Ultimately, most of those who will be on the death row will be citizens who cannot afford a lawyer. Furthermore, the reinstatement of capital punishment will justify the extrajudicial killings already committed by the police. If they avoided unlawful police execution, they would have been executed anyway by the court of law. Not only does this turn a blind eye to the abuse of power by the police, but it also questions whether or not there will be repercussions for raids without warrants and police killings.

What is most puzzling about this attempt to reinstate the death penalty is the crimes that warrant the punishment. The proposed bill focuses mainly on drug-related crimes; offenses like rape, treason, and plunder are to be removed from the proposal. It was defended in The House in an attempt to speed up the process, as adding more crimes would take longer. It is argued that crimes like rape and plunder will be added after the current one targeting drug-related crimes becomes law. With a proposal containing death by hanging, a firing squad, or lethal injection , lawmakers should not rush the process. Not only do they need to determine whether or not the country has the budget for humane executions, but there are so many definitions and clarifications to be made when the lives of the country’s citizens are on the line. Furthermore, there is something very wrong with delaying the addition of other heinous crimes that will warrant the highest level of punishment. The purpose of reinstating the death penalty is to protect the citizens, but as of right now, it will only attempt to protect them from drug-related offenses, which are not the only crimes that affect the country. With a government that is known to have corruption, public officials removing plunder from the list is very sketchy. It seems that capital punishment is simply being used as a ploy to defend Duterte’s decisions to the public and to keep campaign promises instead of a true solution to the problems at hand.

Practically, it is doubtful that the country can afford to execute so many people humanely, as there is such a large number of people killed on a regular basis thanks to Duterte’s war on drugs. The problem is real and warrants government attention, but the way the Duterte administration is dealing with the problem is not effective or efficient. The reinstatement of the death penalty with the bill’s current tenants is not only impractical, but also another reason to separate the rich from the poor. While there are movements to stop the bill, if the Senate for some reason finds it proper, the Philippines will be going down a very dark path. Instead of drafting a bill that will truly help the country keep safe, it appears that the government’s efforts are messy and selfish. Once it is law, at least for the time that Duterte is president, the country will have to abide by it. Despite protests and demonstrations, the bill will become law if passed through the proper bureaucratic processes.

Maybe it will work, and citizens will approve of the perceived protection the government projects. However, letting it happen and simply praying it will work is not the way to go. The sad part is that is all the citizens can do for now. Duterte was democratically elected, so all they can do is follow his judgement. There are politicians and citizens who are actively opposing the law, and it is through them that one can find hope for the future. As one can see, the administrations’ opinions on capital punishment can be swayed over time. In the coming years, it is possible that those in charge will be able to concretely decide whether or not the death penalty is right for the Philippines.

Helena is in U3 studying Political Science, Economics, and French. She specializes in Asia Pacific politics, and she is very interested in immigration policies, cybersecurity, and legislative procedures. In her spare time, she is happily sipping tea while caring for her many houseplants.

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Philippines and the Death Penalty

Although the Philippines was the first Asian country to abolish the death penalty under the 1987 Constitution, it was re-imposed during the administration of President Fidel Ramos to address the rising crime rate in 1993, only to be abolished again in 2006, after the then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed a law reducing maximum punishment to life imprisonment. The country subsequently signed and ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (ICCPR-OP2) on 20 November 2007.

The May 2016 election of President Rodrigo Duterte, who vowed to reintroduce the death penalty to combat drug trafficking in the Philippines and other crimes during his campaign, posed a new serious threat to the protection of human rights in the country. On 7 March 2017, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Bill No. 4727 on the reinstatement of the death penalty for drug-related and “heinous” crimes. The Bill, however, remained stalled in the Senate for the following months due to a lack of support from Senators, including several PGA Members who publicly spoke out against the reintroduction of capital punishment in the country.

Yet, the mid-term elections of May 2019, which gave a majority to senators from President Duterte’s party (PDP-Laban), relaunched the pro-death penalty movement, and 18 concerning bills on this matter were presented to the House of Representatives in September that same year. Although unsuccessful, other attempts were made again in 2020, following a shooting in Tarlac .

On 2 March 2021, the House of Representatives adopted House Bill No. 7814 , allowing the reintroduction of the death penalty under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 – the second bill in five years proposing a return to capital punishment that passed to the Senate. But support from Senators who previously positioned themselves in favor of such reinstatement diminished, thus reducing the risk of a return to the use of capital punishment.

Overall, vigilance must prevail, notably considering the coming to power of Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Junior as President and Sara Duterte as Vice President following the presidential elections of May 2022. The threat of a possible reintroduction of the death penalty in the Philippines remains latent.

The Philippines has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1986 and its Second Optional Protocol aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (ICCPR-OP2) in 2007 .

PGA activities on the abolition of the death penalty in the country:

30-31 October 2018:  PGA organised, in partnership with ADPAN and Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), a regional parliamentary seminar entitled “Standing Against Death Penalty in Asia: The Role of Parliamentarians ” in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Hon. Tomasito Villarin , Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, attended the event and gave an intervention on the experience of the Philippines with the death penalty, including recent efforts to block its reintroduction.

29 November 2017:  PGA organized a side-event to its 39 th  Annual Forum in Milan (Italy), entitled  “Moving Away from Capital Punishment in Asia” . The event focused on the issues and arguments particularly relevant to the abolitionist movement in Asian countries. This gave the opportunity to PGA Member  Sen. Antonio Trillanes  to share his experience with fellow Asian parliamentarians and discuss how to best act against the reintroduction of the death penalty in abolitionist countries.

16 October 2017:  PGA issued a  statement  welcoming the move by nine of the twenty-four Filipino Senators, including PGA Members  Sen. Antonio Trillanes  and  Sen. Leila de Lima , to speak out against the government’s move to reintroduce the death penalty in the country, which led to the relevant Committee to defer its discussion of the bill. Sen. Trillanes also published a  statement .

Parliamentary Guidebook on the Abolition of the Death Penalty

English Français

Factsheet for Parliamentarians Death Penalty and Poverty

Parliamentary Factsheet on the Death Penalty and Terrorism-Related Offences

English Français العَرَبِيَّة‎

Parliamentary Factsheet on the Death Penalty and Mental Health

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Philippines death penalty: A fight to stop the return of capital punishment

Capital punishment opponents expect a steep battle to prevent President Rodrigo Duterte from reimposing the death penalty, as he renews calls for the law as part of a "drug war" that has already killed thousands of Filipinos.

Few were surprised when Mr Duterte last month pushed, once again, to reintroduce the death penalty for drug offenders.

Since coming to power in 2016 he has waged a brutal crackdown on suspected drug users and dealers, issuing police with shoot-to-kill orders while encouraging citizens to kill drug users too.

Officially the police say they shoot only in self-defence and data shows more than 8,000 people have been killed in anti-drug operations. The nation's human rights commission estimates a toll as high as 27,000.

The piling bodies have been documented by photojournalists whose images of dead suspects face-down in pools of blood after a police raid, or strewn on streets in suspected vigilante murders, have shocked the world.

"The death penalty would give the state another weapon in its ongoing war against drugs," said Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch.

How many have died in Philippines drugs war?

'permission to kill' condemned in duterte drug war.

Mr Duterte was restrained, at first, by the upper house of parliament. But last year's mid-term elections saw his allies win control of the senate and many fear the law could now be passed.

Twenty-three bills have been filed across both houses to reinstate the death penalty for drug crimes, including possession and sales. Committee deliberations began last week.

Nuanced views

Mr Conde says he would like to be proved wrong but senses the law "is as good as passed". He points to the swift recent passing of the controversial anti-terrorism law, and the speed at which ABS-CBN, a broadcaster critical of the president, was forced off air.

The move would be a breach of international human rights law.

But this is unlikely to faze Mr Duterte, who frequently expresses his disdain for human rights checks. Last year the Philippines left the International Criminal Court as it was probing accusations of crimes linked to his drugs campaign.

Surveys by the Social Weather Stations, a pollster, have shown the war on drugs remains popular among Filipinos despite experts saying the signature policy has failed to curb drug use or supply. A majority are also in favour of reinstating capital punishment.

But a closer look at the results shows an alternative picture, says Maria Socorro Diokno, secretary-general of the Free Legal Assistance Group, a network of human rights lawyers.

When presented with alternatives to capital punishment for crimes linked to illegal drugs, for instance, most favoured other options.

"They begin to think that death is not always the answer," said Ms Diokno.

Ms Diokno, who leads her group's anti-death penalty task force, has been braced for a battle with Mr Duterte ever since he vowed to bring back the death penalty as part of his election campaign.

She knows that minds can be changed because she was part of the movement that succeeded last time.

The death penalty has been abolished twice before - first in 1987 and then again in 2006 after being reinstated in 1993.

The last push for abolition was led by the Catholic church, which holds considerable influence over Filipinos in the largely Catholic country while Mr Duterte is an open critic.

Last week the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Manila condemned the "lack of independence and imprudence" of some lawmakers in supporting the president on the issue.

"We see such acts as betrayal of the people's interests and an implicit support to the creeping authoritarian tendencies exuded by this administration," it said.

Mistaken convictions

In his annual address to the nation last month Mr Duterte claimed reinstating the death penalty by lethal injection would "deter criminality".

But there is little evidence to prove that the death penalty can be a deterrent. Instead research has shown the punishment frequently affects the most disadvantaged.

In the Philippines alone the Supreme Court said in 2004 that 71.77% of death penalty verdicts handed by lower courts were wrong.

By imposing the death penalty for drug offences, the Philippines would also be moving away from what Harm Reduction International has identified as a downward global trend in using the penalty for such crimes.

It says 35 countries and territories retain capital punishment for drug offenders but only a few carry out executions regularly. Five of the eight "high application states" are in South East Asia.

Raymund Narag, an assistant professor of criminology at Southern Illinois University, knows firsthand the problems of a flawed criminal justice system.

He spent nearly seven years jailed in the Philippines as a pre-trial detainee before he was acquitted of a campus murder that took place at his university when he was 20.

The death penalty was still intact at the time and prosecutors had sought it for the 10 men charged.

Worse than his overcrowded cell and frequent prison riots, he says, was the "agony of waiting" for hearings.

"It was traumatic thinking that you can be put to death for a crime you did not commit," said Dr Narag, speaking from the US.

Now 46, he was one of five men eventually acquitted, while the others were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The experience has shaped his career. He now researches prolonged trial detention in the Philippines, while advocating for criminal justice reform.

Dr Narag says that if he hadn't managed to track down a key witness, an overseas worker, to return home and testify, proving he wasn't at the crime scene, he may have been convicted.

Through his advocacy he wants Filipinos to know the consequences of mistaken convictions, which could become mistaken executions if the law changes, in an already struggling justice system.

The scope of and timeline for the eventual death penalty bill put to vote in parliament is uncertain, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some have argued the bill should not be a priority.

Gloria Lai, Asia director of the International Drug Policy Consortium, says the death penalty has not solved the drug-related problems of any country.

"It is the poor and vulnerable who bear the harsh punishment of criminal justice systems in grossly unjust ways," she says.

Philippine president backs death penalty

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Philippines Moves Closer to Reinstating Death Penalty

By Felipe Villamor

• March 1, 2017

MANILA — The Philippine House of Representatives approved a proposal on Wednesday to reinstate the death penalty, paving the way for capital punishment to be restored more than a decade after it was abolished.

The bill, which would primarily allow drug-related offenses to be punishable by death, reflects President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign pledge to end crime and corruption.

Since Mr. Duterte took office in June, thousands of people suspected of being drug addicts or pushers have been killed by police officers or vigilantes as part of that pledge .

To become law, the death penalty bill must face a largely symbolic third reading in the House, which is controlled by allies of the president, before going to the Senate, also controlled by people close to Mr. Duterte. The bill would then have to be signed by the president.

House leaders had called for a voice vote on Wednesday, and advocates of reinstating the death penalty drowned out those opposing the measure.

“We lost. The next battleground is the Senate,” said Harry Roque, a lawmaker who voted against the measure.

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ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING: A SOLUTION TO THE PRISON OVERPOPULATION IN THE PHILIPPINES A Term Paper Presented to

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International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

Rudy Papsa-ao Jr

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