Senator Migs Zubiri has filed a bill reimposing capital punishment for certain heinous crimes such as drug trafficking and other related offences.The Philippine Daily Inquirer has something to say on this issue in today’s editorial. It puzzles and amazes me that for a supposedly Catholic country like the Philippines, this issue hasn’t been settled. In more secular France, the French have done away with the guillotine for over 30 years now! The Germans oulawed capital punishment in 1949.
The secular French had preempted the Roman Catholic Church by around 20 years on kicking the bucket on capital punishment. The Church’s opposition to the death penalty only became official teaching with John Paul II saying in Evangelium Vitae that the reasons for capital punishment are “practically non-existent”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church includes the anti death penalty position. (BTW the Vatican abolished from its books capital punishment in 1969. But we really can’t equate the Vatican City State for the whole Catholic Church) I asked a Dominican theologian in Australia about JP II’s statement and asked me to attend his talk in the Jesuit College of Melbourne Uni on the history of the Church’s evolving stance on it. I remember him saying that the self defence and deterrence arguments are really the basis for capital punishment as formalized by Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas never considered the penalty as an act of vengeance.
However someone asked the expected “What if there is another Adolf Hitler?” question. The good friar expected this question and he replied that capital punishment can be morally and licitly applied in this case. The friar threw the question back. “Could there be another Adolf Hitler?”
That is the 64 zillion dollar question. I recalled the question when CNN and BBC covered Saddam’s botched execution. Did Saddam deserve that or did he deserve to rot in a living hell of an Iraqi jail? I was once for capital punishment but in reflecting on John Paul II’s writings, I became convinced that doing away with the death penalty is more consistent with defending human dignity.
Here is a question that we Pinoys have to ask. Are we Catholic or secular enough to do away with capital punishment? DJB and likeminded bloggers may dispute our secularity but no one can easily dispute the Pinoy’s Catholicity. But how come when Popes JP II and Benedict XVI have forcefully taught that capital punishment “does no good”, how come we Pinoys easily bring it back from the dead?
The premise of JP II’s teaching is that the State has other ways to prevent crime and to reform offenders more consistent with defending human dignity. I think that is the bottom line. How do we Pinoys defend human dignity? We seem to have a trivial knee jerk reaction on life and death issues such as these. Methinks we haven’t been catechized enough. I have known pro-lifers for fetuses who are pro-death for criminals. I think we haven’t fully appreciated how valuable human life is.
The kind of poverty we see in this country as a result of corruption is a sort of living death penalty on the innocently charged. And we have this bloody blot on the Arroyo administration (even if to its credit pushed for the bill abolishing capital punishment) on extrajudicial killings.
This time I agree with the Inquirer. For cases like the Alabang Boys, we need more Major Marcelinos. We need ethical lawyers who won’t use DOJ stationary to seek the release of their accused clients. We need good prosecutors and impartial judges before grandstanding politicians presume that judicial killings will solve our problems.
Then perhaps we can really be called a Catholic country.
Popularity: 1% [?]
I’d presumed the Philippines to be morally mature enough to do away with this barbaric form of punishment. As you mentioned, if even secular France and Germany had the decency to outlaw capital punishment eons ago, then why are we, a supposedly proudly Christian country, doing debating whether or not to reinstate it?
Even from a secular point of view, capital punishment is immoral. It defeats the aim of preservation of life, and it definitely does not constitute justice. The death of one person will not bring back the life of another. For what its worth, I’m sure most people would rather be killed now than face a lifetime of shame and misery behind bars.
Tama yung sinabi ni Pareng PJP2. The reasons for capital punishment are next to non-existent. Kung bakit finile ni Zubiri ang bill na ‘yon, ewan ko. Could it be an attempt to inject politics into the Alabang Boys issue?
Let’s not exhume this ugly corpse na. I thought it was already resting soundly in its grave. Wala tayong mapapala kung patayan na lang ang show. Walang buhay na maibabalik, walang totoong hustisya ang makakamit.
I heard Senator Zubiri being interviewed in an early morning news show today. He said something to the effect that the death penalty should be re-imposed for drug traffickers, because when they are caught, they just bribe the jail guards. The re-imposition of the death penalty should solve this problem.
It seems like a fatal cure for a wrong diagnosis.
But how come when Popes JP II and Benedict XVI have forcefully taught that capital punishment “does no good”, how come we Pinoys easily bring it back from the dead?
Because it’s popular? There is I think a substantial constituency of people who would like us to be a police state and institute kamay-na-bakal governance.
Those folks may be BF’s fans. :-) But I have it from good sources that BF would rather punish offenders with lethal pink and not lethal injection! :-)
A big NO NO to death sentence, with this corrupt Justice in Philippines eh di puro mahihirap na lang ang mga nakalinya dyan.
Stupido Senado…wala na namang magawa. Linisin nyo muna bakuran nyo at sarili nyo.
A disjoint of proposed remedies for the actual problem at hand. Bribery is a problem that must be addressed on its own terms. Corruption in the justice system is a problem that must be addressed on its own terms. Proposing capital punishment to deter crimes when there are enough deterrents is a cop-out, we only need to administer properly what is already in place. Government cannot ignore its responsibility for running a corruption-free, impartial, efficient, prosecution and penal system. I’m seeing they want to execute people when all they need to do is execute the system properly.
Death penalty is good for our country, try to look at the statistics of Marcos regime and the Arroyo regime…Arroyo regime is much more corrupt and much more extra-judicial killings.
So look 10 to 20 years from now this numbers will rise because they know they can escape those case file against them.
The politicians should impose Death Penalties not only to Drug Pushers but also to Government official who has plunder case, corruption , and usurpation of authority.
Try to look at the statistics of the death penalty in middle east…that is what i call KAMAY NA BAKAL the crime rate is very minimal because criminals are scared to be on the death row. Imagine if we have that kind of kamay na bakal in the Philippines…crime rate will be minimal, economy will prosper, investors will come…..if that happen i will come back to the Philippines and stay there for good.
Allan
UK & Dubai
Death penalty will only cause the death of poor convicted criminals. Sa current system ngayon. Walang mayayaman ang makakarating sa death row and is unfair sa masa.