Villar sees speedier abolition of death penalty

It’s all systems go for the passage in the Senate of a bill seeking the abolition of capital punishment after it was certified as urgent by President Arroyo, Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. said yesterday.

"We recognize the urgency of enacting into law the bill proposing the abolition of death penalty. This, even if we are swamped with priority bills that we have to pass before adjournment next week and of course, the budget, we manage to fast-track this important measure as well," said Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs.

Senate Bill 2254 consolidates Senate Bills 694 of Villar, 226 of Sen. Sergio Osmeña III and 1143 of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, chairman of the committee on justice, sponsored the bill last Thursday and expressed confidence that it would be approved before Congress adjourns next week.

Villar’s Senate Bill 694 seeks to "provide the imposition of the penalty of reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment) instead of death penalty in cases where the law prescribes the death penalty."

"Death, as a penalty for crime, has no place in a society that claims to strongly uphold freedom and human rights," Villar said.

He said the death penalty, "besides being inhuman and cruel, has never proven to deter crimes more effectively than other punishments. For countries with a perverted justice system, the said penalty might even be imposed on the innocent."

Citing data gathered by two civic organizations opposed to the death penalty, Villar said the abolition of capital punishment is already the worldwide trend — with 88 countries and territories, so far, having abolished it.

There are 37 countries that have retained the death penalty but have not carried out executions for a decade or more. Also, there are 10 countries which have abolished death penalty for all, except exceptional crimes such as war crimes.

"If the abolition of the death penalty will be passed into law, thereby repealing Republic Act 7659, the Philippines is set to become the first country in Asia to abolish the death penalty," Villar said.

Filipinos are divided on the death penalty issue. Supporters say it is still necessary amid rising criminality.

Opponents argue that the death penalty has not curbed crime and claim that more efficient law enforcement and a speedy justice system are better solutions.

The death penalty was abolished after the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986 but the 1987 Constitution gave Congress the option of restoring it.

Capital punishment was restored in 1994 for heinous crimes such as rape, kidnapping-for-ransom, murder and drug trafficking.

Seven convicts were put to death between 1999 and 2000, but then-president Joseph Estrada declared a moratorium on judicial executions amid pressure from the Roman Catholic Church and rights groups.

Despite the separation of church and state, the Catholic Church wields strong influence in the country.

There are over 1,000 convicts on death row and over a dozen of them women according to government data. The Supreme Court has upheld at least 160 of these convictions.

In an Easter Sunday announcement, President Arroyo commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment but did not say whether she would move to abolish the death penalty, which has not been carried out in the Philippines since 2000.

The law can only be repealed if Congress passes the legislation.

The Roman Catholic Church welcomed the commutation in the spirit of Holy Week, calling it a "visible manifestation of a heightened moral consciousness."

Leo Echegaray was the first death convict to be executed for rape in 1999 since the restoration of the law. Six other death row convicts were executed until Estrada ordered a moratorium in 2000.

A devout Catholic, Mrs. Arroyo continued the moratorium but then lifted it in October 2001, saying the freeze emboldened criminals, particularly kidnap-for-ransom gangs. No executions have occurred since the moratorium was lifted.

In September 2002, Mrs. Arroyo indefinitely suspended executions when lawmakers began debates on whether or not to repeal the death penalty law.

Mrs. Arroyo reversed the moratorium a month after the body of kidnapped Coca-Cola Finance Corp. executive Betti Chua Sy was found stuffed in a trash bag in November that year.

Some opposition politicians, however, suspected that the commutation was aimed at currying favor with the Catholic Church.

Mrs. Arroyo is fighting opposition efforts to force her from office over accusations that she cheated in the 2004 presidential election.

She is also drawing criticism for her initiative to amend the Constitution and replace the current US-style presidential form of government with a federal, parliamentary system. The opposition accuses her of trying to extend her stay in office.