Executive clemency

The aspirants to the presidency may not be fully aware that becoming president is not just becoming the most powerful person in the nation. If any of them thinks that the much-coveted position is all about power and perks giving them almost unlimited means to recoup the billions spent in waging a successful campaign, they should think again. Contrary to the prevailing impression, good performance of presidential functions does not depend alone on being surrounded by good, efficient, and dedicated coterie of advisers, cabinet members, sycophants or cordon sanitaire. Performing some aspects of the presidential job cannot be simply delegated but requires a most personal, soul searching decision like the exercise of the power of executive clemency. This is an exceptional power with tremendous responsibilities as it sometimes involves life or death of a human being placed solely in the hands of the president and nobody else. Thus in every final decision of the court imposing death penalty, the dispositive portion carries with it the directive to forward without delay, the true copies of said decision and the records of the case to the office of the President for possible exercise of executive clemency as required by section 25 of R.A. 7659 or the Death Penalty Law.

Executive clemency is the power to grant reprieves, commutations of sentences, pardons, amnesties or remissions of fines or forfeitures after conviction by final judgment (Section 19,Art.VII Const.) It is a recognition that in this imperfect world, human errors are bound to happen particularly in the administration of justice or in the giving of a wise interpretation to man-made laws and making just application of them in certain human actions. Since these laws are man-made and those interpreting and applying them are just human, the possibility of mistake both in applying the law and imposing a harsh punishment, cannot be discounted. The power is not concerned with the review and correction of the mistake but an act of mercy and compassion. It provides the humanitarian ingredient in the strict application of the law. It is some sort of a tool to soften the impact of the maxim "dura lex sed lex" (The law is harsh, but it is the law and must be applied).

Reprieve postpones the execution of the penalty for an offense to another specific date. Commutation is a remission or letting off part of the punishment or a substitution of a lesser penalty for the one originally imposed (People vs. Vera 65 Phil. 56).Pardon is the absolute or conditional act of grace which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed (U.S. Vs. Wilson 7 Pet.150). Amnesty is the general pardon granted to classes of persons or communities who may be guilty of political offense before or after the institution of the criminal prosecution or sometimes after conviction (Barrioquinto vs. Fernandez 85 Phil.642).

The alleged moratorium on the death penalty which the President recently lifted is more in the nature of a reprieve. Strictly speaking, moratorium on the death penalty is not in our statute books. This moratorium is in fact deficient as there is no specific date of the postponement. Lifting said moratorium is therefore more in consonance with law. But even with such lifting, the power to grant reprieve is not lost. The President can still exercise the power of executive clemency in due time taking into consideration not only the legal but moral implications of this capital punishment.

Death penalty is clearly not in consonance with "the spirit of the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus Christ" that God alone is the ultimate Lord and Master of life. Since life comes from and is sustained by God, it belongs to Him. Thus the Catholic hierarchy of our country (CBCP) has consistently advocated the abolition of this penalty. While the 1987 Constitution suspended its imposition, the same charter likewise gave Congress the power to reimpose it for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes. Thus when the death penalty law was enacted, the CBCP once more resumed the call for its abolition in 1991, as there is no conclusive proof that it actually deters others from serious crime. However, while the Christian ideal is to abolish death penalty in view of respect for human life, the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2266) does not absolutely "exclude the death penalty in cases of extreme gravity". According to the CCC, "actual societal conditions in some countries may not be such as to make this ideal feasible".

Whether the actual societal conditions in our country render the abolition of the death penalty feasible is for Congress to determine so that the necessary legislation could be passed. In the meantime, the President may exercise her power of executive clemency to grant reprieve on a case to case basis based on information available to her. And, as for the rest of us Filipinos, it remains our "serious Christian task to work precisely toward changing societal conditions so that the abolition of death penalty becomes an actual possibility (Ca-techism for Filipino Catholics 1041). And that change should begin within ourselves.

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