More observations on capital punishment

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo seems to be having second thoughts on her decision for the commutation of the death sentences that has been given to about 1,200 convicts who were awaiting execution. The President has certified as urgent the proposed anti-terrorism bill in Congress and said bill imposes the death penalty for certain offences. Why pass such a bill if the President herself is the very first to commute the death penalty to life imprisonment? Doesn’t that show that the government is not serious about its own anti-terror efforts? We believe that the best solution to the question of capital punishment is for Congress to decide whether the country will abolish or retain the death penalty.

Statistics show that more than half of the world’s countries have abolished the death penalty either in law or in practice. Eighty-six countries have abolished it for all crimes; twenty-six nations still have the death penalty in their law books but not in practice. The Philippines is one of those countries.

We are a Catholic country. The Church is against the death penalty. They believe that the Fifth Commandment that says "Thou shalt not kill" includes the state. This clearly shows how difficult it is to take a definite stand on the death penalty issue. Families of the victims of heinous crimes have criticized the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment as unfair to those who have been murdered. They are confused as to whether the law is there to protect the victims of injustice or to protect those who commit heinous crimes. We believe that it would only be fair to say that should the country either abolish or retain capital punishment, it should be implemented. Not to implement laws is to encourage all forms of law-breaking.

There are many things that are not clear to us. President Arroyo had commuted the death sentence of 1,200 convicts. Is that commutation permanent or is it valid only until her term expires? In the meantime, you can be sure that more and more new death convicts will be added to that list. And what happens if she or her successor lifts the commutation? Will the 1,200 convicts be killed one at a time or all at the same time? We would hate to be in President Arroyo’s position. How can you allow 1,200 Filipinos to get killed? The one that suffers the most whenever a convict is executed are their families. As far as a convict is concerned, all his cares and problems end with his execution. But their families not only have to cope with their death but even know the exact moment it is happening. And you can be sure that many of these convicts were never brought up and raised in the proper environment. They mostly came from poor homes and deprived of the essential things we all take for granted.

At the same time, we also have to see things from the point of view of the families of the victims. They are probably asking why the law is not being implemented. In short, where is justice?

The only good thing about being sentenced to death is that it gives convicts plenty of time to reconcile with God. You have all the time to repent and be sorry for the great harm you committed against your victim. In short, you have all the time to die in a state of grace. That cannot be said of many people. And your last wish is, in the words of Arthur Schopenhauer, "To desire the perpetuation of a great mistake."