EDITORIAL - Legal and moral issues of crime and punishment

The offer by incoming Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña of cash rewards for every criminal killed or wounded has a far more immediate impact than the promise of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte to reimpose the death penalty. The offer of a cash reward by Osmeña does not need to satisfy any legal requirement that reimposing the death penalty as promised by Duterte does.

Killing criminals if they engage the police in a firefight is allowed in any law enforcement manual. Other than filing an operational report, or submitting to an investigation if warranted, such a killing is not expected to get the police into trouble. The offer of a cash reward for what is already permissible under the law is just a bonus.

The matter of reimposing the death penalty, on the other hand, is easier said than done. It would require the repeal of a law, RA 9346, signed by President Arroyo in 2006. That law was overwhelmingly passed in Congress. It remains to be seen if Duterte, despite his wide popularity, can muster enough votes to push through an initiative that is certain to be contentious and controversial.

The matter of putting criminals to death, whether by operational police action or by judicial fiat, is likewise contentious and controversial beyond the legal issues involved. There is the matter of moral certitude that stands in the way of such courses of action, especially in a country like the Philippines that has a long history of Christian upbringing.

It might be difficult to hold Duterte to moral measure because little is known of the man outside his native Davao. But Osmeña is a Cebuano. And while this is not the first time he went after criminals in this manner – he did this in a previous term – there are those who say that Osmeña's own battle for life ought to have made him more appreciative of it as a gift from God.

Osmeña has been given a second lease on life. He has been given a reconsideration that is not for any ordinary human to give. To have been so blessed should have filled him with the grace of understanding and to be more appreciative of the value of human life, regardless of whether it is a law-abiding man or a lowdown criminal who is living it.

In the end, however, the decisions Osmeña makes will take on the manner of pacts between him and the constituency he says he is obligated to protect, as well as private agreements between him and his God. Whatever the outcome of these pacts and agreements, it is hoped the dignity of the greater number will stay unsullied as leaders grapple with how best they think they can lead.