EDITORIAL - Capital punishment as a deterrent

Is capital punishment an effective crime deterrent? Opponents of capital punishment warn that a weak rule of law and inefficient criminal justice system raise the risk of a miscarriage of justice. And the risk is highest in countries where justice is for sale, allowing wealthy offenders to escape punishment and leaving only the poor to suffer the ultimate penalty.

Proponents argue that no matter how flawed the justice system might be, the possibility of facing state execution would make a person think twice before committing a heinous offense. On the other hand, those who argue that death is not a deterrent to crime point out that the illegal drug trade has persisted – as admitted by former president Rodrigo Duterte himself – even after the killing of over 6,000 drug suspects by the police since July 2016.

The Philippines has been conflicted about the issue for a long time. After reimposing the death penalty in 1993 amid a spate of ransom kidnappings and then abolishing it in 2006, there is a renewed push in Congress for the revival of capital punishment.

Legal experts say that after the Philippines became a party on Sept. 20, 2006 to the Second Optional Protocol, which expressly prohibits state executions, and ratified it on Nov. 20, 2007, the country can no longer withdraw from its international commitment, as stipulated in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

Proponents of capital punishment argue that the administration of Fidel Ramos restored the death penalty even if the Philippines had ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1986. State executions resumed in 1999, with Leo Echegaray being put to death by lethal injection for repeatedly raping his partner’s 10-year-old daughter.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, during her presidency, signed the order abolishing capital punishment on June 24, 2006, on the eve of her departure for the Vatican where she had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

The restoration of capital punishment could hinge on which crimes would be covered. When it was revived in 1993 under Republic Act 7659, the crimes included offenses related to drug trafficking, murder, infanticide, parricide, rape with aggravating circumstances, treason, qualified piracy, ransom kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery with homicide, destructive arson, carjacking with rape or murder, qualified piracy, qualified bribery, and plunder involving at least P50 million.

Filipinos who supported Duterte’s bloody war on drugs will likely support the death penalty for bribers and plunderers. Even Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, however, has openly said there are too many crooks in Congress, so he is excluding plunder from his proposed restoration of capital punishment, just to facilitate its enactment.

Regardless of which crimes are classified as capital offenses, much will rely on the strength of the justice system and the efficiency of law enforcement. The best deterrent against criminality is the certainty of capture and punishment befitting the crime.