De Lima calls for renewed, sustained campaign against death penalty

On the World Day Against Death Penalty, opposition Senator Leila De Lima called for a renewed and sustained campaign against the imposition of death penalty in the Philippines.

“Today, I join fellow human rights defenders and the global community in renewing and sustaining the campaign against the death penalty,” De Lima said in a statement on Wednesday.

The senator asserted that a fully-functioning justice system is what deters criminal acts, not the imposition of the death penalty.

“What deters and resolves crimes rather is a well-oiled and thoroughly functioning criminal justice system, one that ensures swift and certain accountability for the crimes committed and the imposition of commensurate penalties to the wrongdoers,” she said.

De Lima reminded that the right to life is the most fundamental of all rights which is “inherent, inalienable, universal and non-derogable.”

“It is a right that belongs to us all regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity and expression, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, birth or other statuses,” she said.

De Lima said that as a human rights defender and legislator, she has pushed for the introduction of the penalty of qualified reclusion perpetua in criminal laws to ensure restorative justice instead of punitive measures.

“I was pushing for the introduction into Philippine criminal laws the penalty of qualified reclusion perpetua, to ensure that, even in extraordinarily heinous crimes, our policy direction looks at restorative justice over punitive or retributive measures, while equally aware and conscious of the need to bring to justice perpetrators of the most egregious offenses,” she said.

De Lima cited several international institutions that have opposed the imposition of death penalty and have come up with policies that ensure the protection of human rights.

Among which are the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

“These firm and unequivocal efforts to move away from the death penalty are the outcome of rights-based developments in law and in science that point to the flaw in the typical argument that the imposition of death penalty is a key deterrent to the commission of heinous crimes,” she said. /je