CHR hits gov’t insistence on bringing back death penalty

View from inside the lethal injection chamber at the National Penitentiary in Manila, 09 January 2004. AFP PHOTO/Joel NITO (Photo by JOEL NITO / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Human Rights slammed the government’s insistence on reviving the death penalty while pleading for other countries to spare the lives of Filipinos abroad that implement the said capital punishment.

In a statement, CHR Commissioner Karen S. Gomez Dumpit said that Philippine legislators should reflect on their insistence especially during the 18th World Day Against Death Penalty.

The Philippines has suspended the death penalty since 2006 but President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies in the legislation continued to push for its reinstatement, with the chief executive himself pushing for the measure to be revived.

Dumpit said that this is counterintuitive especially for the cases of overseas Filipino workers who have been meted with the same punishment abroad.

“One of the arguments we have raised in the recent congressional hearings on the death penalty is that it will lead to the weakening of our moral ground to plead for the lives of our OFWs in death row,” said Dumpit.

”It is hypocritical to ask to spare the lives of Filipinos abroad while we move to execute people back home.”

The Philippine Congress back in August began debating about reintroducing death penalty as punishment for heinous crimes just weeks after Duterte asked lawmakers to reinstate lethal injection for drug-related cases.

Dumpit said that several arguments have been raised in favor of the revival of death penalty with assumptions that it is an effective deterrent to crime.

Another assumption is that poor Filipinos, who are often the subject of such punishments, can avail of legal counsel through the Public Attorney’s Office.

Research, however, dispute those claims with the Supreme Court, through People v. Mateo, determining that the error rate in imposing the death sentence is 71.77 percent.

“The Commission has taken note of the significance of empirical research to counter these flawed arguments, which is why we have endeavored to continuously conduct evidence-based research in matters of the death penalty,” said Dumpit.

In line with the 18th World Day Against Death Penalty, the CHR launched the research titled “In Defense of the Right to Life: Analyzing Factors Affecting Filipino Opinion About Death Penalty” and the Right to Life website.

Right to Life is an online database containing information about the death penalty in the Philippines, particularly human rights advisories written by the Commission with the assistance of our partners, curated international and local news, selected resources relevant to the campaign against the death penalty, international human rights treaties, and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

“Despite formidable efforts to reintroduce the death penalty, we remain steadfast on our resolve to keeping the country death penalty free. It is not only a legal obligation but a moral duty. Death penalty is a false promise. Let us break free from death penalty. No to death penalty!” said Dumpit.

CFC