Roque, Jason R.

HUB 12

ANTI – DEATH PENALTY

Good morning to our valued audience, our mediator, and to the supporters and opposition
of the Capital Punishment – Death Penalty. My name is Jason R. Roque, and I stand here in front
of you to enlighten your minds and to let you choose between the implication or the abolition of
the Capital Punishment – Death Penalty. I belong to the side of the opposition who wants to
abolish the execution of the Death Penalty here in the Philippines.

A famous quote says that, “Life is a gift from God!” we know that God hath given us this
life to serve and please him and we are accountable for it. God has given us this life and it is our
greatest responsibility to take care of it. Death Penalty is a Capital Punishment that does not
respect the value of human life. This punishment constitutes cruelty, fear and it lowers the
dignity of the human being, primarily the convict. According to the Philippine Constitution,
Section 19, Article 3, Bill of Rights, which abolishes the Death Penalty and it shall not be
inflicted unless the congress decides to reinstate it “for compelling reasons involving heinous
crimes” in which case it shall apply only to such crime subsequently committed. In line with this
the Revised Penal Code, R.A. (Republic Act) No. 9346prohibits the imposition of the Death
Penalty. In lieu of the Death Penalty, the penalty of “Reclusion Perpetua” or Life Imprisonment
shall be imposed. We must join our hands together to abolish the Death Penalty for some
important and valid reasons. First, it is cruel and inhuman for the convict & the family who are
traumatized by the waiting even if it is never carried out. Secondly, there is no conclusive
evidence from the penologist that it has a special deterrent effect on criminality. Actually,
according to the statistics there is no effect on the rate of criminality here in the Philippines
whether the Death Penalty is implicated or not. Third, the Death Penalty deprives the convict of a
chance of rehabilitation and reformation, making Death being Irreversible. According to the
respondents I had interview with, some of them told me that there must be a separation between
church and state, but some of them pointed that the church must interfere with this issue of
imposing such inhuman punishment regardless of what kind of execution. They told me that a
country is controlled by a human which is not perfect and prone to error, but the church is under
the sovereign authority of God. The Bible says according to I John 1:9, “God is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.” Also, according to
Matthew 6:14, “Forgive men their trespasses and your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Fourth, there is always a possibility of an error in condemning a person to death. According to
one of my reference entitled, “Should Death – Penalty be Abolished.” is a true story of a man
who is in a death row for a long time and at the day of his execution, a group of people stopped
the implication because of insufficient evidence. The juries found out that this man, named, Peter
Porter, is innocent of the crime that was accused to him. It tells that even the people in the
authority might have a possibility of committing and error. According to the statistics one out of
ten persons who was sentenced by Death Penalty is innocent of the crime that was accused to
them. Lastly, according to the Philippine Constitution, Section 19, Article 3, Bill of Rights, a
country has no “RIGHT” to deprive a person of his life, God is the giver of life and only he can
take it. I will leave you with this simple thought. “Vengeance is mine”, saith the Lord, and
everybody deserves a second chance, just think of it, if you were in the place of the convict, what
will you do. Are you going to put your revenge in your hand or give a rightful punishment to the
convict. The choice is yours.