"Position Paper"
Death Penalty has been a way of the government to punish those who legally convicted a capital crime through the process of execution in many ways. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, this is what the infamous Hammurabi’s Code stated at around 1700 BC. From this saying, people debated about their expressions with the ancient basis of a political debate. Many people have been sentenced to death over time. The capital punishment had become more inhumane going from beheadings, to electric chairs, and to now a lethal injection.
Capital punishment in the Philippines has a varied history and is currently suspended as of 2006. Capital punishment was legal after independence and increased in use under the Ferdinand Marcos regime. After the fall of Marcos, there was a moratorium on capital punishment from 1987–1999, followed by a resumption in executions from 1999–2006, followed by a law ending the practice. The death penalty seems likely to return to the Philippines; According to the current President of the Philippines “Change is coming” This is the most famous line Pres. Rodrigo Duterte has said right from the very moment he was elected. As a country, Philippines has undergone through continuous changes. He had put up a lot of effort in changing and improving the country in his administration. And through his ways, he then started establishing laws including the recently and the most hotly debated issues in the Philippines; The Death Penalty. Currently, President Rodrigo Duterte is a vocal supporter of resumption of capital punishment. Filipinos have mixed opinions about the death penalty, with many opposing it on religious and humanitarian grounds, while advocates see it as a way of deterring crimes.
Despite that, it’s is hard to even consider it as a way to punish the guilty and take vengeance for the victim. No one can seem to find a solution that will satisfy both sides of this issue. I find it very difficult to pick one particular side because I can see and understand the arguments that both sides have to offer. On one hand, I can see how a person would want to support the death penalty. I can only imagine how angry I would feel if I lost a loved one to a murderer. I would defiantly be in the fight for that person's death. It may not seem right to seek revenge like that, but I think it is a natural human emotion that cannot be avoided.
Besides, there are many disadvantages in this kind of punishment. The death penalty itself doesn’t deter murder. Victims believe that this can give them satisfaction seeing the person who is appointed of the crime be executed. It can also be more expensive than life imprisonment. Our country may have a problem when it comes to our image as an economic situation. It is also not human if the execution deprives the offender the opportunity to restore his bad behavior; to start again. Human dignity is incompatible with the death penalty.
You are to show that killing is wrong by killing a person? This may seem contradictory. People may not understand what is going on. In the past, we have seen several judicial errors. People were accused and punished for the most horrible crimes but turned out to be innocent. An executed death penalty cannot be repaired. Executing the death penalty shows all kinds of problems. The injection (for example) is not given correctly or the drug does not work. Doctors must always be involved. Yet, given the nature of the death penalty, however, this may (or should) clash with the oath of Hippocratic or their personal morality. The death penalty can lead to other corporal punishment. This should be avoided. You should in no way introduce a punishment harming people. To prevent worse. Besides, maybe our current government can be trusted imposing the death penalty. But will the next government also be trustworthy?
As a Catholic I feel that only God should judge us. The supreme court should not have the option to decide whether we live or die. Pope John Paul II once said that the death penalty is both cruel and unnecessary. "Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform." I also respect my values of respecting life, all kinds of life. Even though those that are facing death row have committed terrible crimes and killed innocent we should not execute them. I think locking them up for the rest of their life is punishment enough. We should make them feel remorseful for their actions. And if you act in the same manner as a killer, what is the difference?