On Death Penalty

The Death Penalty in the Philippines has been in an on-and-off state with calls for its revival usually happening whenever there are new victims of heinous crimes that are reported. The law intends to punish criminals and to decrease the number of future incidents. On the other hand, human rights organizations think that death penalty is not the solution, as it even creates a problem where innocent and wrongly accused people are being executed.


I think death penalty can be restored to serve as a message that such grave acts are taken seriously. However, this restoration of death penalty should be seen as restoration of an option rather than enforcing such punishment by default. Once the court finds the suspect guilty of the crime and qualified to be punished under death penalty, victims should be the ones to approve the death sentence or the next highest sentence will be used. It should be opened for forgiveness.

Death is an absolute and irreversible end. There must be a period of time before someone can be executed. It should be open for review and appeal. Forgiveness and healing also takes time. Death penalty should not be used as a tool for revenge. Let the conscience of the victim or his/her family take the personal decision of forgiving him/her or approving such penalty.

Criminals sentenced with death penalty will have no chance of changing for the better. I am neither tolerating such heinous crimes nor ignoring the situations and pains of the victim, but there is no greater impact of change both to those inside (criminals) and outside (victims and even people planning to commit a crime) the prison, than to love those criminals who asked for forgiveness. It is not death penalty which will change them, but such unexpected love and forgiveness despite their unworthiness. It reminds me of John 8:5-6 regarding a woman who was to be punished by stoning where Christ told the teachers of the law that... "if any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7) And they went away (John 8:9). Christ declared that neither He condemed the woman. "Go now and leave your life of sin", Christ told the woman (John 8:11).