Capital punishment still contentious topic amid death by firing squad bill

Metro Manila, Philippines - Reviving capital punishment remains a contentious topic among lawmakers, even with the proposal to reinstate death by firing squad last carried out more than half a century ago.

Zamboanga City Rep. Khymer Olasco has filed House Bill 11211 entitled Death Penalty for Corruption Act, imposing capital punishment for government officials, from the barangay up to the president, who will be convicted of graft and corruption, malversation of public funds, and plunder.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers, who has filed a bill pushing for the death penalty for heinous crimes, is in favor of the measure.

“There’s a strong sentiment among the people na ibalik ‘yung [to reinstate] death penalty… It is one serious step to really send a signal that corruption should not be taken lightly, corruption should not be tolerated so to speak,” he said in a chance interview on Wednesday, Jan. 22.

On the other hand, House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega wants the proposal to be studied carefully, noting that human rights should be upheld.

“Personally, my stand is definitely a no to death penalty,” Ortega told reporters. “Corruption kasi is cultural - para sa’kin [for me, is] sociocultural siya. So, it will instill fear pero [but] it will not ensure na wala pa rin pong [that there won’t be] corruption.”

Under Olasco’s bill, a government official will not be executed until the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, the conviction underwent mandatory automatic review process, and the accused has exhausted all legal remedies.

The country abolished the death penalty under the 1987 Constitution. It was revived to address the growing crime rate in 1993 under President Fidel Ramos, and scrapped again in 2006 during the Arroyo administration.

The last known public execution by firing squad was that of Lim Seng for drug trafficking in 1973 during the administration of President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Most of the executions were by electric chair and by lethal injection such as that of Leo Echegaray for rape in 1999 during the Estrada administration.