RA 9346: An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines

I. DEATH PENALTY
1. Definition
legal infliction of death as a penalty for violating criminal law
2. Methods
The Philippines was the only country aside from the United States that used
the electric chair, due to its being introduced during the US colonial period. Until its first
abolition in 1987, the country reverted to using death by firing squad.
After re-introduction of the death penalty in 1993, the country switched to lethal injection
as its sole method of execution.

3. Brief History of Death Penalty

The imposition of the death penalty in the country has had a repressive
history. For the most part (from 1848 to 1987), it was used to curtail the liberties,
freedoms and rights of the Filipino people. In recent history, however, the death penalty
was reimposed as a knee-jerk response to what has largely been seen as rising criminality
in the country. The following, with help from the Mamamayang Tutol sa Bitay-Movement
for Restorative Justice, traces the death penaltys historical roots and context in Philippine
society:
Spanish Period (1521-1898)

Spanish colonizers brought with them medieval Europes penal system, including
executions.

Capital punishment during the early Spanish Period took various forms including
burning, decapitation, drowning, flaying, garrote, hanging, shooting, stabbing and
others.

Capital punishment was enshrined in the 1848 Spanish Codigo Penal and was only
imposed on locals who challenged the established authority of the colonizers.

Between 1840-1857, recorded death sentences totaled 1,703 with 46 actual

executions.

Filipinos who were meted the death penalty include Magat Salamat (1587); the
native clergies Gomez, Burgos and Zamora who were garroted in 1872; and Dr. Jose
Rizal, executed on December 30, 1896. All of them are now enshrined as heroes.

American Period (1898-1934)

The American colonizers, adopting most of the provisions under the Codigo Penal of
1848, retain the death penalty.

1926, the use of Electric Chair was introduced by the United States

Trivia: Only two countries used the Electric Chair as a mode of execution

The Codigo Penal was revised in 1932. Treason, parricide, piracy, kidnapping,
murder, rape, and robbery with homicide were considered capital offenses and
warranted the death penalty.

The Sedition Law (1901); Brigandage Act (1902); Reconcentration Act (1903); and
Flag Law (1907) were enacted to sanction the use of force, including death, against
all nationalist Filipinos.

Macario Sakay was one of those sentenced to die for leading a resistance group. He
was sentenced to die by public hanging.

The capital punishment continued to be an integral part of the pacification process

of the country, to suppress any resistance to American authority.

Japanese Occupation (1941-1945)

There are no recorded or documented cases of executions through the death

penalty during this period simply because extrajudicial executions were widely
practiced as part of the pacification of the country.

Post-World War II

Espionage is added to the list of capital offenses.

The Anti-Subversion Law called for the death penalty for all Communist leaders.
However, no executions were recorded for any captured communist leader.

For the period of 1946-1965, 35 people were executed for offenses that the
Supreme Court labeled as crimes of senseless depravity or extreme criminal
perversity.

1961, Marcial Baby Ama, the youngest Filipino convict to be sentenced with death
penalty through electrocution

The Marcos Years (1965-1986)

Deterrence became the official justification for the imposition of the death penalty.
This is the same justification used for the declaration of Martial Law in 1972.

The number of capital crimes increased to a total of 24. Some crimes which were
made punishable by death through laws and decrees during the Marcos period were
subversion, possession of firearms, arson, hijacking, embezzlement, drug-related
offenses, unlawful possession of firearms, illegal fishing and cattle rustling.

Jaime Jose, Basilio Pineda, and Edgardo Aquino were executed for the gang rape of
movie star Maggie dela Riva in 1972. Despite prohibitions against public executions,
the execution of the three was done in full view of the public.

Nineteen executions took place during the Pre-Martial Law period. Twelve were
executed during Martial Law.

The electric chair was used until 1976 until it was replaced by execution by firing
squad

The last judicial execution under the Marcos years was in October 1976 when
Marcelo San Jose was executed by electrocution.

Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was sentenced to die by firing squad for charges of
murder, subversion and illegal possession of firearm in 1977.

Similar to the reasons for the imposition of capital punishment during the Colonial
Periods, the death penalty during the Marcos Regime was imposed to quell rebellion
and social unrest.

President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (1986-1992)

The Death Penalty was abolished under the 1987 Constitution.

The Philippines became the first Asian country to abolish the death penalty for all
crimes.

All death sentences were reduced to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.

In 1988, the military started lobbying for the imposition of the death penalty for
crimes committed by the CPP-NPA.

President Fidel Valdez Ramos (1993-1998)

A series of high profile crimes during this period, including the murder of Eileen
Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, created public impression that heinous crimes were on
the rise.

The Ramos administration reimposed the death penalty by virtue of Republic Act
No. 7659 in December 1993 to address the rising criminality and incidence of
heinous crimes.

The Death Penalty Law lists a total of 46 crimes punishable by death; 25 of these
are death mandatory while 21 are death eligible.

Republic Act No. 8177 mandates that a death sentence shall be carried out through
lethal injection.

President Joseph Ejercito Estrada (1998-2001)

Leo Echegaray was executed in February 1999 and was followed by six other
executions for various heinous crimes.

In 1999, the bumper year for executions, the national crime volume, instead of
abating, ironically increased by 15.3 percent or a total of 82,538 (from 71,527
crimes in the previous year).

Estrada issued a de facto moratorium on executions in the face of church-led

campaigns to abolish the death penalty and in observance of the Jubilee Year.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001-present)

Arroyo publicly stated that she is not in favor of executions.

Due to the rise in crimes related to drugs and kidnappings that targeted the FilipinoChinese community, she announced that she would resume executions to sow fear
into the hearts of criminals.

Arroyo lifted the de facto moratorium issued by Estrada on December 5, 2003.

Even as executions were set to resume on January 2004, this did not push through
by virtue of a Supreme Court decision to reopen the Lara-Licayan case.

Since then, the administration has been issuing reprieves on scheduled executions
without actually issuing a moratorium.

With the amendment of Republic Act No. 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997) and Republic
Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs act of 2002), there are now 52
capital offenses, 30 of which are death mandatory and 22 are death eligible.

June 24, 2006, PGMA signed RA 9346, entitled An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of
Death Penalty in the Philippines

II. RA 9346
Section 1

The law prohibits the imposition of death penalty

RA 8177 Act Designating Death by Lethal Injection; RA 7659 Death Penalty
Law; all other laws, executive orders and decrees are repealed or amended
accordingly

Section 2

Imposition of death penalty was commuted to Reclusion Perpetua in

violations involving the use and nomenclature of the Revised Penal Code
Imposition of death penalty was commuted to Life Imprisonment in violations
not involving the use and nomenclature of the Revised Penal Code, in other
words, it pertains to violations involving Special Penal Laws

Section 3

Person convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua, or whose

sentences will be reduced to reclusion perpetua, by reason of this Act, shall
not be eligible for parole under Act No. 4180 (Indeterminate Sentence Law)

Section 4

The Board of Pardons and Parole shall cause the publication at least one a
week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation of the
names of persons convicted of offenses punished withreclusion perpetua or
life imprisonment by reason of this Act who are being considered or
recommend for commutation or pardon; Provided, however, That nothing
herein shall limit the power of the President to grant executive clemency
under Section 19, Article VII of the Constitutions.

Section 5

This Act shall take effect immediately after its publication in two national
newspapers of general circulation.
R.A. No. 9346 was published in Malaya and Manila Times, two national
newspapers of general circulation on 29 June 2006. Accordingly, R.A. No.
9346 took effect on 30 June 2006.

III.CASES
1. People vs Quiachon (GR 170263)
It involves an accused who raped his 8-year old daughter, a deaf-mute.
Under Art. 266-B of the RPC, the imposable penalty should have been death.
With the prohibition of Death Penalty, the penalty was commuted to
Reclusion Perpetua without possibility of parole under ISLAW
2. People vs Santos (GR 172322)
It involves the rape of a 5-year old child.

 Accused was meted the penalty of death because rape committed against a
child below seven years old is a dastardly and repulsive crime which merits
no less than the imposition of capital punishment under Art. 266-B of the RPC
The sentence was commuted to Reclusion Perpetua, without possibility of
parole.
3. People vs Salome (GR 169077)
It involves the rape of a 13-year old girl, who got pregnant, committed in the
dwelling and with the aid of a bladed weapon.
Imposable penalty should have been death, but it was commuted to
Reclusion Perpetua, by virtue of RA 9346, without possibility of parole.
4. People vs Tubongbanua (GR 171271)
It involves the murder of a victim who suffered 18 stab wounds which were all
directed to her chest, heart and lungs. Considering the existence of qualifying
circumstance of evident premeditation and the aggravating circumstances of
dwelling, and taking advantage of superior strength without any mitigating
circumstance.
Proper imposable penalty would have been death, but it was commuted to
Reclusion Perpetua without possibility of parole.