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A Timeline of Death Penalty in The Philippines
A Timeline of Death Penalty in The Philippines
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 penalty’s historical roots and context in Philippine
society:
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.”