A POSITION PAPER OF DEATH PENALTY

Introduction

The quote “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” portrays the mindset that has
been prevalent in criminal law for much of history. Capital punishment (death
penalty) was practiced virtually almost everywhere because solving violence with
violence was seen as a means of serving justice. However, just as humanity has
progressed on so many fronts (and not just in terms of technical advances), so
humanity has also become more deeply aware of vital abstract concepts such as
human dignity and the right to life, and their implications to law. It is not an accident
that in the last few decades, one of the most decisive and visible trends in criminal
justice has been the reduction and abolition of the death penalty.

The current president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte is seeking to reinstate

the death penalty as part of his campaign against crime and drugs. While not much
has changed in terms of the essential arguments between both sides, the issue of
the death penalty has itself become one of those issues where taking a side is seen
as also taking a side on the current administration, either for or against. This is
unfortunate as it obscures the essential issue, which is whether the state should
have the power to determine who must live and who must die, and whether justice is
truly served best by retrogressing towards the mentality of “an eye for an eye “

Counter Arguments

Article III, Section 1 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that “No person
shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any
person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”The immeasurable value, the
preciousness of human life, is something taught not just by Christianity but by many
other religious and philosophies of life. It is a fact that many countries that have
abolished the death penalty have done so not on religious but on humanistic
grounds; the preciousness of life is something that can be grasped even by those
who are secularist and have no religion.
 The death penalty is irrevocable. The very nature of the death penalty is the
permanent taking of a life of a person. Life is precious; but once a life is taken,
bringing it back is out of the question. The thought of mistakenly executing an
innocent man orchestrated by the state should incite all Filipinos to oppose this bill.

My Argument

Death penalty shows justice. There will be justice when we punish the guilty. It
shows quality, on T.V. I have seen people being interviewed because one or some of
their relatives died. There are crying for help and wanting justice for the death of
their loved ones. Having a death penalty is a solution for them to relieved there
anger and suffering and conquer justice for their loved ones. A serious crime must
have serious penalty and that is death . Justice can dignify a person.

According to Bedau H (1982), Most people have natural fear of death- it’s a trait
man have to think about it what will happen before we act, if we don’t think it
consciously, we will homicide rate would be very low because no one like to die. We
cannot do this, but if the justice system can make it more swift and severe, we
could change the laws to make capital punishment faster and make appeals a
shorter process. The death penalty is important because it could save the lives of
thousands of potential victims who are at stake.

Conclusion