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Protecting Rights, Saving Lives

Endangering the moral lines of every Filipinos is the

resurgence of the doomed word “death penalty”./ Every letter of
this word sends shiver/ to the spine and mind. For some, / this
is the justice that victims of heinous crimes are deprived of. /
and with the rigorous and somewhat slow-paced judicial system of
our country, / it is no surprise that claiming of lives will ever
be an idea in attaining justice. / A good day to everyone, /I am
Paul Santos/ and being a concerned citizen that I am, / I
strongly oppose death penalty. / I aim to present this topic
because/ I see it as an alarming issue that needs to be
addressed. / though I may have never experienced it personally
before, / I think I’ve read enough articles, / data, /
documentaries, / and the like /to confidently present a
discourse regarding this matter. /Please hear my thoughts on
this. /

Death penalty/ is not new to Filipinos. /Since the days of

the Spaniards to the reign of Marcos and even Ramos, / capital
punishment /is the ultimate verdict/ to individuals who committed
the most atrocious deeds imaginable. /The unlucky or sometimes, /
“deserving” person, / will meet death through hanging, / death by
firing squad, / gas chamber, /electric chair, / and lethal
injection. / But whatever manner of death happens to someone, /
claiming a life will never be humane. /

The fear instilled by death penalty, / whether we like it or

not, / will in fact/ benefit us in some type of way. / Wrong
doers will think twice on committing crimes. / Rapists, /
thieves, / kidnappers/ will reconsider their decisions knowing
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that if they were ever be captured, / an injection or zapping

chair/ will immediately end their life. / The country will be
safe /and the dream of our president of a crime-free society/
will finally be/ a reality. /

However, / is this the kind of society we want to be

remembered? / A disciplined nation bowed down on its knees
because of fear. /A nation /where it is legal to kill and claim
lives? / For me/ it seems to be a taboo. / But for the families
of the victims, /death penalty seems to be the absolute response.
/ Some may probably find me taking the wrong way because/ I am
not wearing the shoes of the victim/ and one would probably go /
“Who are you/ to hinder their craving for an immediate
justice?” / well, / If I experience such events, / I admit I
would’ve wanted the same. / But I realized, / wouldn’t that make
me the same as them? / By killing somebody, / i actually did what
I was trying to avoid doing. / So, / I came to a realization that
it is no longer justice that I’m seeking, / but revenge/. And
Taking vengeance, /as I know it, / is not the road I would want
to traverse. / Otherwise, / It would definitely just lead me down
a path/ in which I will completely lose my identity. /

But No matter how flawless a judicial system is, / sometimes

/we really just don’t know what the truth is. / No jury or
attorney can say that they always know the truth. / so Think of
the legacy the death penalty will leave to our future generation.
/We will cultivate minds /that entertain the idea that killing is
justified / because it’s our government that says so. / And If
this will ever be a normal occurrence, / I will start questioning
my sanity. / Our country will breed a nation of psychopaths/ and
that is the future I deem to oppose. / Celebrating justice by
taking the life of a person/ leaves/ a different taste in my
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mouth. / I feel the cringe at the thought of people rejoicing the

death of someone. / and/ The way I imagine it, / that sounds like
a prehistoric way of executing a person /as a sacrifice to a god/
that may not even exist. /

We should not think the way the criminals do. / Instead of

punishing them by killing, /let us try to understand the reasons
that have driven them to commit crime/. What happened to them? /
What caused them to behave that way? / Isn’t it our obligation to
look out for our fellow people? / Isn’t it our society which was
responsible to their fate? /

Death penalty for me, sounds like an easy solution to a

problem. / And we don’t like easy solution as we know it will
only lead to a wrong answer. / If we resort to death penalty,
that means/ we surrendered in finding a better way of saving our
fellow people/ and we just accepted /that it is okay for them to
die. / Remember, / even Jesus Christ saved the lowest and
unworthy people. / If God did everything he could to save his
people, / then who are we/ to kill the precious beings he
graciously saved? /

That brings me back to my proposition of discouraging death

penalty. / Life/ is a blessing. / Even if it came from the mouth
of a wanted criminal, / every breath is a miracle/. I believe/
that every human being deserves a second chance to prove that
they’re worthy of change. /They deserve a shot to redeem
themselves /even though sometimes they’re not even worthy to
breathe anymore. / let us be objective /and see the potential
chance that they will change for the better. / By not imposing
death penalty, / we give hope to people. / We bring hope and
opportunity for them to make things right. /
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