Impacts of States/Countries with Death Penalty on the Tourism Industry

Today, Tourism Industry, while it constantly grows to an extent, is said to be facing

various security threats and numerous countries have been handling it by serving the death
penalty, regardless of this approach’s consequences (Mataković & Cunjak Mataković, 2019).
While many states, primarily those countries that are predominantly Christian, have abolished
the death penalty, several countries, most commonly in the Islamic communities, still imposed
the death penalty as their approach to pursuing justice, preventing crime, and creating a safe
space and environment within the jurisdiction. In the Philippine Context, offenses such as
robbery, mugging, and murder are not penalized with the death penalty due to its abolishment
since the year 2006 (Yuching, 2022). Instead, life imprisonment and reclusion perpetua shall be
the most severe consequence to be served to the offender.

Based on the data documented by Emmanuel Tupaz in September 2022, a total of 4,984
index crimes were recorded starting from January to August this year in Metro Manila. It
significantly decreased by 4.19% compared to the same period last year. Apparently, index
crimes consist of a variety of offenses, which includes murder, homicide, physical injury, rape,
robbery, theft, and vehicle theft. EPD Acting District Director Col. Wilson C. Asueta said in an
interview that the eight focus index crimes were lower this year in Metro Manila than in the last
three years (Yalao, 2022). This is most definitely due to the high efficiency of the public officers
and corresponding divisions to uphold peace and order in the streets of Metro Manila to attain a
safer environment for everyone.

Different crimes in the Philippines come with different sanctions served to whoever
committed an offense that violated a law, someone’s human rights, or even human dignity. One
of which is the prohibition of physical punishment for those with parental authority over their
children at home and other settings – Corporal Punishment, as they refer to it (Hernando-
Malipot, 2021). By virtue of several legal defences for the use of corporal punishment in
childrearing, which include the Family code 1987 and the Child and Youth Welfare code 1974,
one who committed corporal punishment shall be given a punishment, the severity of the
sanction depends on the actual or supposed crime. In most cases, an offender is sentenced to
several years of imprisonment but still depending on the severity of the crime and the verdict of
the sentencing judge (Cueto et. al, 2020). In contrast, Capital Punishment, also known as the
Death Penalty, is highly opposed and disregarded in the Philippines for its irrational and
inhumane approach to penalizing an offender. It has been abolished since when the Republic Act
9346 was signed into law in the year 2006. For the record, the Philippines was the first-ever
Asian country to abolish Capital Punishment (Jha, 2020). More so, punishments can also be in
the form of monetary sanctions which an offender shall pay depending on the severity of the
crime and the ability of the offender to pay. It is mostly used in non-violent crimes in the
country. While others do agree with imposing fines on the offender as it is said to be appropriate
and proportionate punishment for non-violent crimes, many still don’t like fines as a way to
punish a criminal due to their ineffectiveness to respond to violent crimes (Fines, 2019).

Moreover, even though the death penalty is not legal in the Philippines, it is an axiom that
it still causes Filipino people to be divided into two conflicting sides as many still believe that
the death penalty can stimulate fear for people to commit crimes and so, this should be taken into
consideration again. While in the opposition, the party claims that it doesn’t make sense to put
the death penalty again into effect to penalize those who committed heinous crimes, considering
that marginal deterrence has no effect on reducing recidivism. Having the states with the death
penalty laws as an example, it can be seen that they do not have lower crime rates or murder
rates than states without such a law. Meaning that the death penalty doesn’t help them to solve
peace and order threats in their environment. From that sense, the death penalty law is not ideal
and necessary for the Philippines anymore to approach violence and offenses in the country.

Nevertheless, assertively, especially the justice-seeking victims, people still believe that
the death penalty is merely a punishment for offenders to serve justice for all. Besides, the
bereaved families of the victims and the impact of the incident on them need justice for
themselves and for their victimized relatives by making the offender responsible for what he did.
However, as a predominantly Christian country, the Philippines would have to go through
several challenges before the imposition of the death penalty becomes successful. Although
some argue that the death penalty doesn’t intend to violate human rights as it has never resulted
in physical or psychological pain for the person, it is a fact that even the trial court can go wrong
and may lead to a decision to execute an innocent person for a crime they did not commit. As
Clark (2022) reiterates, the burden of this law would definitely be shouldered by low-level
offenders who are vulnerable to an unjust criminal justice system. Thus, it should never be taken
into consideration because it can blatantly violate international human rights law.

All in all, the death penalty is proven to be just another threat and burden to a state to face
security threats, particularly in Tourism Industry. It is significant to make efforts to ensure a
conducive and safe environment for all but not in a way of reinstating the death penalty law as it
would only add fuel to the fire. One better and more civilized way to start addressing security
threats is to build consolidated cooperation and teamwork among all stakeholders that are
definitely pivotal to the success of a nation/state. By having these characteristics, the targeted
goal at the micro and macro level will all be easily achieved.
References:

Clark, H. (2022). The death penalty: Never justifiable, never acceptable. Aljazeera.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/4/1/death-penalty-never-justifiable-never-acceptable

Cueto, J. M. et. al. (n.d.). Applicability Of Special Laws In The Philippines Punishable By Life
Imprisonment.
https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/3925056/Cueto_Jennifer.pdf

Fines (2019). FindLaw. https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-procedure/fines.html

Hernando-Malipot, M. (2021). ‘Irreversible damage’: Group calls for the prohibition of corporal
punishment of children. Manila Bulletin. https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/03/irreversible-damage-
group-calls-for-the-prohibition-of-corporal-punishment-of-children/

Jha, P. (2020). Philippines death penalty: A fight to stop the return of capital punishment. BBC
News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53762570

Mataković, H., Cunjak Mataković, I. (2019). The impact of crime on security in

tourism. Security and Defence Quarterly, 27(5), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/115539

Tupaz, E. (2022). Metro Manila crime rate drops by 4%. Philstar Global.
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2022/09/18/2210423/metro-manila-crime-rate-drops-4

Yalao, K. (2022). EPD recognized for lowest crime rate in NCR. Manila Bulletin.
https://mb.com.ph/2022/11/07/epd-recognized-for-lowest-crime-rate-in-ncr/

Yuching, M. G. (2022). FAST FACTS: Death penalty in the world and in the Philippines.
Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/nation/things-to-know-death-penalty-philippines-worldwide/
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%20place.