- The world is not a safe playground.

There are people who do well by caring and giving to those who are
in need and there are those who go by their own selfish desires without thinking of the possible impact
in the society. Making mistakes and harming others are somewhat part of human nature. Harming
others is not humane. In early times, tribes established rules and laws to govern their people and to
prevent them from causing damage to the tribes. Laws such as giving penalty or punishment to a person
who steals or kill. In early times there were laws punishing these crimes in todays era there are also
laws that gives sentence to anyone who commits a grave crime.
- Crime is an illegal act which someone can be punished by the government
AN ACT TO IMPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY ON CERTAIN HEINOUS CRIMES, AMENDING FOR THAT
PURPOSE THE REVISED PENAL LAWS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. - REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7659
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8177

AN ACT DESIGNATING DEATH BY LETHAL INJECTION AS THE METHOD OF CARRYING OUT CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE ARTICLE 81 OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE, AS AMENDED
BY SECTION 24 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7659.
Section 1. Article 81 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Section 24 of Republic Act No. 7659 is
hereby further amended to read as follows
"Art. 81. When and how the death penalty is to be executed. The death sentence shall be executed
with preference to any other penalty and shall consist in putting the person under the sentence to death
by lethal injection. The death sentence shall be executed under the authority of the Director of the
Bureau of Corrections, endeavoring so far as possible to mitigate the sufferings of the person under the
sentence during the lethal injection as well as during the proceedings prior to the execution.
"The Director of the Bureau of Corrections shall take steps to ensure that the lethal injection to be
administered is sufficient to cause the instantaneous death of the convict.
"Pursuant to this, all personnel involved in the administration of lethal injection shall be trained prior
to the performance of such task.
"The authorized physician of the Bureau of Corrections, after thorough examination, shall officially make
a pronouncement of the convict's death and shall certify thereto in the records of the Bureau of
Corrections. The death sentence shall be carried out not earlier than one (1) year nor later than
eighteen (18) months after the judgment has become final and executory without prejudice to the
exercise by the President of his executive clemency powers at all times."
Sec. 2. Persons already sentenced by judgment, which has become final and executory, who are waiting
to undergo the death penalty by electrocution or gas poisoning shall be under the coverage of the
provisions of this Act upon its effectivity. Their sentences shall be automatically modified for this
purpose.
Sec. 3. Implementing Rules. The Secretary of Justice in coordination with the Secretary of Health and
the Bureau of Corrections shall, within thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate the
rules to implement its provisions.
Sec. 4. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees and issuances, executive orders, rules and
regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.
Sec. 5. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette
or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation, whichever comes earlier. Publication
shall not be later than ten (10) days after the approval thereof.- chan robles virtual law library

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 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.
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 practised 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.

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.
Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was sentenced to die by firing squad for charges of murder, subversion
and illegal possession of firearm in 1977.
The last judicial execution under the Marcos years was in October 1976 when Marcelo San Jose was
executed by electrocution.
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 Filipino-Chinese
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.
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9165 June 7, 2002 AN ACT INSTITUTING THE COMPREHENSIVE DANGEROUS
DRUGS ACT OF 2002, REPEALING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6425, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE DANGEROUS
DRUGS ACT OF 1972, AS AMENDED, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Ex. Illegal Trafficking. The illegal cultivation, culture, delivery, administration, dispensation,
manufacture, sale, trading, transportation, distribution, importation, exportation and possession of any
dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential chemical.

Leo Echegaray

Leo Echegaray (11 July 1960 - 5 February 1999) was the first Filipino to be meted the death penalty after
its reinstatement in the Philippines in 1993, some 23 years after the last judicial execution was carried
out. His death sparked national debate over the legality and morality of the death penalty, which was
later suspended on 15 April 2006.

A house painter by trade, Echegaray was accused of the April 1994 rape of his alleged ten-year old
stepdaughter, Rodessa (nicknamed "Baby" by the press). He was convicted by Branch 104 of the
Regional Trial Court in Quezon City on 7 September 1994, with the death sentence automatically
reviewed by the Supreme Court and affirmed on 25 June 1996. Echegaray filed a motion for appeal,
which was denied on 19 January 1999. Less than a month later, Echegaray was executed via lethal
injection on 5 February 1999. Witnesses reported his last words to have been: "Smbayanng Pilipino,
patawarin ako sa kasalanang ipinaratang ninyo sa akin. Pilipino, pinaty ng kapwa Pilipino."

("People of the Philippines, forgive me of the sin which you have accused me, A Filipino, killed by fellow
Filipinos.")