3rd Negative Speaker Practicability
I will will be disc discus ussi sing ng the the pract practic icab abil ilit ity, y, or lack lack ther thereof, eof, of reinstating the death penalty here in the Philippines.
First, according to the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), for the death penalty to be practical and ecient, a fair cri!inal "ustice syste! is essential. #nfortunately, this is yet to be attained here in the Philippines since our "udicial syste! is faulty at best.
$efor efor!s !s in our cri! cri!in inal al "ust "ustic ice e sy syst ste! e!,, parti particu cula larl rly y in the the proper and speedy disposition of cri!inal cases, should be the %tat %tate& e&s s top top prio priori rity ty rathe ratherr than than the the re'i! re'i!po posi siti tion on of the death death penalty. ecessary i!proe!ents in our "ustice syste! !ust *rst be !ade !ade++ thes these e i!pr i!pro oe! e!en ents ts can can be cost costly ly,, and and the the %tat %tate e cannot diulge its *nances on so!ething that is yet to be proen eectie.
%econd, the death penalty is sub"ect to too !any "udicial errors.
According to a study conducted by no less than the %upre!e -ourt -ourt itse itself lf,, as docu! docu!ent ented ed by a!a a!a!a !aya yang ng /utol utol %a 0i 0itay tay''
oe!ent for a $estoratie 1ustice (a group co!posed of so!e 234 hu!an rights, sectoral, political, and church groups,) 4 out
of ve death row in!ates hae been wrongfully sentenced by arious lower courts. Although the %upre!e -ourt corrected so!e of these decisions, still an alar!ingly high nu!ber of innocent people hae been sub"ected to the !ental and e!otional torture of going through the ordeal of being sentenced to die for a cri!e which they did not co!!it.
In this sa!e study, out of the 2,325 cases reiewed, al!ost half, 673 to be !ore speci*c, were !odi*ed fro! death penalty to reclusion perpetua. -lose to a third were transferred to the court of appeals, 68 were a9uitted, and 5: were re!anded for further proceedings. /he result; or ?:4 cases were ar!ed by the %upre!e -ourt or were correctly decided. %o :?> of the decisions i!posing the death penalty were @$<G.
As an ea!pleB the case of @ilson s. People, a case replete with procedural errors that led to a wrongful coniction. Albert @ilson, a 0ritish ational, was charged with the cri!e of rape. Ce was found guilty and was placed on death row. For one year and *e !onths, he was tortured and sub"ected to inhu!an liing conditions+ he suered *nancial etortion and psychological trau!a inDicted by his fellow in!ates, as well as the prison guards, while inside the national penitentiary+ only for it to be
proen that he was actually a icti! of fabricated charges as part of a plot to etort !oney.
Ce was later released fro! custody under orders fro! the %upre!e -ourt, but was forced to pay for oerstaying in the Philippines before being allowed to leae the country. In other cases, the conicts, howeer, were unable to escape death. inors as young as 26 years old and elderly aged aboe :4 hae been sentenced to death here in the Philippines. /he death penalty law re9uires trial courts to forward the records of all capital cases to the %upre!e -ourt for auto!atic reiew and "udg!ent en banc within 23 to ?4 days fro! the trial court&s pro!ulgation of "udg!ent or notice of denial of a !otion for new trial or reconsideration. #nfortunately, there hae been cases where the trial courts fail to forward the records of capital cases within the designated periods.
FLAG brought to the %upre!e -ourt&s attention, in arch ?422, the plight of ?4 in!ates whose case records had not yet been forwarded to the -ourt.
as of oe!ber 23, ?422, the records of two death in!ates, Pedro 0asada and Edwin Gayeta, hae not yet reached the %upre!e -ourt. /he trial courts sentenced both of the! to death in 2888.
/he death penalty is i!practical because of the ti!e it wastes and that it clogs the %upre!e -ourt&s dockets with erroneous decisions !ade by the lower courts, slowing down the disposition of "ustice, a funda!ental right granted to all people.
Also, according to A!nesty International, the death penalty is irreocable+ coupled with a "ustice syste! that is prone to hu!an error and pre"udice, the risk of eecuting an innocent person is eer present. istakes like that cannot be un!ade.
