Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s (“Pres. Rody”) has eagerly and most anxiously championed the need for the restoration of the DEATH PENALTY for heinous crimes (especially DRUG-related offenses) in our statute books. However, there seems to be a strong opposition to this proposal. Most of those who are opposing the proposal would conveniently aver that the DEATH PENALTY is not in fact a deterrent to the future commission of crimes. However, with the experience that we are confronting now in the Philippines where drug users as well as small-time drug pushers are surrendering in droves, such patently shows that the DEATH PENALTY is a DETERRENT. Indeed, if these surrenderees do not FEAR death, they would have not in fact surrendered in the first place.
The foregoing phenomenon all the more explains why Pres. Rody must appear to be a leader who must always be FEARED. And this is perhaps, why Pres. Rody feels the need to always garnish his speech and spiel with cuss-filled words, such as PUTANG INA!!!
Indeed, the phenomenon that we are now experiencing in the Philippines, from north to south, where drug-addicts are surrendering in droves is plainly, an affirmance that the FEAR of DEATH serves as a deterrent to the commission of crime. What we have experienced is COMMON SENSE, bolstered by statistics as shown by the large number of daily surrenderees. Everyone, I am sure fears nothing more than death. Therefore, nothing will deter a criminal more than the fear of death.
In fact in the Philippine setting as exemplified by the pre-Duterte bureaucracy, life in prison is less feared. Murderers clearly prefer LIFE IN PRISON than death in the GALLOWS or extermination via the ELECTRIC CHAIR or eternal sleep inside the LETHAL INJECTION Room. Indeed, the foregoing is APODICTIC, as otherwise, those who have been convicted would not choose to be sentenced to DEATH instead of LIFE IN PRISON. Necessarily therefore, a life sentence must be less deterrent than a death sentence. And that, we must execute murderers as long as it is merely possible that their execution protects citizens from future murders.
The more animating reason why DEATH PENALTY has to be restored in the Philippines is the extreme laxity that has transpired in the prison walls (due plausibly to the power of the drug-lords’ money to corrupt the prison guards who would just look the other way) and the consequent baboonery that this corruption has created.
In his speech during the Armed Forces of the Philippines (“AFP”) turn-over ceremony on July 1, 2016; Pres. Rody claimed that it was despicably and extremely insulting to the Philippine government to have just belatedly learned that drugs are in fact being manufactured within the prison walls. And that it was even more denigrating to learn that prisoners especially the drug-lords live like kings inside the prison walls, with all the luxuries and extravagance that money can buy.
In one of Pres. Rody’s TV spiels, he said that the DEATH PENALTY must be regarded as a means of RETRIBUTION. Indeed, society and the national community as a whole is justly ordered when each person receives what is due to him. Without doubt, crime disturbs this just order, for the criminal wrests from people their lives, snatches their peace and liberties, as well as plucks out from their possession their worldly goods in order to give himself (i.e. the criminal) undeserved benefits. Necessarily, deserved punishment protects society morally by restoring the just order, making the criminal pay the price equivalent to the harm that he has done. This is retribution, and should not to be confused with revenge.
