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Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Millan: Turned turtle
By Atty. Taipan Millan
One Small Voice
In the President's hands are the blood of those who will now start dying. She has that power, according to our law. She has that authority, according to our law. What is legal, however, is not always what is just and what is right.
THE death penalty is one issue that never dies. The whole world is divided as to its efficiency or inefficiency, and as to its effectivity or ineffectivity, not to mention its morality or immorality.
The Philippines is not spared of the dispute. The death penalty has gone full circle from being imposed, scrapped, re-imposed, suspended and resumed. The protagonists are in fighting mood -- blackmail being the most potent strategy, votes being the most cogent weapon.
Yes, the elections are near and the lines are drawn between the power of numbers and the justness of a cause. No, this is not about the correctness of the move in terms of its ability to solve the problem but about the capacity of the decision to bring in money and deliver the votes.
The reason for this conclusion, logical or illogical as it may or may not be, is the bold and daring pronouncement a few weeks back that the government will not give in to the enormous pressure. That courageous announcement was too recent to be forgotten, too important to be ignored and too good to be true.
The declaration included a statement saying that the death penalty has never been proven to deter the commission of crimes. In fact, the opposite has been shown, as demonstrated by the number of heinous crimes committed even during the whole period that the death penalty was in effect.
The proclamation admitted that several quarters were pressing for the lifting of the moratorium on executions but that the ban would remain firm and fixed. Consequently, a deluge of praises and acclaims were expressed for the commitment to the protection of life, no matter how criminal.
Then all of a sudden, from out of nowhere, trumpets blared and blasted to signal the resumption of state-sponsored killing in the country. The death penalty was alive once more.
It does not matter now that the government has very recently acknowledged and accepted that the death penalty has not, and will not, deter criminals from committing crimes.
It does not matter now that the government has just too recently proclaimed that it will remain steadfast, resolute and unwavering in its position that execution is not the solution.
What matters only, it would appear, is the certainty of the continuity of this administration. This may be true. This may be false. But definitely, the abrupt turnaround smacks of politics as usual.
In the President's hands is the blood of those who will now start dying. She has that power, according to our law. She has that authority, according to our law. What is legal, however, is not always what is just and what is right.
Truly, these are grueling moments for advocates against the death penalty. But instead of being weakened and disheartened, we should be more aggressive and vigilant. A battle may have been lost but the war has not yet been won.
The campaign should now be focused and concentrated on the abolition of the death penalty law itself by Congress. Our legislators may yet finish the journey where the President has turned turtle.
(December 10, 2003 issue)
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