Biantan: Why death penalty when there is EJK

THE blood thirsty netizens are seeking for the death penalty after some gruesome rape and slay incidents that have happened in various parts of our country the past days.

The most horrific heinous crime happened very recently last March 11 in Barangay Bankal, Lapulapu City when 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan was found dead in a open field.

Silawan, part-time worker at the nearby Church, was found with half of her face skinned and several of her organs gone.

According to reports from SunStar Cebu, autopsy reports from the PNP Crime Lab stated that the girl’s tongue, esophagus and right ear have been removed.

The report added that the killer took out the body parts to delay the identification of the victim and give killers time to hide.

She was also stabbed 30 times. She was naked but police found no evidence of rape.

The police are now pursuing some suspects and some people have raised money as rewards to those who can catch the perpetuators.

The Philippines abolished death penalty in 2006 under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It was replaced by life imprisonment.

President Fidel Ramos, a general during the Marcos Martial Law era, reinstated death penalty during his term and was continued during the short lived term of Joseph Estrada.

The Philippines actually became the first country in Asia to abolish Death Penalty when Cory Aquino became president in 1986.

The Philippines has a long history with capital punishment. In 1946, murder, rape, and treason were grounds for the death penalty. Until 1961, 51 were sentenced to death by the law. This number soared high under the leadership of strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Under the Marcos regime, drug tracking was added to the list of crimes punishable by death. Electric chairs were the primary instrument for execution during Marcos’ time, which were replaced by firing squads in 1976.

During the campaign season president Rodrigo Duterte vocally supported the reinstatement of death penalty to aid him in his war against drugs.

Last year, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Capiz Representative Fredenil Castro, Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao, Senator Panfilo Lacson authored similar bills calling for the reinstatement of death penalty via lethal injection on heinous crimes.

The bills are still pending in the lower house and in the senate and awaiting for approval.

Now, the netizens are clamoring for the quick approval of the bills reinstating death penalty.

I am against death penalty for the simple reason that we have a flawed justice system which favors only those who could afford brilliant lawyers. There are countless of persons who have been wrongly accused who are languishing in our hellish jails.

If there is Death Penalty in the land they could have been in the cemetery already while their relatives suffer from depressions.

But the main reason why I am against death penalty is that these heinous criminals do not deserve quick deaths. They deserve a long suffering torturous death.

Why we insist of a quick death for criminals when we already have EJK. The police have long practiced this and more than 12,000 have already been executed. (l.biantan@gmail.com)