In the long history of the Philippines, the death penalty was known and accepted fact.

The code of Kalantiao, the oldest recorded body of laws of our early ancestors showed the
strictness under the barangay that existed and based their moral acceptance of right and wrong.
For example, anyone caught stealing would be penalized by suffering the loss of finger.

The graver the theft, the more fingers were cut and if the theft was very grave, the hands
was chopped off, therefore it is understandable that even in the Early periods of our history
there are certain punishment for a offense, that even the code of Kalantiao imposed death
penalty for rape and murder that is considered as heinous crime.

Today, the State itself has different punishment opposite to its offence, our legislators
implement and pass a Bill that will sentenced a grave offender of crime, one of it is the Republic
Act No. 7659 or the Death Penalty Act which gathers many controversies on its implementation,
according to this act a criminal who has been proven guilty to a heinous crime with the proper
due process of law will be executed.

“An eye for an eye” does not mean vengeance, for the Almighty God himself said,
vengeance is mine and by this he meant he would met justice in accordance with his mysterious
way through the Ten Commandments from which morals laws were taken. Precisely no one has
the right to deprive another person of his life, degrade him or her to the status of an animal, or
abuse and debase a person to the extent of destroying forever his or her dignity. But how about
the victims? Those who were murdered and raped, those children who were abduct for ramson
and then killed, for those school kids and teenagers who buys drugs and in the process slowly
or make them criminals, rapist and murderers while the pushers enrich themselves.

The death penalty itself on the other hand could strike fear in the minds of those
criminals and make them think twice before committing any act of violence. That the Capital
punishment may act as an instrument with which the righteous may be guarded against the
offender. The enforcement of Capital Punishment under proper circumstances places a high
value on human life and upholds dignity of man, than making him stop to the level of criminals
by lashing out at them with similar brutality in the guise of justice.

In the Philippines where there is no clean and fair justice system, there is no doubt that if
ever the Republic Act No. 7659 or the Death Penalty Act is reimposed there are many Filipino
who will lose their right to life and many will be sentenced with death penalty and die as it is said
those who have less in life, have less in law, that the death penalty will be biased to the poor
ones who could be easily accused by the rich one or those who were set up to be pointed out as
the criminal. As long as bail is pegged on wealth and the enforcement of law is swayed by
money, position and possessions, the death penalty will be a sword of Damocles over the head
of the impoverished and the weak.

We have not repented and turned from our evil ways, we continue to miss the mark. And
so we become desperate and hope to eradicate crime by wasting or executing the sinner, not
the sin.