Death Penalty Finds Its Death
With a 16-0 vote, the Senate approves Senate Bill (SB) 2245, which will repeal Republic Act (RA) 7659 or more popularly known as The Death Penalty Law. RA 7659 imposes the death penalty, as maximum penalty, on certain crimes in the Revised Penal Code. Among these crimes are murder, rape (when certain aggravating circumstances are present), kidnapping (especially when the pupose of which is to extort ransom), and robbery (where the following crimes are at the same time committed: homicide, rape, arson, intentional mutilation).
Should the Bill become a Law, all criminals on death row will automatically be benefitted by it; thus, their sentence will be lowered from Death to Reclusion Perpetua (which is not exactly a Life Imprisonment, rather it is actually 20 years and 1 day to 40 years). This is what is called a Retroactive Effect. This means that it was as if the penalty of those criminals on death row has always been Reclusion Perpetua to begin with.
Now, here comes the people from the red corner and the people from the white corner. Naturally, in all controversies, there will always--ALWAYS--be at least 2 sides. The same goes in this issue. On the one hand, many victims of these heinous crimes do not approve of abolishing death penalty. On the other, many people believe that life is something God gave and that He is the only one who has the right to take it away.
Question: On which side of the ring are you?
I'm all go for the abolition of Death Penalty. "You don't know how it feels to lose someone so horribly," someone might say. True. Perhaps if I did go through the same torment as those who have lost their loved ones because of another's senseless killing, I might also be constrained to want the killer to die as payment for what he's done. An eye for an eye. But, just because I'm full of rage and would want the killer to pay for the life he has taken with his own life, it doesn't mean that it's right.
If you've seen the film Dead Man Walking, you might remember Sean Penn's character (totally forgot the name) being given the chance to say his last words in front of the parents of the victim he's killed. He said he was very sorry for what he's done and believes that nobody has the right to take a life for whatever reason. For whatever reason. Even if someone probably really deserved to die... nobody has the right to take a life for whatever reason.
Should the Bill become a Law, all criminals on death row will automatically be benefitted by it; thus, their sentence will be lowered from Death to Reclusion Perpetua (which is not exactly a Life Imprisonment, rather it is actually 20 years and 1 day to 40 years). This is what is called a Retroactive Effect. This means that it was as if the penalty of those criminals on death row has always been Reclusion Perpetua to begin with.
Now, here comes the people from the red corner and the people from the white corner. Naturally, in all controversies, there will always--ALWAYS--be at least 2 sides. The same goes in this issue. On the one hand, many victims of these heinous crimes do not approve of abolishing death penalty. On the other, many people believe that life is something God gave and that He is the only one who has the right to take it away.
Question: On which side of the ring are you?
I'm all go for the abolition of Death Penalty. "You don't know how it feels to lose someone so horribly," someone might say. True. Perhaps if I did go through the same torment as those who have lost their loved ones because of another's senseless killing, I might also be constrained to want the killer to die as payment for what he's done. An eye for an eye. But, just because I'm full of rage and would want the killer to pay for the life he has taken with his own life, it doesn't mean that it's right.
If you've seen the film Dead Man Walking, you might remember Sean Penn's character (totally forgot the name) being given the chance to say his last words in front of the parents of the victim he's killed. He said he was very sorry for what he's done and believes that nobody has the right to take a life for whatever reason. For whatever reason. Even if someone probably really deserved to die... nobody has the right to take a life for whatever reason.
posted by Dismissive Che | Thursday, June 08, 2006
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