ESSENTIALS OF INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY

OF THE HUMAN PERSON

Position Paper

Leader:

Nueva, Cyrelle Anne

Members:

Bautista, Precious Anne

Luzon, Yuann Jonathan

Pacia, Anne Louise

Saylago, Kristian Val

 HUMSS - 201

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRIME MINISTER ............................................................................................................ II-III

Written by: Nueva, Cyrelle Anne S.

Bautista, Precious Anne N.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ........................................................................................... III-IV

Luzon, Yuann Jonathan T.

GOVERNMENT’S WIPE .................................................................................................. IV-V

Pacia, Anne Louise L.

Saylago, Kristian Val G.

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Why are we supporting the death penalty in the Philippines?

PRIME MINISTER:

Our house believes that the death penalty should be implemented due to the fact that
Filipinos do not listen as easily as they were told or often disobey instructions (Chacon-Millan,
2019). In some cases, the implementation of the Iron Hand is recommended for a culture and
society that perceives imprisonment as a low form of punishment. This perception of the masses
could be a result of the circumstances happening inside. A study showed that offenders often
have a comfortable life inside the prison, but at least they’re inside the prison (Mungo, 2016). In
the same article written by Chacon-Millan, he referred to a quote from the Nelson Mandela Rules
principle that says, “You are sent to prison as a punishment, not for punishment.”

Rapists will be rapists; those who took one’s life took one; those who perform harm harm
another. Many believe that the truer form of punishment for these offenders is torture and
suffering. However, the purpose of the death penalty was to assure the family of the deceased
that the crime committed had finally received proper treatment (DPIC, 2022). The rape victims
can finally breathe well knowing that the person who performed such an act towards them is no
longer in the world, that they are free from their clasp, and that they can no longer approach
them. The purpose of the punishment was to punish the person who had committed a crime and
to ensure the well-being of the family. Inclinations of torturing a person can only breed more
revenge and hatred from the family of the wrongdoer. The death penalty is not an instrument for
vengeance but rather for peace and freedom.

Rapists, specifically, do not receive their proper punishment due to the protection
invested in them by the CHR, or the Commission of Human Rights. Many countries have already
implemented the death penalty as a punishment for rapists, such as China, the United Arab
Emirates, Iran, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia. The majority of these countries are even located
in Asia; does this signify they no longer care for the human rights of their citizens? What makes
the Philippines so different from these countries is that we are repulsed by the idea of letting an
offender receive its punishment.

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 A study showed that Filipinos are more inclined toward imprisonment than the death
penalty (SWS, 2018; CNN Philippine Staffs, 2018); however, punishments can be stopped and
hidden from the public; one’s death in a public execution cannot. Would you watch a person
being punished every day for the sake of transparency?

Furthermore, since the penalty mentioned includes the life of a person, it will not be
conducted without absolute certainty and evidence that ascertains and looks at all possible
factors and perspectives. All gathered evidence regarding the offender will be kept transparent to
the public to lessen their doubts, especially concerning the current beliefs towards the justice
system of the Philippines. We believe that not everything the public perceives as truth appears to
be true. In order to fully showcase that the wrongdoer is truly fit to receive the highest form of
punishment, all evidence will be gathered that either aims to confirm or deny the allegations.
One way to know if something is true is by having both material and logical evidence that
follows a constant explanation.

Our house also believes that a human life should be held important; however, individuals
who have proven to take another life or harm another individual once or more may perform the
act again. Freudian philosophers believe that an individual is bound to repeat past behaviors or
events (Guy-Evans, 2023). Repetition compulsion states that one repeatedly performs a traumatic
experience or past in an attempt to master or understand the event, despite the harm it may result
in. We believe, with these in mind, that the absence of one’s life is better than the absence of
more. Humans may be capable of change, but not everyone undergoes one. If the offender’s
family were to receive the impact of pain from the death of their family member, then how about
the family of the victim that can be turned into victim(s)? All humans are to die one way or
another; unfortunately, the death penalty is performed to bring that fate to the wrongdoers
quicker. However, the difference between waiting for their time and the rushed process was the
less of a victim they could have hurt.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER:

One may argue that the death penalty is the best deterrent when it comes to preventing
anyone from committing far more heinous crimes. Losing one's life is one of the things that
frightens people the most. Haag (1986) stated that individuals are more terrified of the death

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penalty than imprisonment, which we retrieved from DPIC.org. As Charles Stimson once stated,
“It is the message that gets sent to people who are thinking about committing heinous crimes that
they should not do it or else they might end up being sentenced to death.”

Our house supports the death penalty to be performed on individuals who have
committed a crime that harms another person. Although no person is deserving to die, this will
be performed in order to lessen the probability of the peril's occurrences. An individual who has
committed a grave crime must also be punished with a severe punishment (DPIC, 2022). The
rationally justified theory of retribution holds that the offender deserves a penalty appropriate to
the severity of their crime (Pojman & Reiman, 1998). We believe that the punishment should
match the severity of a crime. If the crime committed against the person affects their physical,
emotional, and mental state to the point where it can be considered inhumane and heinous, they
should face the consequences of their actions. However, they should only be held accountable if
it was intentional, so we could allow executions under certain carefully specified circumstances,
as retribution is an expression of society's right to hold a wrongdoer accountable by punishing
them for their wrongdoing, and it should be available to the worst of the worst (Stimson, 2019).

Our house had taken into consideration the public’s mistrust and beliefs concerning the
justice system of the Philippines (Narag, 2017); hence, our prime minister stated the use of both
material and logical evidence before the execution of any offenders. If one is still incapable of
holding proofs as their stem of beliefs, how could one view something as a fact?

Furthermore, DPIC (2022) divulged that the implementation of the death penalty on
offenders who have committed a level five punishable crime can result in the lessening of the
crime and save more lives. According to Ehrlich (1973, p. 42), with every criminal that receives
execution, seven or eight lives are saved. DPIC believes that the lack of proper study of the death
penalty was due to the rare usage of this form of punishment in countries and its lengthy
procedure. Lastly, as quoted, “the fact that some states or countries that do not use the death
penalty have lower murder rates than jurisdictions that do not” (DPIC, 2022).

Further, in cases of rapists, specifically, the death penalty will be performed on them not
because their crime results in the deprivation of a woman's virginity—however, they are still a
factor. Rape can affect its victim not only physically but mostly mentally (Shapper, 2019). The

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Arizona Daily Wildcat even goes as far as to say these psychological traumas often last a lifetime
(n.d.). In an article, Sharper mentioned that without proper treatment, the effect of the incident on
the victim can result in a destructive situation (i.e., suicide). Furthermore, she included various
negative effects on an individual, such as the feeling of humiliation or guilt, withdrawal or
isolation from the community, trouble sleeping, eating disorder, recollection or nightmares,
anxiety disorder, PTSD, and dangerous or suicidal thoughts that stem from depression.

For victims, the death penalty can help them find closure (DPIC, 2022). As murderers
ought to face the ultimate punishment possible that best matches the severity of their crime
(Cotton & Rutledge, 2019), Even if the victims do not wish to see the execution happen, they are
able to get some closure by knowing that the one who caused them misery is finally gone. As is
the case of Jason Johnson, who stated, “I will go to see him executed not to see him die but just
to see my family actually have some closure” in the article written by Katherine Burgess (2019).

Many would argue that the death penalty can cause yet another act of violence (DPIC,
2022). However, would one truly stop if punished by imprisonment? As what we have said
before, “Death penalty is not an instrument for vengeance but rather for peace and freedom.” The
crime offenders had committed caused disturbance on the balance of a society. DPIC (2022)
states that in order to restore the balance a society once had, “only the taking of the murderer’s
life restores the balance and allows society to show convincingly that murder is an intolerable
crime that will be punished in kind.'' As per what Tim Larkin expressed at his appearance on
Talks at Google (2017), wherein he said, as per directly quoted, “Violence is rarely the answer,
but when it is, it's the only answer” (0:45).

Our house holds more importance to the lives of the innocent than to those who have
taken one. Haag (1986), as we directly quoted from DPIC (2022), says, “Surely the criminal law
is meant to protect the lives of potential victims in preference to those of actual murderers.”

GOVERNMENT’S WIPE:

Our house reinforces the death penalty for various reasons, such as: imprisonment is not a
punishment that completely takes the fear out of societies; it provides closure to the family
and/or the victims; other countries have already implemented the death penalty; they are bound

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to repeat their action; the idea of death is more alarming than imprisonment; it can lead to lower
level five crime rates; severe crimes should face severe punishments; the death penalty is not a
tool for retribution but rather for freedom and tranquility; and lastly, we believe the importance
of protecting the life of the innocent rather than the one who has taken one.

REFERENCES:

Arizona Daily Wildcat. (n.d.). Rapists, as well as murderers, deserve death. wc.arizona.edu.
Retrieved, October 3, 2023 from https://wc.arizona.edu/papers/90/57/05_1_m.html

Chacon-Millan, N.V. (2019, June 23). WHY CAN’T FILIPINOS SEEM TO FOLLOW SIMPLE,
BASIC RULES?. When in Manila. https://www.wheninmanila.com/why-cant-
filipinos- seem-to-follow-simple-basic-rules/

CNN Philippine Staffs. (2018, October 11). “Filipinos prefer imprisonment over the death
penalty for drug-related crimes — SWS”. CNN Philippines.
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/10/11/sws-death-penalty-imprisonment-
drug-crimes.html

Cotton T. & Rutledge L. (2019, September 16). TOM COTTON: Justice served. The Northwest
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/sep/16/justice-
served-20190916/

Death Penalty Information Center. (2022, February 4). Arguments for and Against the Death
Penalty. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/curriculum/high-school/about-the-death-penalty/
arguments-for-and-against-the-death-penalty

Directorate for Investigation and Detective. (n.d.). NATIONWIDE CRIME STATISTICS.

DIDM. Retrieved 2023, October 1, from
https://didm.pnp.gov.ph/index.php/23-sidebar/96-crime-statistics

Ehrlich, I. (1973). The deterrent effect of capital punishment: A question of life and death (No.
w0018). National Bureau of Economic Research.

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Guy-Evan, O. (2023, September 19). Repetition Compulsion: Why Do We Repeat The Past?.
SimplyPsychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/repetition-compulsion.html

Haag, E. (1986). THE ULTIMATE PUNISHMENT: A DEFENSE. FRONTLINES.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/angel/procon/haagarticle.html

Burgess, K. (2019, May 14). Their father killed their mother. Now, the siblings disagree on
whether he should be executed. Commercial appeal.
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news

Talks at Google. (2017, December 8). When Violence is The Answer [Video]. YouTube.
https://youtu.be/XvFjcJbtG4A?si=djzKy_26znd2ZhgM

Mungo, D. (2016, October 26). “You Are Sent to Prison as Punishment, Not for Punishment”.
Raoul Wallenberg Institute. https://rwi.lu.se/2016/10/26/sent-prison-punishment-not-
punishment/

Narag R. (2017, August 7). Failure of the legal system: A challenge to Filipino lawyers. Rappler.
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/177893-failure-legal-system-challenge-
filipino-lawyers/

Pojman L. & Reiman J. (1998). The Death Penalty: For and Against. Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers. https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/The_Death_Penalty.html?
id=X8BN1AE01MoC&redir_esc=y

Shapper, A. (2019, October 2). Psychological Effects of Sexual Assault. Banyan Treatment
Center. https://www.banyanmentalhealth.com

Stimson, C. (2019, December 20). The Death Penalty Is Appropriate. The Heritage Foundation.
https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/the-death-penalty-appropriate

Social Weather Stations. (2018, October 10). March 2018 National Survey on Public
Perceptions on the Death Penalty: 33% or less demand the death penalty for 6 of 7
crimes related to illegal drugs. SOCIAL WEATHER STATIONS.
https://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20181010122553

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UN Nelson Mandela Rules. (2013, May 2). Penal Reform International.
https://www.penalreform.org/issues/prison-conditions/standard-minimum-rules/