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The Punishment Permutation in the Philippines

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There is no other way to put into words the dilemma that death penalty poses to the consciousness of individuals than J.R.R. Tolkien’s statement in The Fellowship of the Ring, in which he wrote, “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them?” This predicament can be pointed out as one of the reasons why death penalty has been suspended and reestablished as the years go by in the Philippines. In the past, death penalty has been implemented during the times of Ferdinand Marcos, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and Glorio Macapagal-Arroyo as a response to increasing crime rates. But then, last 2006, Arroyo signed Republic Act No. 9346 which proclaims the suspension of capital punishment in favor of life imprisonment. Not a decade has passed yet lawmakers are in talks once again on reviving death penalty. Even though an overwhelming majority opposes this controversial position, I firmly stand on the belief that death penalty should be reinstated in the Philippines because of three crucial reasons, namely: it is a proportional punishment for atrocious crimes, it helps protect the welfare of the citizens, and it brings closure to the family of the victim. My first argument in support of the reimplementation of death penalty in the Philippines is because of its responsible action to deliver proportional punishment for atrocious crimes. Such “atrocious crimes” could be tagged to crimes involving murder, rape, and drug trafficking. On

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