“Thou shalt not kill” is the Sixth Commandment in God’s Ten Commandments. It is generally understood as a commandment against murder, and can be viewed as a legal issue governing human relationships, noting that the first four commandments relate strongly to man’s duty to God, and that the latter six commandments describe our duties toward humans, based in respect for God himself.
With the call to reinstate the death penalty, now pending before Congress, the Senate has come out with its stand, to evaluate the issue in relation to international covenants.
The House of Representatives is overtly muscled by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, that congressmen who will vote against the death penalty will be stripped of their Committee chairmanships.
To further sweeten the proposition, plunder was removed from the crime list penalized by death.
The true colors of our legislators will be tested, as this goes to the core values of their principled leadership, or the lack of it.
Putting another human to death is completely against human nature, beyond normal rationalization, as the act of execution itself is difficult to perform.
However, history has shown that it had been done to preserve life, or to see that it is done, as penalty for crimes.
In Texas, they say: “If you kill us, we kill you back!” or “In California, they do not have death penalty, but in Texas, we have an express lane!”, with emphasis and its characteristic twang.
In our context, debates point on the possibility of error when an innocent person is executed, then the problem lies in the court system, not in the death penalty.
It is admitted that the four pillars of the criminal justice system is flawed: the community in its reluctance to report crimes or be witnesses to crimes; the police and its abusive ways; the prosecution and its arbitrary ruling; and the courts and the possibility of being biased/partial, or due to a lack of evidence.
Furthermore, statistics show that the poor and minorities are more likely to receive the death penalty. Sadly, the rich are more likely to get off with a lesser sentence because of powerful legal representation.
In addition, the length of stay on death row, with its endless appeals, delays, technicalities, and retrials, keep a person waiting for death for years on end.
Thus, it is cruel and costly since a death row inmate for the rest their life costs more than putting them to death, and ending their financial burden on society.
As the events unfold, it is evident that our justice system is in need of reforms.
_________________________________
Author’s email: whelmayap@yahoo.com
