VERA FILES FACT CHECK: School textbooks enshrine Jose Rizal as national hero needs context
Contrary to this popular belief, the NCCA says the country has no “official” national hero.
Contrary to this popular belief, the NCCA says the country has no “official” national hero.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte contradicted his past pronouncements when he said he has no wealthy friends while dismissing allegations that he ordered the six-month closure and rehabilitation of Boracay Island for their benefit.
(Second of two parts)
Since the Philippines regained its independence on July 4, 1946, those who were elected president accepted the death penalty as a matter of course. Except for Manuel Acuña Roxas, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, and Ramos, all the other presidents reckoned with the fate of convicts up for execution. The telephone in the execution chamber supposedly with a direct line to Malacañang came to symbolize the looming power of the president over a convict’s life. The president at the very last minute could order a reprieve or commute a sentence.
(First of two parts)
A few minutes into his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 22, 2019, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte asked Congress “to reinstate the death penalty for heinous crimes related to drugs, as well as plunder.” It was the second SONA in which Duterte asked Congress to reimpose capital punishment. In 2017, he asked Congress “to act on all pending legislations to reimpose the death penalty on heinous crimes.” He linked then the restoration of the death penalty to his effort “to completely eradicate the menace of illegal drugs, criminality and corruption.”
Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo and 37 others accused in the sedition complaint filed by the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) trooped in front of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Aug. 9 to call for the dropping of the case which they said is “politically motivated.”
This story is misleading. Don’t believe it.
The history of the death penalty in the Philippines in the 20th century is the history of the state’s pursuit to clinically execute convicts. The political leaders may all have wanted to act tough on criminals, yet, in the execution chamber, the functionaries of the state went to great lengths to relieve or mask the pain for the convict in the course of an execution. They did not always succeed.
A week after assuming office, neophyte senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa proposed the reinstatement of the death penalty through Senate Bills (SB) 207 and 226, respectively. Two incumbent senators refiled what they had proposed before: Ping Lacson sent in SB 27, Manny Pacquiao SB 189.
President Rodrigo Duterte, expressing grave disappointment that corruption and the drug problem continue despite the government’s relentless campaigns to stop them, has asked the public’s help by being more assertive in fighting these crimes.
Rain didn’t stop thousands from lambasting the Duterte government’s disregard of human rights in its war against drugs and its docility to China.