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Tag Archives: Philippine presidents

Aug 13, 2019

Of Presidents and the Penalty of Death

(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.

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Of Presidents and the Penalty of Death
Aug 12, 2019

Of Presidents and the Penalty of Death

(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.”

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Of Presidents and the Penalty of Death