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Philippine crime rate up by 46%

Records from the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM)
showed that theft, car theft, physical injuries and rape were among the crimes that had a
huge increase.
MANILA, Philippines - While the Philippine National Police (PNP) claimed a 60 percent
decrease in crimes in Metro Manila, the number of crimes committed nationwide increased
by about 46 percent during the first six months of the year as compared to the same period
last year.
Records from the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM)
showed that theft, car theft, physical injuries and rape were among the crimes that had a
huge increase.
The PNP said 885,445 crimes were reported from January to June, compared to 603,085
cases during the same period last year.
There were 352,321 index crimes for the first six months of the year, which is 37.3 percent
more than the 256,592 cases reported in the same period last year.
Index crimes include murder, homicide, rape, robbery and theft while non-index crimes
include estafa, prostitution, kidnapping and car theft.
PNP-DIDM records indicated that from 86,451 thefts recorded in the first six months of 2014,
this ballooned to 105,229 cases this year while cases of car theft jumped to 10,039 from
5,599 last year.
Murders increased from 5,004 cases to 7,245 cases this year while homicides were up to
6,607 from 4,091 last year.
Cases of physical injury increased to 182,886 from 122,084 last year while rapes increased
to 8,288 this year from 5,069 last year.
The PNP said 172,959 index crimes were cleared settled between the complainant and
the respondent and 100,938 last year.
Index crimes solved meaning charges were filed in court were reported at 134,074
cases this year compared to 74,172 last year.
The PNP earlier announced that crime rate in Metro Manila was reduced by 60 to 70 percent
due to the systematic implementation of Oplan Lambat-Sibat, an anti-crime drive supervised
by Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II.
Roxas and the PNP announced a plan to implement Oplan Lambat-Sibat in Central Luzon and
Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon).

Under Oplan Lambat-Sibat, police officers set up surprise checkpoints, raid or visit the
homes of delinquent gun owners, intensify intelligence-gathering and operations against
organized crime groups and aggressively pursue fugitives.
The PNP also puts pressure on officials who head city and municipal police forces as well as
station and precinct commanders to produce results in the fight against crime.

Death Penalty in the Philippines


Santos Lamban, PAHRA
The Philippines was thefirstAsian country that abolished the death penalty
in1987.But six yearsafter it has reimposed the death penalty, the Philippines has overtaken its
Asian neighbors and hasthe most number of death convicts.Within less than a year,
however, the military establishment was lobbying for its reimposition as ameans to
combat the "intensifying" offensives of the CPP/NPA guerrillas. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos,
thenChief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and later elected President of the
Philippines in 1992,was among those who were strongly calling for
the reintroduction of the death penalty againstrebellion, murder and drug
trafficking.In mid 1987, a bill to reinstate the death penalty was submitted to
Congress. Military pressure wasvery much evident in the preamble which cited the
pestering insurgency as well asthe recommendations of the police and the military
as compelling reasons for the reimposition ofthe death penalty. The bill cited recent
right wing coup attempts as an example of the alarmingdeterioration of peace and order
and argued for the death penalty both as an effective deterrentagainst heinous crimes and as a
matter of simple retributive justice .When Ramos was elected as President in 1992, he declared
that the reimposition of the deathpenalty would be one of his priorities. Political offenses
such as rebellion were dropped from thebill. However, the list of crimes was
expanded to include economic offenses such as smuggling andbribery.In
December 1993, RA 7659
restoring the death penalty was signed into law. The law makersargued the
deteriorating crime situation was a compeling reason for its reimposition. The
mainreason given was that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime. In 1996, RA
8177 was approved,stipulating lethal injection as the method of execution.
Six years after
Last February 5, 1999, Leo Echegaray, a house painter, was executed for repeatedly
raping hisstepdaughter. He was the first convict to be executed since the reimposition of death penalty in1995.His execution sparked once again a heated
debate between the anti and the pro-death penaltyforces in the Philippines with a
huge majority of people calling for the execution of Echegaray. Thatthere was a strong
clamor for the imposition of the death penalty should be viewed from the pointof view of a
citizen who is desperately seeking ways to stop criminality.The Estrada
administration peddled the death penalty as the antidote to crime. The reasoning
wasthat if the criminals will be afraid to commit crimes if they see that the

government is determinedto execute them. Oppositors maintained that the death


penalty is not a deterrent and that therehave been studies already debunking the
deterrence theory. Legislators and politicians refused toheed the recommendation of the
Supreme Court for Congress to review the death penalty riding onthe popularity of the prodeath penalty sentiment

Death Penalty is a capital punishment. It is used today and was used during ancient
times to punish people with a variety of offenses. The bible also advocate death for
murder and other crimes such as kidnapping and stealing. Here in the Philippines,
we used to have Death Penalty, but I believe this capital punishment should be
issued in all states for those people who commit great crimes. Death Penalty should
be issued because death is being feared, it gives Justice, it is a fact that there's no
proof of an innocent being executed and there are some quotations from the bible
that seem to respond this.
Most people have a natural fear of death and I, myself, am afraid of it. Just think
about it; if you die, you'll leave this world and never com back. If we have Death
Penalty and a murderer dies instantly, the homicide rate would decrease because
no one likes to die. Death Penalty is important because it could save the lives of
thousands of potential victims who are at stake.
Another one is that Death Penalty shows justice. There will be justice when we
punish the guilty. It show equality. On t.v., I have seen people being interviewed
because one or some of their relatives died. They are crying for help and wanting
justice for the death of their loved ones. I know for sure that justice can only be the
solution for them to be relieved. A serious crime must have serious penalty and that
is death. Justice can dignify a person.
People who oppose death penalty claim that in the implementation of this capital
punishment, innocent men are wrongly executed. According to "ProDeathPenalty" ,
there has never been any proof of it. Moreover, our criminal justice system takes
extra precautions to be sure the innocent are protected. What's the use of the
judges who were trained in this field? They also want to make sure who is guilty and
not.
Death Penalty is like "an eye for an eye". Death Penalty helps curtail future
murderers and because of this we can save more lives. If Death Penalty exists,

repeat murderers are eliminated and future murders are deterred. Just imagine it;
we will live in a just society. If death Penalty wouldn't be issued now, then when?
When there are more criminals lurking? It is said that every minute, there is a
chance that an innocent man could get murdered. We must put a stop to it.
Reference:
"Pro-DeathPenalty" from http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/OrnellasPaper.htm
Reflection:
This is also an educational essay. At first, I really don't have an idea whether death
penalty is legal or not here in the Philippines. I've asked different people and they
answered me differently. Some would say yes and others no. But I stick on the idea
that we used to have this capital punishment. I'm pro death penalty because it will
scare away murderers. And I really wonder why the Philippines let go of this
punishment. I hope this essay would tell people why we need death penalty back.

Death Penalty in the Philippines was first imposed during the Spanish period and followed during the
American period. During the Marcos regime, Deterrence became the justification of death penalty
which was imposed to control rebellion and social conflict. While during Corazon Aquino years, the
holistic approach was done through the abolition of death penalty under the 1987 Constitution. But due to
increase of crimes during the Fidel Ramos administration, the death penalty was re-imposed by virtue of
Republic Act No. 7659. But throughout the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the death penalty
was abolished. [1]
Capital punishment is not just an act, but a legalized process of physical and psychological terror that
culminates in people being killed by the state. It must be brought to an end, said Irene Khan, Secretary
General of Amnesty International.[2]
Is Death Penalty rehabilitates?
Criminal rehabilitation works to reduce criminal recidivism. In fact, criminal rehabilitation is a costefficient form of crime prevention. [3]
One factor to rehabilitate criminals is through education. Education helps to rehabilitate criminal in two
different levels. One is through macro level, educating the people in the society to properly follow the
laws and to lessen the discrimination against pardoned criminals. And another one is educating the
prisoners through basic criminal rehabilitation programs to improve their level of literacy. [3]
According to Machiavellis theory, inflicting fear to people is a more effective way to promote order in a
society. And fear will be inflicted through punishment. Trying to associate to John Lockes theory that
rehabilitation is an effective remedy in a society, inflicting fear will be more effective if the purpose is to
rehabilitate but not to punish. Theoretically, punishment supposedly is for reformation and rehabilitation

and not to inflict fear alone. But in Philippine society, punishment should not be the term to describe the
criminal penalties rather rehabilitation and reformation alone.
Rehabilitation has been promoted and advocated since then. But dissecting mans rationality with regard
to punishment, every individual is more after than survival and self-preservation in any means.
Punishment is not necessarily an effective way to prevent someone to commit crime and to stop seeking
for survival. In Philippine situation, the root cause on why people commit crimes and being convicted is
because of poverty. They are not afraid to be killed and to be caught but they are more afraid to die
because of starvation and poverty. Poverty per se is not the only root cause of crime but it is the major
factor that affects criminal acts according to different survey. According to the study conducted by Celia
V. Sanidad-Leones, Crime rate appears to be notably higher in poorer neighborhoods and in areas with
high population density, deteriorated living conditions, and unemployment problems. People resort to
crimes on the street to alleviate or escape from their miseries and frustrations or to answer a need.
Illustrative examples are parents who sell their children to pedophiles or a father who resorts to robbery
just so he could buy medicine for his sick son. [4]
Imposing death sentence to a criminal is killing right to live and to be rehabilitated. And a rehabilitated
criminal is morally important contribution to society.
Is crime can be deterred or not?
Death Penalty cannot be used as deterrence because there are three different motivations/reasons for
people committing a crime; Profit, Passion, and Compulsion. The people who it for profit does it
rationally because they are always convinced that they will not be caught (drug dealers, professional
killers). Passion crimes cannot be deterred because if you hate someone so bad that it drives you to
commit a crime that would harm another, no punishment can ever deter you. Crimes by compulsion is the
worst of the three, because these are the crimes that cannot be deterred at all because they are done by
compulsion (serial killers often tried to hide their crimes that suggests that they knew the consequences of
their actions which meant they do not fear the system). No matter how many criminals are put to death,
nothing or no one can stop violent crimes from being committed.
Conclusion
After I presented my argument, I still strongly disagree to death penalty wherein capital punishment is not
the solution to deter the crime nor to reform and to rehabilitate.
According to Director Arturo Cacdac Jr., chief of the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective
Management (DIDM) last 2011, He said that in 2009, the index crimes or cases categorized as crimes
against persons including murder, homicide, physical injury and rape reached 301,703. However, in 2010,
there were only 202,328 cases, down by roughly 32 percent.
Cacdac said that while they consider as good news the decrease in crime volume, the PNP leadership
vows to maintain its crime prevention programs and ensure high crime solution efficiency nationwide.
[5] Evidently, in year 2009-2011 there was no death penalty and still crime rate decreased, therefore as

long as the Philippines securities are stable, decreasing of crime rate is possible and theres no need to
impose capital punishment for preventing crimes.
Globally, according to Gabon as of February 14 2011, 58 countries (29%) still implementing death
penalty in law and practice while 98 (50%) have abolished it. And 8 (4%) retain it for crimes committed
in exceptional circumstances (such as in time of war), 33 (17%) permit its use for ordinary crimes, but
have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not
carrying out executions, or it is under a moratorium. [6]
What we need is reformation of the Philippines criminal justice system and better social security.

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