REPUBLIC ACT

NO. 9346:

An Act Prohibiting the

Imposition of Death
Penalty in the
Philippines

Death Penalty: Definition

legalinflictionof

death as a penalty
for violating criminal law

Methods
The

Philippines was the only country aside

from the United States that used the
electric chair, due to its being introduced
during the US colonial period. Until its
first abolition in 1987, the country reverted
to using death by firing squad.

After

re-introduction of the death penalty

in 1993, the country switched to
lethal injection as its sole method of
execution.

Brief History
The

imposition of the death penalty in the

country has had a repressive history. For the
most part (from 1848 to 1987), it was used to
curtail the liberties, freedoms and rights of the
Filipino people. In recent history, however, the
death penalty was reimposed as a knee-jerk
response to what has largely been seen as
rising criminality in the country. The
following, with help from the Mamamayang
Tutol sa Bitay-Movement for Restorative
Justice, traces the death penaltys historical
roots and context in Philippine society:

Spanish Period (1521-1898)

Spanish

colonizers brought with them medieval Europes

penal system, including executions.
Capital punishment during the early Spanish Period took
various forms including burning, decapitation, drowning,
flaying, garrote, hanging, shooting, stabbing and others.
Capital punishment was enshrined in the 1848 Spanish
Codigo Penal and was only imposed on locals who challenged
the established authority of the colonizers.
Between 1840-1857, recorded death sentences totaled 1,703
with 46 actual executions.
Filipinos who were meted the death penalty include Magat
Salamat (1587); the native clergies Gomez, Burgos and
Zamora who were garroted in 1872; and Dr. Jose Rizal,
executed on December 30, 1896. All of them are now
enshrined as heroes.

American Period (1898-1934)

The

American colonizers, adopting most of the provisions under the

Codigo Penal of 1848, retain the death penalty.
1926, the use of Electric Chair was introduced by the United States
Trivia: Only two countries used the Electric Chair as a mode of
execution
The Codigo Penal was revised in 1932. Treason, parricide, piracy,
kidnapping, murder, rape, and robbery with homicide were
considered capital offenses and warranted the death penalty.
The Sedition Law (1901); Brigandage Act (1902); Reconcentration
Act (1903); and Flag Law (1907) were enacted to sanction the use of
force, including death, against all nationalist Filipinos.
Macario Sakay was one of those sentenced to die for leading a
resistance group. He was sentenced to die by public hanging.
The capital punishment continued to be an integral part of the
pacification process of the country, to suppress any resistance to
American authority.

Japanese Occupation (1941-1945)

There

are no recorded or
documented cases of executions
through the death penalty during
this period simply because
extrajudicial executions were widely
practiced as part of the pacification
of the country.

Post-World War II
Espionage

is added to the list of capital offenses.

The Anti-Subversion Law called for the death
penalty for all Communist leaders. However, no
executions were recorded for any captured
communist leader.
For the period of 1946-1965, 35 people were
executed for offenses that the Supreme Court
labeled as crimes of senseless depravity or
extreme criminal perversity.
1961, Marcial Baby Ama, the youngest Filipino
convict to be sentenced with death penalty
through electrocution

The Marcos Years (1965-1986)

Deterrence

became the official justification for the imposition of the death penalty.
This is the same justification used for the declaration of Martial Law in 1972.
The number of capital crimes increased to a total of 24. Some crimes which were
made punishable by death through laws and decrees during the Marcos period were
subversion, possession of firearms, arson, hijacking, embezzlement, drug-related
offenses, unlawful possession of firearms, illegal fishing and cattle rustling.
Jaime Jose, Basilio Pineda, and Edgardo Aquino were executed for the gang rape of
movie star Maggie dela Riva in 1972. Despite prohibitions against public executions,
the execution of the three was done in full view of the public.
Nineteen executions took place during the Pre-Martial Law period. Twelve were
executed during Martial Law.
The electric chair was used until 1976 until it was replaced by execution by firing
squad
The last judicial execution under the Marcos years was in October 1976 when
Marcelo San Jose was executed by electrocution.
Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was sentenced to die by firing squad for charges of
murder, subversion and illegal possession of firearm in 1977.
Similar to the reasons for the imposition of capital punishment during the Colonial
Periods, the death penalty during the Marcos Regime was imposed to quell rebellion
and social unrest.

President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (1986-1992)

The

Death Penalty was abolished

under the 1987 Constitution.
The Philippines became the first Asian
country to abolish the death penalty for
all crimes.
All death sentences were reduced to
reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.
In 1988, the military started lobbying for
the imposition of the death penalty for
crimes committed by the CPP-NPA.

President Fidel Valdez Ramos (1993-1998)

A

series of high profile crimes during this period,

including the murder of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan
Gomez, created public impression that heinous crimes
were on the rise.
The Ramos administration reimposed the death
penalty by virtue of Republic Act No. 7659 in
December 1993 to address the rising criminality and
incidence of heinous crimes.
The Death Penalty Law lists a total of 46 crimes
punishable by death; 25 of these are death mandatory
while 21 are death eligible.
Republic Act No. 8177 mandates that a death
sentence shall be carried out through lethal injection.

President Joseph Ejercito Estrada (1998-2001)

Leo

Echegaray was executed in February 1999

and was followed by six other executions for
various heinous crimes.
In 1999, the bumper year for executions, the
national crime volume, instead of abating,
ironically increased by 15.3 percent or a total of
82,538 (from 71,527 crimes in the previous
year).
Estrada issued a de facto moratorium on
executions in the face of church-led campaigns
to abolish the death penalty and in observance
of the Jubilee Year.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001present)

Arroyo

publicly stated that she is not in favor of executions.

Due to the rise in crimes related to drugs and kidnappings that targeted
the Filipino-Chinese community, she announced that she would resume
executions to sow fear into the hearts of criminals.
Arroyo lifted the de facto moratorium issued by Estrada on December 5,
2003.
Even as executions were set to resume on January 2004, this did not push
through by virtue of a Supreme Court decision to reopen the LaraLicayan case.
Since

then, the administration has been issuing reprieves on scheduled

executions without actually issuing a moratorium.
With the amendment of Republic Act No. 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997)
and Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs act of
2002), there are now 52 capital offenses, 30 of which are death mandatory
and 22 are death eligible.
June 24, 2006, PGMA signed RA 9346, entitled An Act Prohibiting the
Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines

RA 9346

Provisions
Section

1:
The law prohibits the imposition of
death penalty
RA 8177 Act Designating Death by
Lethal Injection; RA 7659 Death
Penalty Law; all other laws,
executive orders and decrees are
repealed or amended accordingly

Section

2:
Imposition of death penalty was commuted
to Reclusion Perpetua in violations
involving the use and nomenclature of the
Revised Penal Code
Imposition of death penalty was commuted
to Life Imprisonment in violations not
involving the use and nomenclature of the
Revised Penal Code, in other words, it
pertains to violations involving Special
Penal Laws

Section

3:
Person convicted of offenses
punished withreclusion perpetua, or
whose sentences will be reduced to
reclusion perpetua, by reason of this
Act, shall not be eligible for parole
under Act No. 4180 (Indeterminate
Sentence Law)

Section

4:
The Board of Pardons and Parole shall cause
the publication at least one a week for three
consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation of the names of persons convicted of
offenses punished withreclusion perpetua or
life imprisonment by reason of this Act who are
being considered or recommend for
commutation or pardon; Provided, however,
That nothing herein shall limit the power of the
President to grant executive clemency under
Section 19, Article VII of the Constitutions.

Section

5:
This Act shall take effect immediately
after its publication in two national
newspapers of general circulation.
R.A. No. 9346 was published in Malaya
and Manila Times, two national
newspapers of general circulation on
29 June 2006. Accordingly, R.A. No.
9346 took effect on 30 June 2006.

CASES

People vs Quiachon (GR 170263)

It

involves an accused who raped his

8-year old daughter, a deaf-mute.
Under Art. 266-B of the RPC, the
imposable penalty should have been
death.
With the prohibition of Death
Penalty, the penalty was commuted
to Reclusion Perpetua without
possibility of parole under ISLAW

People vs Santos (GR 172322)

It

involves the rape of a 5-year old child.

Accused was meted the penalty of death
because rape committed against a child
below seven years old is a dastardly and
repulsive crime which merits no less than
the imposition of capital punishment
under Art. 266-B of the RPC
The sentence was commuted to Reclusion
Perpetua, without possibility of parole.

People vs Salome (GR 169077)

It

involves the rape of a 13-year

old girl, who got pregnant,
committed in the dwelling and
with the aid of a bladed weapon.
Imposable penalty should have
been death, but it was commuted
to Reclusion Perpetua, by virtue
of RA 9346, without possibility of
parole.

People vs Tubongbanua (GR 171271)

It

involves the murder of a victim who

suffered 18 stab wounds which were all
directed to her chest, heart and lungs.
Considering the existence of qualifying
circumstance of evident premeditation and
the aggravating circumstances of dwelling,
and taking advantage of superior strength
without any mitigating circumstance.
Proper imposable penalty would have been
death, but it was commuted to Reclusion
Perpetua without possibility of parole.

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Death by Hanging