Resolved: That Death Penalty should be backAffirmative SideFirst
Speaker - Adolfo, Rochelle AngelaSecond Speaker - Campang,
CrysttalineThird Speaker - Dukilman, Saripa IneeScribe - Mercado,
Kaye AlexandhraData/Evidences Gathered Affirmative: Death Penalty
should be backCongested Prison Cells
2010While the National Building Code states that an inmate must
have 4.7 sq.m. as personal space, 76,000 inmates are only given
93,000 sq.m. for their living space, meaning four inmates are
constrained in a single cell.
Conditions in prisons in Metro Manila are worse, with congestion
rates of 310 percent or 18,000 inmates squeezing together in 21,000
sq.m.
The New Bilibid Prison stands as a prime example of these
constraints, as 23,000 have to live in a space built for 8,500
inmates. Link :
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/456457/news/nation/congested-prison-cells-pose-health-risks-to-prisoners#sthash.q5RpwAWe.dpuf
The prisons under the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) are
congested by as much as 249 percent, the agency said in a report to
the House of Representatives.The New Bilibid Prisons is only among
the jails under the BuCor, housing 22,403 inmates while its
capacity is only at 8,460, equivalent to a congestion rate of 164
percent, the BuCor said in its budget report to the House
appropriations committee.The other prisons and penal facilities
under BuCor have the following congestion rates:
Correctional Institution for Women 44 percent congestion rate
(Population, 2,193; Capacity, 1,525)Davao Prison and Penal Farm 249
percent (Population, 6,304; Capacity, 2,091)Sablayan Prison and
Penal Farm 53 percent (Population, 2,123; Capacity, 1,391)San Ramon
Prison and Penal Farm 93 percent (Population, 1,547; Capacity,
802)Leyte Regional Prison 167 percent (Population, 1,561; Capacity,
584)Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm 93 percent (Population, 2,444;
Capacity, 1,265)The BuCor said its over-all inmate count as of
December 31, 2013 was at 38,575, and it has an over-all congestion
rate of 139 percent.The agency said it expects 39,676 inmates in
2014 and 41,413 inmates in 2015.Amid the congestion, the BuCor is
asking a P1.858-billion budget from Congress, 1.4 percent lower
than its 2014 budget at P1.885 billion.
Link:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/634364/bucor-jails-congested-by-as-much-as-249-percent-report#ixzz3nz5ySErs
Based on the report, a total of 17,656 detainees were kept in
only 16,283 square meters of land covering 24 different facilities
in the National Capital Region (NCR) in 2010.This shows that Metro
Manila's jails are congested by 410 percent, which does not comply
to the standards set by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology
(BJMP) manual, the drafting of which was supported by the
International Committee of the Red Cross.According to the state
auditor, for 17,656 inmates, the jail facilities should have a
total ideal cell area of 82,983 square meters.The COA report also
noted that based on the Bureau of Jail Management and Penologys
(BJMP) Monthly Operation Report for the month of December 2010, a
number of 1,220 inmates suffered congestion.Since jail cells have
limited floor space, inmates were not well contained in terms of
proper ventilation, intensity of lighting, personal hygiene and
sanitation, and sleeping needs due to excessive numbers of
occupants.The COA report said inmates in the district, city, and
municipal jails are susceptible to diseases and other
illness.According to Custodial and Inmate Ratio data and Escort and
Inmate Ratio for December 2010, the bureau also needs more manpower
to effectively do its job.The report added, the delay and/or
failure in the implementation of the construction, repair and
renovation of jail facilities due to lack of funds, lack of
financial capacity of the contractor and clustering of different
jails has derailed the bureaus decongestion program.The state
auditor said the construction of the Malabon City Jail is yet to be
completed and though the construction of New Taguig City Jail was
completed on June 15, 2010, it has not been fully paid as of Dec.
31, 2010.Records show that there are about 553 Taguig male inmates
and 49 female inmates who are expected to be transferred in the new
facility.The Malabon City Jail and the New Taguig City Jail have a
cell area of about 1,055 and 900 square meters, respectively, and
had the same been finished on time, it could have lowered the
congestion rate from 410 percent to 355 percent or a decrease by
13.41 percent.It is apparent from the computed decrease in
congestion rate that the BJMP has still to carry out more projects
in order to attain its goal of providing the ideal cell area per
inmate. This, together with the other programs of decongestion that
are in place need to go hand in hand to be able to truly decongest
the jails in the NCR, the COA report said.COA further reported that
in Region II, despite the eminent danger posed by the deteriorated
jail building in Aparri, Cagayan, inmates still occupy the unsafe
vertical structure while management could not immediately undertake
refurbishment of the existing ones or construction of a new one due
to the lack of fund-capital outlay on one hand, and a lot where a
new building could be erected.This condition has not been in
accordance with the rules set on inmates welfare and development as
well as the guiding principles envisioned in the UN Standards in
the Treatment of Inmates, the audit team said.In Region VI and VII,
the COA report said the government stands to lose P35.6 million and
P7.2 million worth of structures respectively due to the
construction of jails and jail facilities on lots which are not
absolutely owned by the government.In Region X, the construction of
three jail buildings valued at P5.4 million were found deficient
and delayed due to lack of financial capacity of the contractors
concerned and their failure to comply with the stipulations of the
contract. Also, no liquidated damages have been imposed on them for
the delay contrary to Section 68 of RA 9184.Of the five projects
undertaken by the BJMP, the COA report said only the construction
of the Valencia City Jail building contracted to Sto. Nio
Construction has been successfully completed on time as well as
construction of Ozamiz City Jail building, Phase II which is doing
fast of its accomplishment.The rest have lapsed already of its due
date. So much so, no liquidated damages have been imposed on them
for the long delay, state auditors said.They stressed that
defaulting contractors should be made to pay liquidated damages for
the delay in their work because the delay was caused by their
negligence for failure to perform and deliver services as
stipulated in the contract.In Region XII, the COA report said the
clustering of different municipal jails into districts within
Regional Office XII resulted in the congestion of inmates.Records
show that in 2000, then BJMP chief Chief Superintendent Arturo Alit
requested for the clustering of municipal jails into district jails
to regulate expenditures on maintenance; other operating needs and
budgetary costs of jail facilities;and reduction in the deployment
of jail personnel.As a result, state auditors said the municipal
jails of Malungon, Maasim and Maitum, all in Sarangani Province;
Tampakan and Sto. Nio, South Cotabato; and Isulan District, Sultan
Kudarat had been vacated for almost 10
years.Link:http://www.philstar.com/headlines/773235/coa-metro-manilas-jails-congested
Prevention
Capital punishment is sometimes morally justified as a means of
preventing the criminal from committing additional crimes. By his
past action the criminal has shown himself to be wicked and
dangerous. Anyone deprived enough to murder or rape once is very
likely to act in socially harmful ways again. The only sure way to
prevent such a person from going on to murder or rape in the future
is to execute him. Imprisonment is a far less effective means of
protecting society from such dangerous criminals. Most prisoners
are freed after a time-often having become most dangerous than when
they entered prison-by parole, pardon or the expiration of their
sentences. In any case, escape is always possible. And even within
the confines of prison, a condemned criminal may murder or rape a
guard, a fellow inmate or a visitor. Executing a condemned criminal
is the only sure way to prevent him from committing additional acts
of crime. Since it is the only right to protect the innocent member
of the society from the most serious crimes, capital punishment is
sometimes right.
Retribution
While the arguments from preventions and deterrence look to the
future and attempt to justify capital punishment by an appeal to
the future harm it will avoid, the argument from retribution looks
to the past and tries to justify capital punishment as the right
response to the wrong that has been done. Granted that society
would be unjustified in taking a person's life in punishment for
any trivial crime, capital punishment is just retribution for the
greatest crimes. If one person has killed another, it is only fair
that he give his own life in return. Kidnapping and rape are also
very wrong that the person who commits these acts deserves the
greatest penalty, death. Justice demands that each individual be
treated by others and by society as he deserves. The person who
does good act ought to be rewarded with good, and the person who
does evil ought to suffer evil-each in proportion to the good or
evil done. The conception of justice implicit in this argument has
traditionally been illustrated by the figure of a blindfold woman
holding a set of balance scales. The woman is blindfolded so that
she cannot recognize her friends and enemies and award the former
more good and the latter more evil than they deserve. The balance
scale symbolizes the element of retribution, the notion that good
or evil are to be awarded in return to the good or evil he has
done. Applied to punishment, this means that the punishment should
fit the crime that the evil inflicted upon the condemned criminal
should be in proportion to the degree of harm he has done. Since
the only penalty bad enough to equal the greatest crime is death,
and since justice requires that the criminal receive just
retribution for his past misdeeds, and since it is right to do what
justice requires, capital punishment or death penalty is sometimes
right.
Self-Defense
Capital punishment is sometimes right because it is sometimes an
exercise of society's right to self-defense. Although it is
generally wrong for one human being to take the life of another,
there are exceptional cases where this is morally justified, A
person has right to kill his attacker if this is necessary to
preserve his life or limb. Society, like the individual, has the
right to preserve itself when its very existence is threatened. Now
a murderer attacks not only his individual victim, but the society
itself. Since society is constituted by aggregate of individuals,
to kill one or more individual is already to begin to exterminate
the society. Moreover, certain laws, such as the law prohibiting
murder, are necessary if any collections of individuals are to live
together in organized society. Hence, to break those laws that
alone make the existence of society possible is to threaten that
society with death. Capital punishment is sometimes right because
it is right for society to exercise its self-defense, and in
extreme cases capital punishment or death penalty does not defend
the society from the attacks of a criminal that threaten its very
existence.Link:http://armageddonviews.weebly.com/blog/death-penalty-moral-and-judicial-debate-under-the-philippine-government
It is the Ultimate WarningNevertheless, if would-be criminals
know undoubtedly that they will be put to death should they murder
with premeditation, very many of them are much less inclined to
commit murder. Whether or not would-be criminals are wary of
committing the worst crime is an importantand probably
impossiblequestion to answer. Murder still happens very frequently.
So some criminals disregard this warning for various reasons. But
the fact does remain that many criminals who ride the fence on
committing murder ultimately decide to spare the victims life.In a
larger sense, capital punishment is the ultimate warning against
all crimes. If the criminal knows that the justice system will not
stop at putting him to death, then the system appears more
draconian to him. Hence, he is less inclined to break and enter. He
may have no intention of killing anyone in the process of robbing
them, but is much more apprehensive about the possibility if he
knows he will be executed. Thus, there is a better chance that he
will not break and enter in the first place.It Provides Closure for
VictimsThere are many victims of a single murder. The criminal gets
caught, tried, and convicted, and it is understood that the
punishment will be severe. But the person he has killed no longer
has a part to play in this. Unfortunately, the murderer has
deprived his family and friends of a loved one. Their grief begins
with the murder. It may not end with the murderers execution, but
the execution does engender a feeling of relief at no longer having
to think about the ordeala feeling which often fails to arise while
the murderer still lives on.A system in place for the purpose of
granting justice cannot do so for the surviving victims, unless the
murderer himself is put to death. It Is Not Always CruelIts true
that cruelty should not be legally toleratedand the five methods
listed above are very efficient in killing the condemned before he
or she is able to feel it. When the condemned is fastened into the
electric chair, one of the conductors is strapped securely around
the head with the bare metal flush against the shaved and wet
scalp. This permits the electricity to be conducted directly into
the brain, shutting it off more quickly than the brain can register
pain.Hanging causes death by snapping the neck of the condemned
around the second vertebraeinstantly shutting off the brains
ability to communicate with the rest of the body, and causing the
heart to stop within seconds.The firing squad involves five men
shooting the heart of the condemned with high-powered rifles. The
heart is completely destroyed and unconsciousness follows within
seconds.The gas chamber is now no longer forced on the condemned,
because it frequently appeared to cause more pain than was expected
or acceptable. The gas is usually hydrogen cyanide, which inhibits
mitochondrial respiration in every cell of the entire body,
theoretically shutting off the brain like a light switch. But it
requires that the condemned breathe
deeply.Link:http://listverse.com/2013/06/01/5-arguments-for-and-against-the-death-penalty/
