Losing a loved one makes us reflect on what death has next. We won’t know what could possibly happen to our family and friends, that we have to look over each other’s shoulders. We live in constant anxiety, worrying if we will ever make it back home.

The death of a single father in Caloocan City sent ripples and chills through the community. All of his hard work was ended by a man who seeks forgiveness for his crime. It is even more heartbreaking that his son will not see his father as he grows up. The thought of this tragedy makes me wonder how crime seems normal for this nation. We are left to fear for our lives while criminals get to roam freely.

Browsing through the comments, a recurring penalty that netizens demand is death. Not rehabilitation, not life imprisonment. Death.

Death Penalty, also known as capital punishment, was imposed during former President Fidel Ramos’ term to address the rising crime rate back in 1993. This penalty was imposed upon a criminal as the highest form of punishment. In 2006, this was abolished by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The maximum punishment was reduced to life imprisonment, which is the highest form of punishment today.

However, it makes me wonder if bringing back the death penalty is the absolute solution to the nation’s crime rate. Many agencies and organizations, such as Amnesty International, as well as the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) oppose the re-implementation of capital punishment. Execution does not give justice, but creates the same ripples for other grieving families. The death penalty multiplies tragedies.

The 1987 Constitution laid down in Article III, Section 1, that no individual is deprived of their life, liberty, or property. In the logic of human rights, it is synonymous with our supreme law that the right to life prevails over “an eye for an eye.” If we kill each other, it doesn’t prove our point about the death penalty being implemented. It just numbs it.

We pray and seek faith for the victims of today’s crimes. But look at things this way. Death doesn’t pick its next victim: man does. Whether one carries with them the lives they ended, or the people of the Philippines collectively agree to a heinous man’s death, we are death ourselves. We kill and seek justice for what we see as right and prudent. We kill the hospitality. We kill to prove a point.

The Frontman