Many are aware that Philippines Constitution, art III, sec 1 “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law,”. All persons therefore has the right to life in the Philippines and the president who shore to protect and defend the constitution has no constitutional basis to encourage, order, much more execute any person through EJK. All means all: drug addicts, drug pushers, rogue policemen.  

 
It appears that even from the time of the 1935 Constitution to the present, our fundamental law has always insulated all Filippino citizens from “cruel and unusual punishment”. If we follow the spirit of the law even the death penalty, I.e., killing under the legal processes is not an exception to this proscription. This was clarified during the administration of Gloria Arroyo, when death penalty was declared “cruel and unusual punishment” and therefore death penalty was abolished.   

 
Jurisprudence develops and evolves. While, in the past, our courts may impose death penalty towards heinous crimes, this very crime however heinous – to which one is convicted – is not reconcilable to the heinous crime of the deathpenalty that the state imposes.

So the “cruel and unusual punishment” that each Filipino should be free from, is irreconcilable to the possibility of inflicting upon him or her, the most cruel punishment possible which is the calculated, planned and deliberate deprivation of life imposed in death penalty!

The Philippines is in fact under a legal obligation not to restore the death penalty. This is an obligation in law that it took upon itself when our government ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Significantly, Article I of the Protocol cannot be clearer about our legal obligations: that “each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction.”
And there is nothing in the Protocol that would allow the Philippines to denounce the international agreement. In fact, it would not be in our best interests to dishonor international agreements and protocols; as we also take refuge and seek legal relief under the norms of international law and international agreements.

Likewise, on December 21, 2010, the General Assembly of the United Nations, in which the Philippines is a member, adopted Resolution No. 65-206. In part, it reads:
Mindful that any miscarriage or failure of justice in the implementation of the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable.  Convinced that a moratorium on the use of the death penalty contributes to respect for human dignity and to the enhancement and progressive development of human rights and; considering that there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty, (since there are effective means of rehabilitation) the United Nations calls on these member states to “establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty,” in case it has not been abolished; and it therefore “calls upon States which have abolished the death penalty not to reintroduce it.”  

 
Humanity and humaneness of civil society is growing in this world thirsting for true peace. I may even opine that death penalty is a step backward from a civilized society since it is in fact a legalized vengeance, a step backwards tantamount to “lex talionis”.  

  
This vengeance for blood seems to gain momentum now, in as much as the rogue and corrupt policemen to are being targeted by the present administration in the flawed and futile campaign against drugs. In as much are the drug addicts where just killed without the due process of the law, this thirst for blood of corrupt Filipino policemen for vengeance is a dangerous trend towards an ever increased disrespect for human life. We sympathize and we are saddened by the seven thousands  already killed. On the other hand drawing the same Filipino blood from the rogue policemen is likewise equally disturbing. Would the Filipinos who cherish and love life, expect another wave of thousand policemen killed with the sign; “Wag tularan: Kutong pulls ako,” on his warm cadaver? We have already enough Filipino blood flooding our streets. The thirst for bloody revenge makes all “vampires.” Or as Gandhi said: “An eye for an eye makes the world blind.”  You cannot make a wrong right with another wrong.  

 
Saint Pope John Paul II increasingly voiced his stance against the death penalty. In Evangelium vitae, his famous testament to the value of human life, he pointed out that cases warranting the death penalty now are “very rare if not practically nonexistent” (Evangelium Vitae, no. 56). The right to life is absolute and it belongs to all: drug addicts, drug pushers, corrupt policemen.

During a mass in St Louis, USA, he also made the following appeal: “The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life…A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals [policemen or not] the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary” (Pope John Paul II, Jan 27, 1999.)

Pope Francis, together with the worldwide Bishops, stated emphatically that the Church “firmly rejects the death penalty” (see Amoris Laetitia, no. 83). This is the definitive Catholic Church teaching for the third millennium. Pope Francis also addressed the Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty on June 23, 2016 in the following words:

“It is an offense to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person. It likewise contradicts God’s plan for individuals and society, and his merciful justice. Nor is it consonant with any just purpose of punishment…It must not be forgotten that the inviolable and God-given right to life also belongs to the criminal.” Death penalty and EJK has not space in God’s plan.

As a civilized nation, it is time then to rid ourselves of the obsolescent and immature notion that a person who commits a heinous wrong, whether one is in uniform or not, “forfeits his right to life”. No one can forfeit the right to life juridically or extrajudicially because life is at the free disposal of none, not even of the State! Even to the President with respect to the drug addicts, drug pushers, and the rogue members of PNP. Nobody but God, the author of life has the only lordship over life and death.