Spanish period (1521-1898): 1) The Spanish colonizers brought with them the medieval European penal system, including executions. 2) The death penalty in the early Spanish period took various forms, including burning, beheading, drowning, snowflakes, garotte, hanging, shooting, stabbing and others. 3) The death penalty was enshrined in the Spanish Criminal Codigo in 1848 and imposed only on inhabitants who questioned the established authority of the colonizers. 4) Between 1840 and 1857, there were a total of 1,703 death sentences with 46 actual executions. 5) Filipinos sentenced to death are Magat Salamat (1587); the indigenous clergy of Gomez, Burgos and Zamora, contaminated in 1872; and Dr. José Rizal, executed on December 30, 1896. They are all now anchored as heroes. The Philippines is plagued by violent crime, with weapons readily available and even used in minor conflicts. Supporters of the death penalty fear that the repeal could lead to an increase in crime. The suspension comes days before Arroyo travels to the Vatican for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
Some analysts see the abolition of the death penalty as an attempt to win bishops` support for the president`s plan to move to a parliamentary system of government. Others say Arroyo is trying to dispel church opposition to government efforts to restart mining. “Puno has also been aggressive in holding his judicial colleagues to account. He has already dismissed an appeals judge for gross incompetence and corruption. Further investigations are ongoing and Puno expects more layoffs soon. Surprisingly, however, it`s not easy to find Puno reviews. His fellow judges love him. Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago called Puno the best chief justice she had ever seen. Human rights lawyers have something good to say about the legal system for the first time. Even the military leader called Puno a friend. “Any criticism of Puno is not the usual Filipino style — that this guy is corrupt,” said Raul Pangalangan, former dean of the University of the Philippines School of Law and an admirer of Puno. Instead, most critics focus on Puno`s decisions and left-wing ideology.
His decision to assert indigenous peoples` rights to ancestral claims, for example, was described in a critical blog as “curious” and “idyllic.” ~ Former Secretary of Defense Enrile`s indictment for “rebellion with murder” shows that courts can be independent of the president, but also that powerful people are treated gently. Enrile was arrested on 27 February 1990 for his alleged role in the December 1989 coup attempt, in which more than 100 people died. Because Enrile was powerful, he received an air-conditioned suite in prison, a phone and a computer, and a week later he was released on bail of 100,000 pesos. In June 1990, the Supreme Court declared the charges against him invalid. Another test of the justice system was expected in the 1990s, when criminal and civil charges were to be laid against Imelda Marcos. In 1991, Aquino agreed to allow the former first lady, who could not leave New York without permission from the U.S. Department of Justice, to return to the Philippines to face charges of bribery and corruption. Swiss banking authorities agreed to return about $350 million to the Philippine government only if Marcos was tried and convicted. Marcos did not seem to hesitate to face the Philippine courts.
* A quasi-judicial body may decide on legal issues, but only on the basis of the existing legal basis. [1]: 9 They have no real judicial power. [1]: 7 These include: The Constitution (§ 5) gives the Supreme Court the power to be admitted to engage in lawful activity. The judicial function of admission to the legal profession is exercised by the Supreme Court through an examination board of the Bar Association. The conditions for admission to the Bar are set out in Rule 138, paragraph 2, and Sections 5 and 6 (Academic Requirements). Each applicant for admission must be a Filipino citizen and at least 21 years of age. As far as academic requirements were concerned, he should have taken a four-year preparatory course for law and a four-year law degree. Bar exams are held on the four (4) Sundays in September each year.
Lists of lawyers licensed to practise are included in the Supreme Court`s lists of lawyers and in the Court`s Law List. The online version of the list of laws, available from the Supreme Court and the Supreme Electronic Library, contains the annual lists of other members of the Bar Association. The Philippine legal system is primarily a mixture of civil law and common law regimes. This was a direct result of the successive occupation of the country by Spain and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, respectively. In addition, there is a mix of civil and common law, indigenous customary law and a separate and distinct Muslim legal system for the Muslim minority. (www.aseanlawassociation.org/legal-phil) Some of the secondary sources of legislation are vital legal documents, published by Central Book Supply, containing a compilation of Presidential Decrees (1973). The second edition contains the laws of the Republic. Prof. Sulpicio Guevara has published three books containing the full text of laws or laws, namely: a).
Public Laws Annotated (7 vols.), compilation of all laws from 1901 to 1935, b). Laws of the Commonwealth commented (3vos.). Collection of Laws 1935-1945 (c). The laws of the First Republic of the Philippines (the laws of Malolos) 1898-1899. For Supreme Court decisions, Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA), a secondary source published by Central Book Supply, is more current and popular in the legal community than the Philippine Reports, the primary and official source. Quotations in commentaries or books, treatises, writings, journal articles, memoirs and even court decisions show acceptance of SCRA. The general rule is that in the absence of a primary source, the secondary source can be cited. This was the main reason for the popularity of the SCRA. There has been no primary source for a complete compilation of Supreme Court decisions for over twenty (20) years.
The publication of Philippine reports by the National Printing Office was discontinued in the 1960s. It was not until 1982 that the publication of the Philippine reports was revived by the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Enrique M. Fernando, who took over the publication with special funds in the annual budget of the judiciary. Justice was repeatedly delayed in the late 1980s. Court calendars were clogged. Most of the lower courts lacked stenographers. A former judge reported in 1988 that judges regularly scheduled up to twenty hearings at a time, knowing that lawyers would only show up to request a postponement. A tax case heard in 1988 had been filed 50 years earlier, and a study by the Tax Court showed that even if judges worked 50% faster, it would take 476 years to catch up. Even in the spectacular case of the assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino in 1983, the judicial system did not function quickly and reliably.
It took five years to convict some mid-ranking officers, and although the verdict indirectly alluded to the ultimate responsibility of then-Chief of Staff Fabian Ver, the court never dealt directly with the issue. * The Supreme Court also regulates the practice of law in the Philippines, issues rules for admission to the bar and sanctions lawyers. To be admitted to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, candidates must pass an examination that is held once a year. Professional standards are similar to those in the United States; The Integrated Bar Association code is heavily based on the rules of the American Bar Association. About 30,000 lawyers practised in the Philippines in the mid-1980s, more than a third of them in Manila. Counselling for people in need, although not always available, is provided by State legal aid offices and various private organizations. Many private groups are actively engaged in “social justice” and are staffed by volunteers. * The Marcos years (1965-1986): 1) “Deterrence” became the official justification for the imposition of the death penalty. This is the same justification used for the imposition of martial law in 1972.
(2) The total number of crimes punishable by death has increased to 24. Some crimes punishable by death by laws and decrees during the Marcos period were subversion, possession of firearms, arson, kidnapping, embezzlement, drug offences, illegal possession of firearms, illegal fishing, and cattle rustling.