Anti-Death Penalty Law
Republic Act No. 9346, enacted on June 24, 2006, prohibits the imposition of the death penalty in the Philippines, effectively repealing previous laws that allowed for capital punishment. Instead, it mandates that offenders be sentenced to either reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, depending on the specific law violated. Individuals sentenced to reclusion perpetua will not be eligible for parole. Additionally, the Board of Pardons and Parole is required to publish the names of those serving such sentences who are under consideration for commutation or pardon, while maintaining the President's power to grant executive clemency. The law took effect immediately upon publication.
June 24, 2006
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9346
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE IMPOSITION OF DEATH PENALTY IN THE PHILIPPINES
SECTION 1. The imposition of the penalty of death is hereby prohibited. Accordingly, Republic Act No. Eight Thousand One Hundred Seventy-Seven (R.A. No. 8177), otherwise known as the Act Designating Death by Lethal Injection is hereby repealed, Republic Act No. Seven Thousand Six Hundred Fifty-Nine (R.A. No. 7659), otherwise known as the Death Penalty Law, and all other laws, executive orders and decrees, insofar as they impose the death penalty are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.
SECTION 2. In lieu of the death penalty, the following shall be imposed:
(a) the penalty of reclusion perpetua, when the law violated makes use of the nomenclature of the penalties of the Revised Penal Code; or
(b) the penalty of life imprisonment, when the law violated does not make use of the nomenclature of the penalties of the Revised Penal Code.
SECTION 3. Persons convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua, or whose sentences will be reduced to reclusion perpetua, by reason of this Act, shall not be eligible for parole under Act No. 4103, otherwise known as the Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended.
SECTION 4. The Board of Pardons and Parole shall cause the publication at least once a week fo three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation of the names of persons convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment by reason of this Act who are being considered or recommended 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 Constitution.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect immediately after its publication in two national newspapers of general circulation.
Approved: June 24, 2006
Published in The Manila Times on June 29, 2006.