CIRCULAR
NO. 9
[1987]
TO: THE
PRESIDING JUSTICES/JUDGES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS, SANDIGANBAYAN, COURT
OF TAX APPEALS, REGIONAL TRIAL COURTS, METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURTS,
MUNICIPAL
TRIAL COURTS IN CITIES, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURTS, MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT TRIAL
COURTS, SHARI'A DISTRICT COURTS AND SHARI'A CIRCUIT COURTS
SUBJECT: NON-IMPOSITION
OF THE DEATH PENALTY.
Section 19
(1),
Article III of the 1987 Constitution provides as follows:
"x
x x Neither shall death penalty be imposed unless, for
compelling
reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provides for
it.
Any death penalty already imposed shall be reduced to reclusion
perpetua."
In line with
said Article,
the Court En Banc issued a Resolution dated April 30, 1987 in
Administrative
Matter No. 87-5-3173-0, relative to pending cases before the Court.
Said
Resolution is quoted hereunder for your information:
"Administrative
Matter No. 87-5-3173-0, Re: Abolition of Death Penalty. - The
Court
took note of the recent decision at the Cabinet Meeting of April 8,
1987
whereby:
'1. The
President
and the Cabinet agreed to refer the matter of defining "heinous
crimes"
to Congress;
'2. The
President
agreed to issue a statement officially commuting to life imprisonment
the
sentence of those already imposed with death penalty, in accordance
with
the letter and spirit of the 1987 Constitution; and
'3. The
President
instructed the Secretary of Justice to prepare the necessary documents
implementing this pronouncement in consonance with the provision of
Section
19 (1), Article III of the Constitution."[1]
The Court,
since the
ratification of the 1987 Constitution, has likewise in its automatic
review
of all death sentences imposed by the trial courts, reduced the death
penalty
to reclusion perpetua even in those cases where it found the
death
sentence to have been properly imposed in accordance with the law then
in force and the evidence of record.
Considering that
by virtue of the foregoing, the death penalty is no longer imposable
and
hence there is no longer any need for automatic review of the death
penalty
imposed in those cases presently under automatic review by the Court,[2]
the Court resolved [1] that notices be given to all the accused in the
pending cases before the Court wherein the death penalty has been
imposed,
advising said accused that the death penalty imposed upon them has been
officially commuted to reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment) by
virtue of the abolition of the death penalty under the 1987
Constitution
and that, with such abolition of the death penalty, their cases are no
longer subject to automatic review by this Court; and [2] to grant said
accused a period of thirty (30) days from notice, within which to file
a written statement, personally signed by them with the assistance of
their
counsel, stating whether or not they wish to continue with their said
cases
as an appealed case:
(a) If
they file
such statement that they wish to continue with this Court's reviewing
their
conviction as an appealed case, the Court will do so, rendering a
judgment
of affirmance, modification of the penalty, or reversal as may be
warranted
by the evidence and applicable law; and
(b) If they
file a statement
that they are satisfied with the judgment of the trial court whose
death
penalty has now been commuted to reclusion perpetua, or if they
fail to file any statement within the 30-day period herein given, the
Court
will dismiss the case and remand the same to the trial Court for
execution
of judgment."
In consonance
with the
above-quoted Article of the Constitution and the Court's above-quoted
Resolution,
the death penalty is no longer imposable now. All judges are,
therefore,
hereby enjoined, until such time as Congress provides by law for the
definition
of "heinous crimes" wherein the death penalty may be imposed,
to
impose only the penalty of reclusion perpetua even in those
cases
wherein the Revised Penal Code or other special laws provide for
imposition
of the death penalty under the circumstances therein defined, since the
Constitution has abolished such penalty for now.
May 20, 1987.
[Sgd.]
CLAUDIO
TEEHANKEE
Chief
Justice
_________________________
Endnotes:
The
pertinent provision reads:
"x
x x Neither shall death penalty be imposed unless, for compeling
reasons
involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provide for it.
Any death penalty already imposed shall be reduced to reclusion
perpetua."
2
As per the record submitted by the Clerk of Court, the cases pending
before
the Court wherein the death penalty has been imposed by the trial
courts
total 258 as of March 31, 1987, broken down as follows:
| Submitted
for decision
............................................................………… |
37 |
| Complete
briefs already filed but pending calendaring for deliberation...…. |
117 |
| Pending
filing for briefs
............................................................………. |
104 |
| Total
........................................................................................……… |
2582 |
|
