Philippines
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The leader of Crusade Against Violence, Carina Agarao,...
- News items in the archive
- 556
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Philippines is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 556 news items on Philippines, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- OCTOBER 1, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Disgraced former Philippine President Joseph Estrada...
Disgraced former Philippine President Joseph Estrada made a late appearance on the first day of his trial on the charge of economic plunder after saying he would not show up
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Senator Juan Flavier strongly suggested that law enforcers...
Senator Juan Flavier strongly suggested that law enforcers who fail to testify in drug-related cases should share the same death penalty imposed on drug pushers
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said her campaign...
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said her campaign against drug trafficking was a fight to the finish and warned the Philippines could become "Asia's Colombia" if the drug menace was not promptly curbed
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The murder toll continues to fall in the Philippines,...
The murder toll continues to fall in the Philippines, with an average of eight people slain every day in the first half of the year
- AUGUST 15, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Senator Rodolfo Biazon proposed amending the Death...
Senator Rodolfo Biazon proposed amending the Death Penalty Law to make the selling of firearms and other weapons to enemies of the state by members of the military and police a crime punishable by death through firing squad
- AUGUST 10, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Senator Rodolfo Biazon declared on Philippines GMA...
Senator Rodolfo Biazon declared on Philippines GMA television that he wanted to see the death penalty for members of the military found guilty of conniving with the Abu Sayyaf
- JULY 15, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The military and the police have arrested 100 suspected...
The military and the police have arrested 100 suspected Abu Sayyaf members and sympathisers in southern Philippines after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced a major crackdown to end a prolonged hostage crisis, a senior official said
- JULY 10, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Former Philippines president Joseph Estrada made history...
Former Philippines president Joseph Estrada made history as the first Philippine ex-president to be officially accused of having used his position to illegally enrich himself
- JULY 10, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
In order to control the proliferation of squatters...
In order to control the proliferation of squatters in urban areas, Quezon City Rep
- JULY 3, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
More than 400 bills were filed at the House of Representatives...
More than 400 bills were filed at the House of Representatives on the first working day of the 12th Congress, ranging from proposed constitutional amendments to punishing kidnappers by amputating their legs
- MAY 19, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Senatorial candidate Santanina Rasul proposed legislation...
Senatorial candidate Santanina Rasul proposed legislation that would make election fraud a heinous crime that would make offenders face either a prison term or the execution chamber
- APRIL 27, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets...
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to demonstrate for the release of ex President Joseph Estrada, imprisoned due to a corruption charge accusing him of stealing from the state whilst he was in charge
- APRIL 26, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The Free Legal Assistance Group said former president...
The Free Legal Assistance Group said former president Joseph Estrada's arrest could be a blessing in disguise for death row convicts as it may lead to the early repeal of the Death Penalty Law
- APRIL 19, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commuted the death...
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commuted the death sentences of 16 convicts to life imprisonment based on the recommendation of the Department of Justice (DOJ)
- APRIL 4, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
A string of corruption charges have been filed against...
A string of corruption charges have been filed against the former Philippine President, Joseph Estrada, by an anti-corruption ombudsman a day after he was stripped of immunity from prosecution by the Supreme Court
- APRIL 4, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
"It's time to repeal the death penalty law now that...
"It's time to repeal the death penalty law now that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has adopted the policy of commuting all death sentences", Senate President Aquilino Q
- APRIL 3, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has commuted to life...
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has commuted to life imprisonment all death sentences
- MARCH 15, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Francisco Ovilla, a former chief of the Quezon City...
Francisco Ovilla, a former chief of the Quezon City police and nine other officers were sentenced to death for accepting a total of P650,000 in bribes from alleged drug dealers
- MARCH 10, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Senate President Pro Tempore Blas F
Senate President Pro Tempore Blas F
- MARCH 8, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines...
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement urging President Arroyo to ask Congress to abolish the capital punishment
- MARCH 7, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not impose a...
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not impose a moratorium on the death penalty, and said the issue "is a matter for Congress to determine
- MARCH 6, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commuted the capital...
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commuted the capital sentences of two condemned Edgar Maligaya and Rodrigo Calma to life sentences on the recommendation of Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, saving them from their scheduled execution on March 7
- MARCH 5, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
In a poll on whether former President Joseph Estrada...
In a poll on whether former President Joseph Estrada is guilty, 171 respondents of the total 300 interviewed (57%) believed him guilty while only 58 (19
- MARCH 1, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Judges sent 12 rapists, 10 bribers (see news of 15...
Judges sent 12 rapists, 10 bribers (see news of 15 March) and 8 murderers to death row in March 2001, increasing to 1,720 the tally of Filipinos condemned to death
- FEBRUARY 26, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Senator Renato L
Senator Renato L
- FEBRUARY 13, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructed the Department...
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructed the Department of Foreign Affairs to appeal the case of six overseas Filipino workers who were sentenced to death in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a Palace statement said
- JANUARY 29, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
A judge on the central island of Bohol sentenced 12...
A judge on the central island of Bohol sentenced 12 [unidentified] members of a kidnapping gang to death by lethal injection, after finding the 12 guilty of kidnapping a Chinese-Filipino businessman for ransom in 1998
- JANUARY 29, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Senate President Aquilino Q
Senate President Aquilino Q
- JANUARY 29, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
PHILIPPINES
January 29, 2001: 12 people sentenced to death for kidnapping, by a a judge on the central island of Bohol.
- JANUARY 24, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Workers group Migrante International sought the intervention...
Workers group Migrante International sought the intervention of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the release and repatriation of some 1,000 overseas Filipino workers allegedly unjustly imprisoned, particularly the death row cases in Saudi Arabia and