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People vs. Echegaray [Separate Opinions]

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. LEO ECHEGARAY y PILO, accused-appellant.

G.R. No. 117472 | 1997-02-07

Separate Opinions
 
Time has transformed man into a highly intellectual and civilized, as well as, I wish to believe, a humane and compassionate, being. The ancient edict of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" has since been abandoned by a society that recognizes the good in every man and gives a transgressor an opportunity to reform. Somehow, however, certain vestiges of savage retribution still remain; indeed, the taking of a human life continues, at least in some penal systems, to be an acceptable punishment.
 
In this country, the issue of whether or not the State should impose the death penalty has recently been...