Capital punishment in the Philippines

Capital punishment in the Philippines (Filipino: Parusang Kamatayan sa Pilipinas) specifically, the death penalty, as a form of state-sponsored repression, was introduced and widely practiced by the Spanish government in the Philippines. A substantial number of Filipino national martyrs like Mariano Gómez,[1] José Burgos,[2] and Jacinto Zamora[3] (also known as GomBurZa[3] ), Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite (Trece Martires),[4] Thirteen Martyrs of Bagumbayan,[5] Fifteen Martyrs of Bicol (Quince Martires de Bicolandia),[6] Nineteen Martyrs of Aklan[7] and Jose Rizal[8] were executed by the Spanish government.

Numerous Philippine parks,[9] monuments,[10] learning institutions,[11] roads,[12] local government units[13] are named after Jose Rizal and other martyrs executed by the Spanish as a constant reminder of Spanish atrocities through the imposition of the death penalty. After the execution of Imperial Japanese Army General Tomuyuki Yamashita in Laguna, Philippines in 1946[14] and the formal establishment of the Philippine post-World War II government, capital punishment was mainly used as an anti-crime measure during the rampant lawlessness that dominated the Philippines leading to the declaration of Martial Law in 1972.

The Philippines, together with Cambodia, are the only Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states that have abolished the death penalty.[15]