Life imprisonment in the Philippines

Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious

crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the
rest of his or her life. Doing a crimes for which a person could
receive this sentence include murder, high treason, severe or
violent cases of drug dealing or human trafficking, or aggravated
cases of burglary or robbery resulting in death or great bodily
harm.

For example Former Philippines President Joseph Estrada has

been found guilty of plunder by a special anti-corruption court. He
has been jailed for life.
He was found not guilty of a separate charge of perjury. His son
Jinggoy was acquitted of the charge of plunder. A few hundred
pro-Estrada demonstrators had gathered for the verdict, but the
protests were reported to be peaceful. The former film star was
accused of embezzling about US$80m from illegal gambling, tax
kickbacks and bribes before being ousted from power in
2001.Estrada has been ordered to remain under house arrest on
his country estate until further orders. He is expected to appeal.

Like other areas of criminal law, sentences handed to minors may

differ from those given to legal adults. A few countries worldwide
had allowed for minors to be given lifetime sentences that have
no provision for eventual release. Of these, only the United States
currently has minors serving such sentences, according to an
updated 2008 joint study by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International. As of 2009, Human Rights Watch has calculated
that there are 2,574 youth offenders serving life without parole in
the United States. The U.S. and Somalia are the only countries in
the world which refused to ratify the CRC, an international
agreement that would abolish the ability to give juveniles life
without the possibility of parole.

Human trafficking

Life imprisonment is a term used for a particular kind of sentence

of imprisonment. The effect of such a sentence varies between
jurisdictions. Life imprisonment is regarded by many as a humane
alternative to the death penalty for the most serious crimes.

And I have an example about life imprisonment sentence human

trafficking. human trafficking is the illegal trade in human beings
for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced
labor: a modern-day form of slavery. It is the fastest growing
criminal industry in the world, and tied with the illegal arms
industry as the second largest, after the drug-trade.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY Sheila, Valerie and Bridget hail from poor
families here and have set their sights to as far as Manila, Brunei
and Japan for jobs as domestic helpers to support their families
back home.But instead of finding work as domestic helpers, they
ended up as prostitutes and their recruiters human traffickers
.The crime is defined by law as being the illegal recruitment and
deception abuse of power or position.It includes having control
over another person for the purpose of exploitation including
sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude or
the removal or sale of organs.
Violation of the act entails an imprisonment of six years to life
imprisonment and a fine of between PhP 500,000 PhP 2
million.General Santos City in southern Mindanao is considered a
trafficking hotspot because of the proliferation of bars and transit
houses, according to the Visayan Forum Foundation, a non-
government organization that works to monitor and curb the
crime.

Reclusión perpetua ( permanent imprisonment)

is a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment in the
Philippines, Argentina, and several other countries.
In the Philippines, it is one of two sentences, the other being
life imprisonment, designed to replace
the death penalty and is, in legal parlance, almost synonymous
with life imprisonment. However,

there are several important distinctions between the two terms:

R eclusión perpetua is prescribed on crimes punishable by the

Revised Penal Code, while life

imprisonment is imposed on offences punishable by Special

Laws.

R eclusión perpetua carries the "accessory penalty" where, as

defined by Philippine Law,guilty parties suffer lifetime barring
from holding political office. Life

imprisonment does not carry this penalty.

R eclusión perpetua does not allow pardon or parole until after

the first 30 years of the
sentence have been served; after 40 years without pardon or
parole, the sentence ends. Life

imprisonment does not have any definite extent or duration of

imprisonment, and prisoners
serving life imprisonment can have parole at any time.
Unlike life imprisonment, the length of a sentence for reclusión
perpetua is an indivisible penalty of 40
years and cannot be altered during sentencing.

Imprisonment
Whether you are in detention after arrest, or serving a prison
term upon conviction, you should be prepared to face the
realities of what are by American standards inadequate facilities,
poor food, and deficient sanitation in prisons. You should provide
the Embassy with the names of family or friends for financial
assistance to enable you to buy dietary supplements and basic
necessities like soap and toothpaste. The Consul can help you
arrange for remittances to be sent so as to ensure that the
money reaches you intact. Although prison mail is subject to
censorship, American detainees can write to the Consul. And
since the Consul makes periodic visits to American detainees in
the Manila consular district, they
may discuss with a consular officer problems arising from their
confinement. The Consul or local civic organizations can help
prisoners to obtain reading material.

Alternatives to Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is not the solution to rising criminality. In
fact, the death penalty has no place in a
civilized society, much less in a society which proclaims
adherence to democratic ideals and to
promotion of human rights. It has been noted that the source of
all human corruption lies in the
impunity of the criminal, not in the moderation of punishment.
Clearly, it is not the severity of
punishment that deters the commission of criminal acts, but the
certainty of punishment.
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a
serious crime where the convicted person is to remain in
prison for the
rest of his or her life. Examples of crimes for which a person
could receive this sentence include murder, high treason,
severe or violent cases of drug or human trafficking, or
aggravated casesof burglary or robbery resulting in death or
great bodily harm.This sentence does not exist in all countries.

R epublic Act No. 9346: An Act Prohibiting the

Imposition of
Death Penalty in the Philippines
Republic Act No. 9346, enacted on 24 June 2006, prohibits the
imposition of death penalty in the Philippines and provides that
in lieu thereof, the penalty of reclusion perpetua or life
imprisonment shall be imposed. This Act
expressly repeals Republic Act No. 8177 entitled Act
Designating Death by Lethal Injection, and amends Republic Act
No. 7659 otherwise known as the Death Penalty Law. It also
repeals or amends all laws, executive orders and
decrees that impose the penalty of deat
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious
crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the
rest of his or her life. Examples of crimes for which a person could
receive this sentence include murder, high treason, severe or
violent cases of drug dealing or human trafficking, or aggravated
cases of burglary or robbery resulting in death or great bodily
harm.
This sentence does not exist in all countries. Portugal was the first
country in the world to abolish life imprisonment by Penal Reform
of Sampaio e Melo, in 1884. However, where life imprisonment is
a possible sentence, there may also be formal mechanisms to
request parole after a certain period of imprisonment. This means
that a convict could be entitled to spend the rest of the sentence
outside of prison. Early release is usually conditional depending
on past and future conduct, possibly with certain restrictions or
obligations. In contrast, in jurisdictions without life imprisonment,
a convict who has served the given prison sentence is free upon
release.
The length of time and the modalities surrounding parole vary
greatly for each jurisdiction. In some places convicts are entitled
to apply for parole relatively early, in others only after several
decades. However, the time of legally being entitled to apply for
parole does not often tell anything about the actual date of being
granted parole. Article 110 of the Rome Statute of
the International Criminal Court stipulates that for the gravest
forms of crimes, a prisoner ought to serve two thirds of a fixed
sentence, or 25 years in the case of life imprisonment. After this
period, the court shall then review the sentence to determine
whether it should be reduced.
Like other areas of criminal law, sentences handed to minors may
differ from those given to legal adults. A few countries worldwide
had allowed for minors to be given lifetime sentences that have
no provision for eventual release. Of these, only the United States
currently has minors serving such sentences, according to an
updated 2008 joint study by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International. As of 2009, Human Rights Watch has calculated
that there are 2,574 youth offenders serving life without parole in
the United States. The U.S. and Somalia are the only countries in
the world which refused to ratify the CRC, an international
agreement that would abolish the ability to give juveniles life
without the possibility of parole.

Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious

crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the
rest of his or her life. Examples of crimes for which a person could
receive this sentence include murder, high treason, severe or
violent cases of drug dealing or human trafficking, or aggravated
cases of burglary or robbery resulting in death or great bodily
harm.
Hernani Galang had been in jail for the last three years allegedly
on charges for possessing illegal drugs. According to the father,
the drugs had been discovered by the police from the jacket he
was wearing at the time of his arrest. This garment did not belong
to him, but to a friend who had lent It to Hernani. He doesn’t had
criminal record; nor did any member of his family have an
background.

Hernani is presently detained in a provincial jail in southern

Philippines. He like any other guest of the state penitentiary
system has had to endure terribly inhuman and degrading
conditions within prison. His father too struggles to meet his son
legal costs as well as provide for his son’s whilst inside jail as the
jail authorities are unable to do so.

The emotional and psychological suffering is enormous, he says.

There is also social stigma because “detainees are already
considered by society as criminals even before they are convicted
by law he laments.

This story depict how the presumption of innocent has turned to

naught as innocent people are incarcerated for years on end:
their families struggle to ensure even a modicum of decency for
their loved ones” and how hope slowly dwindles on all sides. The
stories illustrate but a fraction of the stark reality of the pathetic
state of Philippines prison and in fact the entire administration of
justice there.

Life imprisonment in Philippines

Is a judgement for a convicted person who had committed a crime

which is guilty for murder, vile or violent cases of drug dealing,
high human trafficking or aggravated cases of burglary, robbery
resulting to death.

The conditions of all prisoners whether they have been convicted

of a crime or notare pitiful. Inside the jail, life is unbelievably
difficult. Food is the always wanting in both in quality and
quantity; inmates are treated worse than animals. Sometimes
 they are given food rations but the rice that is served smells
spoiled and the plates it is served on, too small.

Often same food is served over the over again. In the morning,
small dried fish in the afternoon, small and thin slices of fried fish;
in the evening soup that looks and tastes awfully like the food fed
to pigs. The only opportunity to eat some delicious food like fried
chicken is at Christmas time.

If one became sick, no one really took any notice. If you have
fever, the jail guards would not give you any medicine. You would
simply wait until some visitors came to air your grievances.

There are many detainees who do not receive visit from anyone
for years. It seems as if they are forgotten by their families