As the Philippines is getting ready to vote again, another favourite political hot-button topic is being whipped out to get the masses riled up and divided. The death penalty is a favourite talking point by politicians who wish to project a strong-man position towards their voters who are rightfully tired of crimes happening in the country.

But as studies have shown time and time again, the death penalty does not deter crime as addressing crime is all about looking at its root causes and addressing those instead.

This all reminded me of a case that caught the nation's attention back in 1994. Today, I will be covering the Leo Echegaray case, which highlighted so many things for me as a teenager who was just forming her opinion on big topics like crime and death. This was a rape case that turned into a political circus that exposed Filipino politics at its worst and the lack of understanding of how the death penalty is morally wrong and how it does not do anything to address crime rates in ANY country.

Sources used for this episode can be found here.

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