Manila The presidential palace has turned down calls for the re-introduction of the death penalty saying unless improvements are made in the justice system, capital punishment will not work in deterring crime in the country.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said, worse, capital punishment could result in a miscarriage of justice and punish the wrong person for a crime.

"On the death penalty, our position is that we're not in agreement in the imposition of the death penalty. Given the present justice system, there is a likelihood that… because of our poor justice system, the person who may be meted the punishment of death was not really the one who committed the crime or is innocent," he said.

Calls to revive the death penalty came to the fore once more amid a rash of violent crimes committed recently.

Among these offences include the killings and rape that took place inside the campus of the University of the Philippines in Los Banos (UPLB) in Laguna province South of Manila, as well as several others that included the brutal killing of family members.

Ray Bernard Peñaranda, a junior agriculture student was slain two weeks ago by suspects who took his mobile phone and laptop.

Also, businesswoman Leah Ng, 40, was also slain and her body hidden inside a septic tank also in Laguna. Among the suspects were three policemen, one of whom is a senior officer.

Various groups had called on the government to once more impose the death penalty as a deterrent against offenders.

But the palace said applying capital punishment might not be applicable in the country.

Lacierda reiterated that when President Benigno Aquino ran for the presidency in 2010, the then presidential candidate said that death penalty would not be imposed unless changes were made in the country's judicial system.

Crime reduction

While Lacierda acknowledged that recent rape cases were a concern, he said overall, there was a downward trend with regards to incidents of crime, based on police statistics. Lacierda stressed that, based on the indicators from the Philippine National Police (PNP), a 24-per cent reduction in the overall crime rate in 2011 had been noted compared to 2010.

"The PNP has been strengthening and improving the crime prevention that is why we address criminal incidence," he said.

Lacierda also pointed out that the grassroots law enforcers, particularly in villages, should help in preventing crimes in their respective localities.

President Joseph Estrada imposed the death penalty in 1998 as a means to curb crime. In 2006, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed a law abolishing capital punishment amid furore from the influential Roman Catholic Church.