Daniel Viray
Language Arts 8G
Ms. Mowat
May 09, 2008

Analyzing “Philippines Prepares for First Execution in Decades”

      After researching articles about my country, the Philippines, I stumbled across one that immediately caught my attention. It was an article, published by CNN News, called “Philippines Prepares for First Execution in Decades”. The name of the author of this piece is still anonymous, but I distinguished that the creator is a professional journalist, as CNN (a reputable source) published his or her work. This article was written in the Philippines. I know this because at the very beginning of the article, it says “Manila – Philippines”. Although this published writing was written in the Philippines, the author is not Filipino. I assume that he / she is not Filipino because throughout the piece of writing, the journalist talks in third person. He or she says things like, “The Filipino people”, “The Philippines last executed…”. If he / she were to be a Filipino, then he / she would use first person phrases like, “our country’s people”, “We last executed”, etc. That is how I know that the author is from out side of the Philippines. It is important that we acknowledge that the writer is a foreigner because the story in the person’s piece might be over or under exaggerated. The reason being is because the author is not a primary source of this event. Thus, he / she needed to ask other locals to get there perspective on the event. The locals might have given a false story depending on their feelings about the said incident. Hence, the published article is also ‘false’. The public of the Philippines, along with other high class foreigners, were intended to read this. This text was written so that the vast majority of Filipinos can know what was happening in their country and also to discourage more crime. It was significant to know that some one was being executed as this has never happened, in the Philippines, for ten years. The nation should know why this man is being murdered so that they could distinguish the level of violence to receive such a severe punishment. This article was written to make the citizens see that there are consequences, even harsh ones, if crime is done. Therefore, it discourages other people, in general, to do crime. It was also written so that the wealthy foreigners, who usually read CNN, might be able to persuade a change in the plan (killing the culprit). Wealthy foreigners could have altered the execution as they often have power. They usually have power because of their affluence. These rich people might have been able to stop the execution. Because they are foreigners, it also helps persuade the court. It can influence the government because they are getting feedback and perspective of what they are doing from other countries. Since majority of the government in the Philippines agrees with the execution, then they will assume the execution. But, if other country’s governments tell them to not proceed with the execution, then the Philippine’s government will have a second look on what they are doing. That is why this text was also written for wealthy foreigners. The author is not being persuasive about this event; he is being objective. He or she is objective because the author clearly shows multiple opinions on different sides. Also, the writer does not have strong feelings / opinions about this incident. He or she just tells the facts that he / she knows. There are no sentences in the article where it says how the author feels about the execution. “Wife: ‘It will not stop crime’” In this quote, it shows that the writer is showing the wife’s perspective. It is showing us that the wife does not want the execution to happen. “Victim: ‘I want him to die’” In this quote, it shows that the author is giving a different perspective on the execution. He is showing the point of view of the victim. Because the journalist is showing both points of views, he is being objective in his / her writing. The journalist is telling us about the people who do not want the execution to happen and the people who do want the execution to happen. He does not involve his own personal feelings; he tells only about other’s emotions and how they differ from one another. This text was written in January of 1993. It was published before the execution happened; or during the time when the decisions of execution was still being made. The date of this piece is significant because the decision of whether or not the man will be executed was still in play. This article may have affected their decisions because it stated various opinion’s of citizens. Thus, the court’s opinion may have been altered. So, because this article was published before the actual execution, it could have changed the outcome of this event.

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