SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez on Tuesday said the House of Representatives is dead serious in restoring capital punishment in the country despite the criticism of Catholic bishops that reimposition of death penalty was a “lazy” solution against criminality.
“Here at the Lower House, I am confident we’ll be able to muster a quorum to pass the death penalty bill,” Alvarez said, stressing that “party vote” will prevail when the matter is taken up on the floor.
Alvarez hopes members of the majority bloc will toe the line as the bill is among the priority measures of the Duterte administration and reiterated that capital punishment is necessary to combat the rise of criminality which has reached an “alarming proportion.”
But the opposition bloc belied the claim of Alvarez that House leadership will have the numbers to pass the death penalty bill.
“On percentage, I don’t know where he got that percentages but we have reports from those who attended the caucus that those who were opposed and those undecided were more than those who said they were for the reimposition,” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said.
Lagman also welcomed the position of former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to remain opposed to the death penalty bill.
Republic Act 7659 or the Death Penalty Law was abolished in 1986 during the term of former President Corazon Aquino. It was restored by former President Fidel V. Ramos in 1993, and was suspended again in 2006 by then President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
However, the Catholic episcopacy on Tuesday said the reimposition of the death penalty is a “lazy” solution to solve criminality, insisting that the capital punishment will not deter crime.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said there is a need to overhaul the criminal justice system instead of reimposing capital punishment.
“Cleanse the police ranks. Fix all the courts. Tighten the security at the Bilibid and other prisons. Death penalty is a lazy form of penalty instead of helping reform those who made mistakes,” Villegas said.
The prelate said the death penalty is unworkable while an efficient justice system is capable of controlling crime.
“We are not protesting without a solution. We are protesting with an alternative. Reform the criminal justice system,” said Villegas.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said death penalty should not be used by lawmakers as a measure to punish or get back at criminals, adding that they should be given a second chance to reform their lives by following due process.
“We shouldn’t use this for revenge because what is important for us is for the person to be reformed and we hope that the person will have the opportunity and the capability to change his life. Many of those who may fall victim to this are poor and have no capacity to defend themselves, and there are already many cases of killing over false accusations. This is why the death penalty should not be restored,” the prelate said.