The administration will still push for the revival of the death penalty bill despite the Vatican’s opposition, the Palace said Friday.
“It is the priority of this administration to reimpose the capital punishment for serious drug-related offenses,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.
The bill, which already passed by the Congress as House Bill 4727 in March 2017, is now in the hands of the Senate.
“The decision, because it was already passed, now lies with the Senate… We leave it to the Senate whatever decision they may have. The President would still try gentle persuasion, but it is really a decision for the senators now,” said Roque.
On Thursday, the Vatican said Pope Francis declared death penalty “inadmissible” in all circumstances. The Roman Catholic Church approved the revision opposing capital punishment as it attacks the dignity of human beings and the sanctity of human life.
The Roman Catholic Church revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s, which is a book containing the beliefs of the Catholic faithful.
The revised draft stated: “The Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”
The book also stated that the increasing effectiveness of detention systems, growing understanding of the unchanging dignity of the person, and leaving open the possibility of conversion were the reasons why the teaching was amended.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said Pope Francis’ declaration cleared up any vagueness on the Church’s position against the death penalty.
The Philippines was the first in Asia to abolish the death penalty in 1987, but it was reinstated under President Fidel Ramos. It was abolished again under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2006.
