Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero is keeping a firm stand against the reimposition of death penalty in the Philippines, expressing hope that the government will help in the global action to abolish death penalty as punishment for any crime.
Escudero said that it is the certainty of punishment that will deter criminals from plying their trade rather than the re-imposition of the death penalty.
At the same time, he urged the government to exhaust all legal means for the pardon or commutation of the death sentence on Mary Jane Veloso, who got a reprieve from the Indonesian government shortly before her scheduled execution along with eight other people for drug-related crimes.
Escudero said there should be no let-up in the Philippines’ efforts to save Veloso. “The same is true with other distressed Filipinos in the different parts of the world,” he said.
There are about 13,000 to 14,000 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) languishing in prisons in various parts of the world, he said.
With this number, he pointed out that the “current P100 million budget allocated to DFA for legal assistance to OFWs is evidently not enough to reach to as many OFWs in need of assistance.”
He said he believed that whether it’s right or wrong and regardless of the victim, as long as one is a Filipino, he should be entitled to due process and should be protected by the foreign affairs department.
He likewise cautioned Filipinos who are bound for overseas work to be extra careful and be wary of people who may dupe them into transporting contrabands.