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Friday, March 29, 2024

Speaker wants death for rapists

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Speaker Lord Allan Velasco has sought the inclusion of rape among the crimes proposed to be covered when the death penalty is reimposed.

The bill mandating the reimposition of the death penalty originally covered illegal drug-related crimes only.

Velasco urged lawmakers to consider rape during deliberations of pending measures calling for the reinstatement of capital offense.

“With regard to [the restoration of] death penalty, personally, I am in agreement that we need the death penalty but specifically for drugs-related crimes and rape,” Velasco såaid.

“These are the offenses as long as connected, that should be penalized to the extreme. These are unacceptable. I will push death penalty for those two crimes,” he added.

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Velasco had committed to pursue the reimposition of death penalty even before he assumed the speakership vice Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano who was ousted by his colleagues in the House of Representatives following his refusal to honor the term-haring gentlemen’s agreement he had with Velasco.

President Rodrigo Duterte has made several requests for Congress to pass a bill restoring the death penalty on drug-related charges.

Velasco said he believed the proposal to reinstate death penalty was a “good strategy” to effectively deter heinous crimes.

“My point is to actually stop or prevent crimes like rape and illegal drugs. I think we need to reinforce the penalties that may be imposed, because criminals take the present penalties for granted… they are no longer afraid of the law,” Velasco added.

Velasco said the next 19th Congress had all the time to deliberate the measure if the 18th Congress would not be able to pass the measure.

The House is now more focused on the measures related to COVID-19 relief and mitigation efforts, he said. 

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