With the way the restoration of the death penalty bill was railroaded at the House of Representatives, the supermajority congressmen should perhaps also run the public railway system. But it’s a shame to call it a system given the daily breakdown and delays of the Metro Rail Transit and the Light Rail Transit. However, commuters do not see the MRT and the LRT running like the famous Bicol Express of old. It will be recalled that it was during the watch of a former congressman, Cavite Rep. Jun Abaya, that the two Metro Manila commuter trains deteriorated.
Buhay Party List Representative Lito Atienza, one of the staunchest oppositors of the death penalty, called the railroading of the death penalty in the House reminiscent of the Bicol Express. He’s still seething after the House passed the measure on second reading via viva voce vote. His was the loudest voice in the chamber who shouted “nay.” But the ayes had it after the congressmen were co-opted to vote for the measure lest they lose their perks and Palace funding for their district projects.
Atienza assailed the measure because due process of deliberation was sidetracked. He claimed debates on the floor were squelched by the acting House Speaker and a vote was immediately called despite protests from the anti-death penalty solons. The pro-death congressmen said the antis kept saying the same thing as part of their dilatory tactics. The Senate, according to Senator Ralph Recto, will carry out a full-blown debate on the death penalty bill and will hear every point of view.
“The supermajority coalition called it tyranny of the minority. How is that possible when they have the numbers as shown by the manner in which they railroaded the bill?” fumed Atienza. He pointed out an exhaustive debate on the landmark legislation was needed. Privilege speeches against it were not a privilege but the duty of every congressman to illuminate the pros and cons for their constituents. He added that there is no compelling reason for the restoration of the death penalty since the Duterte administration with its vast resources is already exercising the power of life and death in the brutal war on illegal drugs.
So far more than 7,000, most of them mere suspects, have been slain in what many see as summary killing. The European Union, Human Rights Watch and other groups are studying the possibility of filing charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte and police officials involved in the anti-drug war. President Duterte and his legal panel have dismissed the allegations of extra judicial killings as baseless and interference in the internal affairs of the country.
But this is an issue government legal adviser Salvador Panelo should not take lightly. If the case against Digong and Philippine National Police chief Ronald de la Rosa is filed with the International Criminal Court, they could find themselves in deep trouble. The best advice Panelo could heed is “if you’re in a hole, stop digging.”
Rep. Atienza cited that the Philippines is a signatory to the United Nations convention that bans capital punishment. The UN accord was ratified by the Senate.
“This is an international agreement that has to be upheld. It cannot be cast aside without the Philippines violating international law. The Senate will have to review and discuss thoroughly this UN agreement that it ratified,” said Atienza.
He added that even if the death penalty slips through the Senate, he and other oppositors will elevate the issue to the Supreme Court.
Yasay a foreigner secretary
President Duterte is not known for taking unsolicited advice. He dismissed calls to relieve PNP chief De la Rosa in the wake of the brazen killing of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo right inside Camp Crame. Policemen carrying out his anti-drug operations Oplan Tokhang are the prime suspects. Yet Dela Rosa is still PNP boss without culpability for command responsibility. For the murder committed inside the PNP camp, other officials in the world would have resigned and not wait for the president to fire them.
There are now calls for President Duterte to replace Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr.This, after documents showed he was an American citizen who only renounced his citizenship at the US embassy in Manila when he was appointed as Secretary of Foreign Affairs after Duterte had won the May 2016 presidential elections. Yasay also did not take any step to reacquire his Filipino citizenship which would make him a stateless person.
We now have the vexing problem of having a foreigner or stateless person as the country’s foreign secretary. The decent thing Yasay could do is to resign and spare the President the embarrassment of having a foreigner as secretary of foreign affairs. Former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Roberto R. Romulo in his column in the Philippine Star last week provided documents not only of Yasay’s flawed qualification as SFA but also bank documents of his alleged default in paying bank loans in New York and New Jersey. Yasay’s stint as head of the Security and Exchange Commission in 1995-2000 would also make him liable for perjury for attesting he was a Filipino citizen when he assumed the SEC post.
If Yasay’s fallback position is to be named Philippine ambassador to Washington, the US as host government may not accept him because of his pending court cases. This, in diplomatic protocol, is called the granting of agrement. Where does that leave Yasay?
Defeated vice presidential candidate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is reportedly being eyed by Duterte as foreign secretary. The one-year ban on defeated candidates being appointed to a Cabinet position ends on May 30 this year.