3 bills reviving death penalty filed in Congress

MANILA – Despite strong opposition from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Roman Catholic Church, at least three bills have been filed in the House of Representatives and the Senate, which called for the revival of death penalty against “heinous crimes.”

The latest proposal was filed in the House by opposition Congressman Rozzano Rufino Biazon of suburban Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila and the son of incumbent Senator Rodolfo Biazon.

Two other similar bills were filed by Congressman Bienvenido Abante of Manila, a bishop of a “born again” religious group, and administration Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri in the Senate.

Both Abante and Zubiri introduced their proposals following a string of bloody bank robberies, including the killing of at least 12 people in the town of Sta. Rosa, Laguna province in Southern Luzon in mid-2008.

For his part, Biazon said he filed the bill in reaction to the alarming increase in the number of illegal drug cases, highlighted by the arrest in September 2008 of three scions of prominent and influential families whose alleged “connections” go all the way up to Malacanang.

Biazon pointed out the 1987 Constitution did not abolish the death penalty but it gave Congress the discretion to impose capital punishment for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes.

In particular, Biazon sought the revival of the death penalty in cases covered by the Comprehensive Drugs Act of 2002, as he argued:
“The non-imposition  of the death penalty in cases covered (by the act) only emboldens those involved in this illicit industry that destroys the family, takes the lives of its victims and wreaks havoc on Philippine society.”

He added that the imposition of life imprisonment, which replaced the death penalty, was hardly a deterrent, citing reports that convicted drug traffickers continued to pursue their  trade even while serving their sentences in jail.

In 2006, the House and the Senate abolished capital punishment on urgings of President Arroyo, a devout Catholic, in support of the stand of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

In reaction to the filing of the three bills, Secretary Cerge Remonde, the chief of the Presidential Management Staff, reiterated that President Arroyo is sticking by her policy against the revival of the death penalty even in the wake of the alarming increase in cases involving illegal drugs, which affect mostly the young.

“The President has always stood by the stand of the (Catholic) Church, which is against the imposition of the death penalty,” Remonde emphasized.

This developed as congressional reaction to the announcement of President Arroyo to take direct control and command of the government’s war on illegal drugs hewed closely to partisan lines, with administration lawmakers welcoming her decision.

One of the backers was administration Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri who said that with the President in control, this would put the anti-drug campaign on the right track.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles of Davao City in Mindanao said President Arroyo made the right decision, explaining that in doing so, she can tap the vast resources against illegal drugs under her personal command.

On the other hand, however, Congressman Joel Villanueva of the party list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption suspected that by taking over the campaign, the President is just out to shore up her falling trust rating as shown by recent public opinion surveys.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., for his part, questioned the President’s credibility in leading the fight against illegal drugs, saying that she herself is facing problems on addressing corruption issues in government.

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