Palace on death penalty: People should be heard

Communication Secretary Sonny Coloma. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Malacañang on Sunday said that the Filipino people’s voice should be considered by the incoming administration as President-elect Rodrigo Duterte calls for the return of the death penalty.

Asked to weigh in on Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas’ statement that the United Nations (UN) may sanction the country if it restores the death penalty, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said, “The Secretary of Justice is affirming that the country has existing commitments to the United Nations and that reinstituting the death penalty is a vital policy change that needs to be thoroughly studied by the incoming administration and the 17th Congress.”

“The people’s voice needs to be heard, too, to ascertain whether indeed the majority would like to see this come to pass,” he added.

The death penalty was abolished in 2006 by former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who claimed that there was no proof that it deterred crime.

But Duterte, to bolster his promise to end criminality within six months, said he wants death penalty reintroduced and perpetrators of heinous crimes executed by hanging.

READ: Davao mayor vows to bring back death penalty

Groups opposing the move claim that the death penalty will make only make poor people, who do not have money for proper legal assistance, vulnerable. JE/rga

READ: Church will convince Duterte to drop death penalty–AdDU president