PACC chair presses Congress, Duterte to revive death penalty

MANILA, Philippines —Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) chair Dante Jimenez has challenged Congress to pass the bill reimposing death penalty for heinous crimes following the murder of Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe in Albay.

He also urged President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent the proposed measure for reviving death penalty in the country.

On Saturday, Batocabe and his escort, Orlando Diaz, were killed by unidentified assailants after attending a gift-giving event in Barangay Burgos, Daraga.

Jimenez dared Congress “to pass now the Reimposition of Death Penalty for Heinous Crimes to instill fear on the guns for hire which have been a cottage industry now.”

“Are we going to wait for another lawmaker or a senator to be killed similarly with Batocabe and other victims of senseless killings?,” he asserted in a statement on Tuesday.

According to Jimenez, Duterte certifying the bill as urgent when Congress resumes session next month would allow its speedy passage.

He said the three-day-rule for the third reading and second reading would not be followed if a bill is certified as urgent.

READ: Death penalty revival remains Palace priority despite Pope’s call

Jimenez then joined broad condemnation of Batocabe’s murder. Jimenez said he cannot “imagine the pain being experienced” by the family of Batocabe especially this Christmas season, as he recalled the assassination of his brother, Jaime “Boboy” Jimenez Jr., on December 20, 1990.

The 1987 Constitution bars death penalty, but it also does not prevent Congress from passing a law prescribing death for heinous crimes. /kga