Cayetano promises ‘healthy debate’ on death penalty

MANILA, Philippines — House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Sunday assured the public that the issue of death penalty will be tackled in a “healthy debate” at the House of Representatives.

Cayetano made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte pushed for the reimposition of death penalty for drug-related crimes and plunder in his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona).

READ: Duterte renews push for death penalty on drug-related crimes

“Sa death penalty, I can promise sa ating mga kababayan, whether kayo ay pro or against na magkakaroon ng very healthy debate dito sa House of Representatives, ang tutuunan nito ay isa lang, paano mapigilan ang krimen, lalo na ang heinous crime sa ating bansa,” Cayetano said.

The House Speaker explained that Duterte is pushing for the death penalty because of the continuing problem of drugs and crime in the country.

“Ang Pangulo ay naniniwala sa death penalty, sapagkat tuloy-tuloy ang droga, at krimen although nababawasan na ng malaki. So ang death penalty ay pinaniniwalaan na deterrent sa crime, pero kung ang crime ay mababawasan o wala na, then baka maging moot ‘yung debate sa death penalty,” the House Speaker added.

Cayetano further noted that the issue of death penalty must be addressed in the context of crime prevention and deterrence and not “as an end by itself.”

Cayetano then asked for the public to “help each other” to lessen the number of crimes while the reimposition of death penalty is being decided on.

“Maraming simpleng solusyon – for example – anywhere that is well-lighted has 30 percent less crime, basta mailawan lang ang bawat sulok. Kasi ‘di ba kapag kriminal ka, nagtatago ka rin eh,” Cayetano said.

“The other one, CCTV, habang dumadami ang CCTV at alam ng criminal na may CCTV, nababawasan ang crime,” he added. /je