Alvarez: No minors to be punished with death penalty
Presumptive Speaker Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez on Friday clarified that even though minors may now be put in detention, they could not be sentenced to death for their crimes.
In an interview during the luncheon meeting of Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, Alvarez said he would not make crimes committed by minors punishable under the death penalty in his bill to lower the criminal age of liability from 15 years old to nine.
READ: Alvarez files bill lowering age of criminal liability
Alvarez said minors could not be capable of committing heinous crimes like murder, rape, plunder, among other offenses which are deemed heinous and thus punishable under death penalty in another of his proposed law.
“Masyado namang malupit yun. I don’t think they’re capable of heinous crimes,” Alvarez said.
He said in his proposed bill to amend the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, minors would instead be put in a rehabilitation facility separate from the prison cells of hardened criminals.
Article continues after this advertisementAlvarez said there was a need to make minors criminally liable because they were being used by syndicates to commit crimes and evade liability.
Article continues after this advertisement“Itong mga minors, ginagamit ng mga sindikato para mag-commit ng crimes … hindi naman ibig sabihin ‘yung mga youth offenders isasama natin sa piitan ng mga hardened criminals. Magkakaroon rin tayo ng rehabilitation diyan, para malaman nila na 9 years old malaman nila na mayroon silang responsibility to the society,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez made the clarification to separate youth offenders from hardened criminals who had committed heinous crimes and would be punished with death penalty by lethal injection if his bill reinstating death penalty was passed.
In House Bill No. 1 which he authored with Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro, Alvarez said there was a need to reimpose death penalty because “the national crime rate has grown to such alarming proportions requiring an all-out offensive against all forms of felonious acts.”
“Philippine society is left with no option but to deal with certain grievous offenders in a manner commensurate to the gravity, perversity, atrociousness and repugnance of their crimes,” according to the bill.
READ: First bill in Congress seeks reinstatement of death penalty
The bill sought to reimpose death penalty on heinous crimes listed under Republic Act No. 7659, including murder, plunder, rape, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, sale, use and possession of illegal drugs, carnapping with homicide, among others.
The bill sought to reenact into the law Republic Act No. 8177 which designated lethal injection as a method of carrying out capital punishment.
According to the bill, all laws that are inconsistent with this measure will be repealed.
The bill would then repeal Republic Act No. 9346, or the law signed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2006 which abolished death penalty.
Alvarez filed the bill to fulfill the mandate of the administration of President Duterte to bring back death penalty as a deterrent to criminality and use of illicit drugs in the country.
