Death penalty: ‘The cheaper, the better’

SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez Marc Jayson Cayabyab/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez said the debate on the method of executing death convicts should focus more on cost―the cheaper, the better.

In an interview with reporters, Alvarez said lawmakers should not make a big deal of  how a death convict should be killed, whether through hanging or firing squad or lethal injection.

“[Lawmakers] should not argue if death by hanging, firing squad or lethal injection was better, all of them will end up dead anyway,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez’s preference was for a low-cost method to save on government resources.

“Whatever is cheaper. As Sen. [Manny] Pacquiao (who preferred the hanging method) said, you just kick the chair,” said Alvarez.

He proposed that the Executive branch be allowed to make the decision on the mode of execution. President Duterte has announced in his campaign he wanted the shock value of a double hanging.

Alvarez has filed a resolution reimposing the death penalty on heinous crimes which was abolished in 2006, adding he was determined to have it approved by Congress to deter the worsening crime rate in the country.