Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA — A plunderer “kills” more people than a murderer, according to Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
Lacson wondered why the House of Representatives, which has been holding plenary debates on the revival of the death penalty, would take out plunder as a capital offense.
Told that Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali believed a thief would more likely reform than a murderer, Lacson disagreed.
“A plunderer kills more people than a murderer. A murderer kills one person while with a plunderer, many people die of hunger because of the plunder,” Lacson told reporters.
A House bill seeking the revival of the death penalty has excluded plunder from the list of crimes punishable by death through lethal injection, firing squad, or hanging.
Plunder or the unlawful amassing of at least P50 million in public funds, is currently regarded a heinous crime which warrants life imprisonment.
Noting that the House seemed to be doing a “balancing act” by proposing to allow courts to impose death as punishment for heinous crimes, Lacson said more capital offenses should be proposed than limited, and the list of offenses should include plunder. SFM