Pulse: Number of Pinoys favoring death penalty drops
NOISE BARRAGE Students stage a noise barrage against the death penalty bill along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City. —ALEXIS CORPUZ
Fewer Filipinos are in favor of a move to revive the death penalty, although majority continues to support the Duterte administration’s push to rouse capital punishment from slumber.
The results of a recent Pulse Asia survey showed that between July last year and March this year, the number of Filipinos supporting the revival of the death penalty—pushed by proponents as a deterrent to crime — fell by 14 percentage points, from 81 percent to 67 percent.
The survey was conducted from March 15 to 20 using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents nationwide, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.
It followed a push by Mr. Duterte’s allies in Congress to pass a new law to restore capital punishment.
The decline in the number of Filipinos supporting the death penalty restoration was detected in all areas and classes.
The biggest decline was in Luzon, by 21 points to 61 percent; and among Class D (poor) by 16 points to 66 percent.
The survey results also showed an increase in the number of those who disagreed with reviving the death penalty to 25 percent in March this year, from just 11 percent in July 2016.
Death penalty revival, however, continued to enjoy the support of majorities in all areas (61 percent to 74 percent) and socioeconomic classes (66 percent to 68 percent).
The survey also asked Filipinos supporting the revival of the death penalty to identify which crimes should be punishable by state execution. At least 97 percent said rape, 88 percent picked murder, and 71 percent wanted it for drug pushing.
On March 7, the House of Representatives, with a vote of 217 in favor, 54 against and one abstention, approved on final reading House Bill No. 4727, which would impose the death penalty for drug-related offenses, a campaign promise of Mr. Duterte.
The measure has been transmitted to the Senate where it is pending and expected to face tough opposition.
Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs had turned mostly urban poor communities into bloody battlefields where drug suspects are found dead or get killed during police raids.
Malacañang said the survey results were just “a timely reminder that a progressive nation is premised on law and order.”
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the Duterte administration continued to cling to the belief that reviving the death penalty was “an important component in building a trustworthy government that protects its citizens and youth from crime, especially the kind perpetrated by illegal drug traffickers and violators.” —WITH REPORTS FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH AND LEILA SALAVERRIA
