CBCP on death penalty: ‘No person is beyond redemption’

Archbishop Socrates Villegas. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has reiterated its opposition to capital punishment amid efforts to revive it in the 17th Congress.

In an official statement, CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas on Monday urged the Duterte administration to “champion life for all,” saying Catholic bishops “regret that there are strident efforts to restore death penalty” in the Philippine legal system.

“The Gospel of the Lord Jesus is the Gospel of Life. It is this Gospel we must preach. It is this Gospel that we must uphold… Though the crime be heinous, no person is ever beyond redemption, and we have no right ever giving up on any person,” Villegas wrote.

READ: Bishops lead fight vs death penalty

“When we condemn violence, we cannot ourselves be its perpetrators, and when we decry murder, we cannot ourselves participate in murder, no matter that it may be accompanied by the trappings of judicial and legal process,” he said.

Congress has scheduled the plenary debates on House Bill No. 4727, a consolidated version of seven bills on death penalty, this coming week.

BACKSTORY: Debates on death penalty begin next week

The Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop added: “Throughout the world, the trend against the death penalty is unmistakable, and international covenants, one of which the Philippines is party to, obligate us not to impose the death penalty.”

The death penalty, which was abolished during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with the strong influence of the Catholic church, is being revived by the Duterte administration to deter heinous crimes amid a deadly war on drugs which has claimed thousands of lives. IDL/rga