Stopping crimes more important than Philippines reputation — Pimentel

MANILA, Philippines - Putting a stop to drug trafficking and other heinous crimes is more urgent than worrying about the country’s reputation before the international community, according to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III.

He was commenting on warnings that a revival of the death penalty would be a violation of the country’s commitments to international treaties, particularly the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

“We can justify that we can never surrender our sovereignty (for international treaties). A treaty cannot tie our hands that we’d be helpless in our own country even when we have a strategy to fight crime,” Pimentel told reporters Wednesday night.

When asked about the possible impact of the revival of the death penalty on the country’s reputation, he said: “Our reputation and confronting this clear and present danger, which would you prefer?”

He said any backlash may not be as bad as what critics portray.

He admitted that while more senators have expressed openness to President Duterte’s call for Congress to reimpose the death penalty, it remains a “close fight” between foes and proponents of the measure.

He said the move of the House of Representatives to limit capital punishment to just one crime – high-level drug trafficking – has softened the stance of some anti-death penalty senators.

Pimentel is against the death penalty but indicated that he is open to it if given convincing arguments.

“A one-crime death penalty law would have a bigger chance of passing the Senate than a death penalty law with a lot of enumerated crimes,” Pimentel said.

“Many senators say if you limit the number of crimes to one which you will consider the most heinous as of the moment, then they are open to be convinced,” he pointed out.  – With Paolo Romero