Lacson files bill imposing death penalty for heinous crimes

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Panfilo Lacson has filed a bill seeking to make heinous crimes punishable by death.

Lacson said it is time to revisit Republic Act No. 7659, or the Death Penalty law, because a perceived surge in heinous crimes in recent years has shown life imprisonment, in lieu of death penalty, is no longer enough to stop grave offenders. 

“Hence, to reinstate public order and the rule of law, there is an impending need to revisit and re-impose the death penalty on certain heinous crimes which as ratiocinated by R.A. 7659 or the Death Penalty Law, ‘is appropriately necessary due to the alarming upsurge of such crimes which has resulted not only in the loss of human lives and wanton destruction of property but also affected the nation’s efforts towards sustainable economic development and prosperity while at the same time has undermined the people's faith in the Government and the latter's ability to maintain peace and order in the country,’” Lacson said in a statement.

The senator said his bill seeks to re-impose the death penalty for the following heinous crimes: human trafficking, illegal recruitment, plunder, treason, parricide, infanticide, rape, qualified piracy and bribery, kidnapping and illegal detention, robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons, car theft, destructive arson, terrorism and drug-related cases, among others.

Lacson, who served as the Philippine National Police chief from 1999 to 2001, said that in 2015, 75 percent of the most heinous crimes were drug-related while 65 percent of inmates in prisons are either accused of or have been convicted of drug-related crimes. From January to May 2016 alone, he noted that the PNP recorded “a staggering number” of crime incidents including 3,615 murder cases, 3,996 rape cases, and 9,971 robbery cases.

According to Lacson, the PNP’s Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management also documented 9,646 murder cases; 31,741 cases of robbery; and, 10,298 rape cases in 2015. These numbers translate to an average crime incidence of a murder every 54 minutes, a robbery every 16 minutes, and a rape case every 51 minutes, which he deemed "alarming."

Despite pushing for the bill, the senator said he is still willing to listen to the arguments supporting and opposing the death penalty bill during public hearings in the Senate.

"Ako naman ma-commit ko, tuloy-tuloy ang hearing na gagawin ko kung sa committee (on public order and illegal drugs ire-refer)," Lacson said in an interview on DWIZ last Saturday. —Rosette Adel