House to tackle death penalty before federalism

MANILA, Philippines – The bill re-imposing the death penalty for heinous crimes will have to come first before the House of Representatives deliberates on proposals to shift to a federal system of government, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said over the weekend.

“Because there is an urgent problem (like crimes). And of course this is one of the priority bills of the administration. That’s why we have to address that (criminality),” he told reporters.

Alvarez was asked whether his bill reviving capital punishment can be relegated to the backburner since Congress – the Senate and the House – is supportive of President Duterte’s plan for federalism, where each federal state can have its own policy.

“It’s not a constitutional amendment; it’s a revision of the Constitution. We have to revise the entire charter,” Alvarez said.

Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has predicted that the country’s strong and impressive 7.1 percent gross domestic product growth – the fastest and strongest among Asian neighbors – will be boosted even further once the shift to federalism takes place.

“It shows that, despite the unwarranted political noise, our macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong on the Duterte watch to meet growth targets in the short and medium term,” he said.

Villafuerte noted the stellar performance of the local economy is “testament to the soundness of the Duterte administration’s strategy to anchor its high – and inclusive – growth agenda on record public investments in an infrastructure buildup.”

“Malacañang could sustain the economy’s high growth momentum by moving quickly on its envisioned golden age of Philippine infrastructure,” he said.

At the same time, the national government should also “go ahead on its plan to set the stage for the switch to a federal system of government under the Duterte presidency,” he said.

Villafuerte said the Philippines’ GDP quarterly growth is even faster than China’s.

“The Philippines could continue outpacing its Asian neighbors if the executive and legislative branches were to sustain its high spending on infrastructure and  fast-track efforts to switch from the presidential to the federal form of government,” he said.