Sotto hits Amnesty International; Robredo bucks death penalty

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III hit back at Amnesty International (AI), saying the push for the reimposition of the death penalty was only for those who are convicted of heinous crimes, particularly high-level drug traffickers.

Sotto said other countries have a longer list of crimes that are punishable by death. He also cited reports that the Trump administration in the US has reinstated the federal death penalty.

“For us, I only seek it for high-level drug trafficking. Those in AI have so many complaints,” Sotto said.

Sotto earlier said the death penalty bill, which is strongly opposed by many lawmakers and other groups, may have a chance of being passed by Congress if it will be limited to high-level drug trafficking and possibly plunder.

For her part, Vice President Leni Robredo thumbed down the efforts to restore the death penalty, saying capital punishment does not deter crimes.

“We had death penalty before and data show that it’s not a deterrent,” Robredo said.

“What’s more important is to fix the justice system, what’s important is for us to implement the laws properly. Death penalty is not the solution for people not to commit a crime,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, detained Sen. Leila de Lima strongly denounced presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo for his claim that President Duterte prefers death by hanging to lessen expenses amid the administration’s aggressive push to revive the death penalty.

“This statement only shows how barbaric and inhumane this government is. It’s really in their blood being sadistic, cruel and violent,” De Lima said.

She reiterated that restoring the death penalty for heinous crimes would not deter the commission of crime but instead would only affect poor Filipinos.

“The simplistic equation that death penalty will result in greater crime deterrence reflects an elitist, anti-poor and misdirected mindset,” she said.

De Lima has offered an alternative to death penalty when she filed Senate Bill 187, which seeks to impose qualified life imprisonment on extraordinary heinous crimes, such as drug cases and plunder.

If enacted into law, the measure will impose qualified reclusion perpetua without parole on persons found guilty of treason, piracy, murder, infanticide, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons, destructive arson, rape, plunder and violations of Dangerous Drug Act of 2002.

In addition to qualified reclusion perpetua or imprisonment of 50 years with no possibility of parole, those guilty of extraordinary heinous crimes will be fined P5 million under the measure.

Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza, for his part, said if the death penalty is re-imposed, police scalawags are likely to use capital punishment to commit “horrific abuses” against citizens.

“There are many corrupt officers everywhere. In fact, no less than President Duterte himself at one point tagged the police as ‘rotten to the core’ and reckoned that four out of every 10 officers are engaged in all sorts of criminal activities,” he said.

Atienza said once Congress revives the death penalty, these police crooks “will surely brandish capital punishment as the Sword of Damocles to hang over the heads of their potential victims of kidnapping, extortion and evidence-planting.”

“Abuses are guaranteed to inflame once twisted officers have the ‘deathtrap’ at their disposal. They will have a heyday shaking people down with false or fabricated evidence,” he added.

Besides the kidnapping-for-extortion and murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-Joo by anti-narcotics agents, Atienza cited the case of a police officer in Manila who raped a 15-year-old girl in exchange for the freedom of her parents who were arrested for alleged drug offenses.

He said Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s proposal to also impose the death penalty on lawmen engaged in planting evidence would not deter police rascals from perpetrating abuses.

“As demonstrated in previous cases, shady officers operate like syndicates and connive not only in committing abuses, but also in protecting themselves against possible discovery,” Atienza said.

To suppress illegal drug trafficking, Atienza urged the Duterte administration to first address rampant corruption at the Bureau of Customs. – With Jess Diaz, Helen Flores