An official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) opposed the proposal of senator-elect Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to bring back death penalty.
CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) Executive Secretary Rodolfo Diamante said killing drug suspects will not solve the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.
He said this was already proven by the government’s ongoing bloody war against illegal drugs, which have claimed the lives of so many suspects, but still failed to achieve its purpose.
“If the extra judicial killings that is going on in the country that victimize the alleged drug users and traffickers have not stop the trafficking of drugs, how much more the firing squad of convicted felons,” Diamante told reporters in an interview.
Rather than focusing on drug suspects, Diamante said, the government should focus instead on ending the root cost of illegal drugs.
“We advice the senator-elect to focus instead on stopping the entry of drugs, the arrest, and prosecution of the drug traffickers, drug lords, and their protectors and financiers, instead of the penalty, which is the last stage of the criminal justice process,” Diamante said.
Dela Rosa said on Wednesday he wants as his first legislative agenda, to revive public execution against drug suspects so it will serve as deterrent to other people involved in drug trafficking.