IMAGE: CNS photo/Romeo Ranoco, Reuters
By Simone Orendain
The Philippines stands poised to reinstate the death penalty
after it was put on hold 11 years ago. The church in the Philippines, which has
grown more vocal in recent months, continues to oppose the measure that passed
the Philippine House on the third and final reading March 7 and is widely
expected to move quickly through the Senate. This latest version specifically
targets drug crimes.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, president
of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, lamented that the lower
House “has given its consent for the state to kill.”
“We, your bishops, are overcome with grief, but we are
not defeated nor shall we be silenced,” Archbishop Villegas said.
“In the midst of Lent we prepare to celebrate the
triumph of life over death, and while we grieve that the lower House has voted
for death, our faith assures us that life will triumph,” he said.
At the same time, the archbishop called on the Filipinos who
stand for life to continue the “spirited opposition” to the death
penalty.
In the months and weeks leading up to the Congressional
votes on the measure, the bishops’ conference has posted statements opposing
the death penalty and led marches against it, reiterating that life is sacred
and that the death penalty would not put an end to crime. Some leaders have
also urged the faithful to go to their representatives and voice their
opposition. The conference also signaled that should the death penalty become
law again, it would support any effort to oppose the law at the Supreme Court
level.
Throughout its history, the Philippines has imposed and
suspended the death penalty, and the church has consistently opposed it.
Since taking office in late June, Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte has pursued drug dealers and addicts with laser-like focus. In
July, his close associates in Congress filed a bill to reinstate the death
penalty, to support his tough-on-crime stance.
So far in Duterte’s “war on drugs,” which started
even before he was sworn in, more than 7,000 mostly poor people have been
killed in both police operations and unexplained killings of alleged drug
offenders. Currently, drug offenses carry sentences ranging from 12 years to
life in prison, along with fines.
“Certainly we are for the campaign against drugs, and
we know drugs can have very serious harmful effects on families,” said
Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro. “But also we would like to
say that drug offenders should not be subject to the death penalty, because
it’s not a humane and Christian way of dealing with the problem.”
Archbishop Ledesma, a strong critic of Duterte in the final
days before the May elections, told Catholic News Service instead of putting
drug criminals to death, the country needs to address the “root causes of
poverty” and pursue rehabilitation.
Duterte has said he was not interested in killing drug users
and dealers to make examples of them, but that he simply wanted them to pay for
their crimes.
The head of the Restorative Justice program at Caritas
Manila, Father Roberto de la Cruz, said, “We believe, the Catholic Church
believes, well, any believer believes the death penalty would not be a
deterrent to crime.”
Father De La Cruz told CNS the church believes there is
always ” hope for change” for the drug offenders.
The Manila-based priest, who comes from a well-off family,
said that more than two decades ago, he was a meth addict for 10 years. Then he
found himself in a church listening to a talk on evangelization and decided he
would seek help there to get clean. That was also the start of his discernment
to the priesthood.
Father De La Cruz is one of the creators of Sanlakbay, which
incorporates spiritual formation, counseling, work skills training, arts and
cultural outlets and sports activities into a parish-based rehabilitation
program.
As of March 6, he said five parishes in metropolitan Manila
were involved in Sanlakbay and another five would also take part in the coming
weeks. But the priest noted that the numbers of those who originally turned
themselves in and went for church rehab dwindled significantly when it came to
following through with the program.
Archbishop Ledesma said apart from such programs, more
effective than putting someone to death “is to have better implementation
of the laws and to make sure that the justice system is fast enough to
prosecute any wrongdoers.”
Congressman Harry Roque, a human rights attorney
specializing in international law, said he was prepared to take a case to the
Supreme Court should the death penalty become law. He said having the death
penalty violates the constitution based on the Philippines’ international
treaty obligations.
He told CNS he did not think the death penalty was the
answer to criminality.
“I think (the answer is) enforcing the law,” said
Roque. “Given the dire statistics on conviction rates, I’d say drug pushers
are doing their trade because no one’s really been punished. They only have a
10 percent conviction rate for drug cases … So … we don’t need the death
penalty. We just need to enforce the law.”
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