House moves to revive death penalty after drug-related abduction

MANILA, Philippines - The reported abduction and rape of an anti-drug agent's daughter over the weekend has triggered a renewed call in the House of Representatives to prioritize the passage of legislation seeking to revive the death penalty for illegal drug traffickers. House Speaker Prospero Nograles said he is now inclined to support the revival of capital punishment for certain criminals following the spate of bombings in Mindanao and the recent attack on an anti-drug agent's daughter. "[With] the brutal attacks against innocent civilians including children, I'm now inclined as Speaker to support the possible re-imposition of death penalty against narco-traffickers and terror bombers," he said in a text message to reporters. Nograles said public officials suspected to be involved in illegal drug trafficking should be exposed. "We should never allow the Philippines to become the next Colombia during the days of Pablo Escobar where even the government is being terrorized to submission," Nograles said. In a telephone interview with GMANews.TV, dangerous drugs committee vice-chair and Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco said he will move for the immediate passage of death penalty bills still pending in the panel when Congress resumes sessions after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27. "I will have it included in the priority bills in this Congress," Cuenco said. "I will campaign for the approval of the bill." The lawmakers made the statement after a Philippine Daily Inquirer report published Monday said a daughter of an anti-drug agent, a minor, was abducted, drugged, and raped over the weekend. Malacañang said it will do everything to help the agent's family. "Siguro, with this incident now that is headlined, I hope it will spur the committee into action," Cuenco said. "Death penalty for drug lords must be imposed and executed without delay." Calling the attack on the drug agent's daughter "heinous" and "diabolical," Muntinlupa City Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon likewise pushed Congress to immediately consider bills imposing the death penalty for drug traffickers. "As a congressman in the district of Muntinlupa City where the national penitentiary is located, I have seen convicted criminals lead changed lives after incarceration. Murderers, rapists, robbers and other types of criminals have repented and even lead lives more pious than others who have been law abiding. But there have been convicted drug traffickers who have not spurned their criminal ways even behind bars," Biazon said in a statement. Biazon said incarcerated drug lords are still able to continue their trade behind bars because their financial resources enable them to hire personal assistants and bodyguards, and even to bribe prison personnel. "In effect, they are secure while they proceed with business as usual. All they need is a cellular phone to communicate with their colleagues and crew outside the prison and life goes on for them. They still rake in the profits while society bears the burden of the after-effects," said Biazon, the author of a bill seeking to re-impose capital punishment for drug traffickers. Another lawmaker, however, doubted whether the death penalty can be re-imposed considering that the Palace follows the Catholic Church's pro-life stance. In a text message to GMANews.TV, Nueva Ecija Rep. Eduardo Nonato Joson likewise said there is a question on whether drug-related crimes will be considered heinous or not, in order to warrant the re-imposition of capital punishment. "In all probabilities, Congress will not repeal the present law (against death penalty)," he said. For his part, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the entire justice system needs to be improved if the government wants to crush the illegal drug trade. "Re-imposing the death penalty will not lead to more convictions, nor will it ensure that cases will be decided swiftly. Re-imposing the death penalty will not impose lawless criminality, modernizing our justice system will," he said in a text message to GMANews.TV. Parañaque City Rep. Roilo Golez, former National Security Adviser, said life imprisonment as punishment will suffice. One of the most notable executions in the country was that of drug trafficker Lim Seng, who was killed via firing squad shortly after then-president Ferdinand Marcos imposed Martial Law in 1972. Capital punishment was abolished in the 1987 Constitution but was later revived through legislation: Republic Act 7659 imposes the death penalty on certain heinous crimes, and RA 8177 provides for lethal injection as the means of carrying out the death penalty. After giving varying statements on death penalty since she took office in 2001, President Arroyo signed on June 24, 2006 Republic Act No. 9346 or "An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines," which repealed RA 7659. -with a report from Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV