Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thurs released a statement expressing her alarm over the simultaneous efforts to reinstate the death penalty and lower the age of criminal liability.
The Akbayan Senator said that the “deadly combination” will “condemn Filipino children to a dark and sinister future in which they will become death row kids.”
Hontiveros added that there is no empirical proof the death penalty will help reduce crime. She also pointed out that the consolidated death penalty bill goes against the government’s supposed rehabilitation and reformation programs for convicted drug users and criminals.
“What is therefore the point of building a mega-drug rehabilitation center in Nueva Ecija if the government wants all the drug addicts killed anyway?” the senator asked.
READ: Mega rehab center for drug users to open Nov 29
Death penalty bill is now slated for plenary debates after the House justice committee on Wed approved the consolidated bill. The mode of capital punishment could either be through hanging, by firing squad or lethal injection.
The senator also drew attention to reports that the House Committee on Justice Subcommittee on Correctional Reforms has already conducted hearings on the bills seeking to lower the age of criminal liability.
“Putting children aged 9, who are not psychologically developed enough to understand the nature of crimes, in prison will merely turn them into hardened criminals. It will only stigmatize them and trigger repeat offense. What they need is to recover their sense of dignity and self-worth through rehabilitation and education programs under a fully-implemented Juvenile Justice Law,” Hontiveros said.
You may read her full statement here.
