The Philippines inched closer to reinstating death penalty as lawmakers on Wed approved the proposed Death Penalty Law, on 2nd reading in a viva voce vote.
According to GMA News, “the passage of the bill fell on Ash Wednesday, with heated exchanges witnessed by some lawmakers with ash crosses on their foreheads, as well as observers from the gallery that included anti-death penalty groups, members of religious orders, and even grade school students.”
The proposed revival seeks to allow the imposition of death on drug-related offenses, which is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign promise to end crime and corruption during his term.
In the initial versions of the bill, grave crimes such as treason, rape and plunder were also punishable by death, but they have been dropped from the list “to make it easier for those opposed to the bill to vote in its favor.”
To become a law, the death penalty bill must face a third reading in the House, before going to the Senate. If it passes, it would then have to be signed by President Duterte.
Human rights groups, opposition lawmakers and the Catholic Church have been voicing out their opposition against the bill. The Philippines last abolished capital punishment in 2006.
The bill authorizes hanging, firing squad, and lethal injection as modes of execution.
