DOJ chief nixes revival of death penalty

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday expressed her opposition to calls for the revival of the death penalty because of the recent spate of brutal killings in the country. "I've always been against death penalty. I'm a human rights advocate," De Lima said during a press conference on Thursday. She explained that the Philippines a signatory to the Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which says that the country cannot reimpose the death penalty. "That's retrogressive," she said, adding that there is no empirical data to prove that the death penalty will wipe away the spate of crimes in the country. De Lima likewise said that reviving the death penalty will be difficult because of our "imperfect justice system." "Ang dami nating problem sa justice system, so hindi tayo nakaksiguro (We have so many problems with our justice system so we're not sure) if we send the right people in jail," she said. UP law professor and human rights lawyer from the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) Theodore Te agreed with De Lima, saying that the death penalty is "dangerous" considering the state of the country's justice system. "The death penalty is the most final of all penalties. It cannot and should not exist where the conditions for determining guilt or innocence is so imperfect - as admitted by no less than the Supreme Court itself," said Te, counsel for rape and murder convict Leo Echegaray, who received capital punishment and was killed via lethal injection in 1999. Te likewise said that the greatest "irony and tragedy" with the death penalty is that it is carried out in the name of the people. "I oppose the death penalty in any form, manner, instance or circumstance. Do not kill in my name," he said. He said that he has already witnessed two executions in his lifetime, one of whom was reportedly widely regarded by his inmates as innocent. "It is an experience I do not wish to inflict on my worst enemy," he said. Earlier, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri filed Senate Bill No. 2383, which seeks to reimpose the death penalty for persons found to be guilty of heinous crimes. - VVP, GMANews.TV