Dingdong Dantes on extra judicial killings and death penalty: 'We need not see justice as thirst for blood'
Dingdong Dantes recently released his sentiments on whether death penalty should be revived or not. The actor, and now the host of the upcoming crime documentary drama Case Solved, condemns extra judicial killings and opposes the death penalty.
He wrote, “More than ever, and as a father and husband, I join the people’s seemingly endless clamor for an effective and efficient justice system that would truly address all sorts of crimes and abuses, especially the heinous ones. We are very tired, almost hopeless, of the general lack of relevance and reliability of the institutions established to protect us, our families and loved ones. Without such relevance and reliability, where else can we go to seek justice, protection and reparation. I share the people’s demand for justice that must be timely available to all as a rule, not as an exception, which we deserve—nothing less.”
Dingdong continued, “Having said that, I support a government that guarantees due process, proceeds based on the rule of law, and is guided by a set of moral values that Filipinos have shared from generation to generation—something that has made us ever so resilient and uniquely Filipino admired for such around the world.”
The Kapuso Primetime King also pointed out that our country still has “a long way to go in terms of our search for justice, peace, safety and security,” stating that “the problem is not with these established institutions and the existing governmental policies but with the people who run the government.”
He then concluded, “For these reasons, I am opposed to the revival of the death penalty on legal, scientific, and moral grounds.”
Dingdong explained, “First, as signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Philippines cannot reimpose the death penalty without running counter to said treaty. At the very least, there will be serious legal and international repercussions.”
“Second, studies have showed that the death penalty has not served to deter crimes and so it was abolished. There simply is no basis for us to believe that it will work this time and experimenting on it will entail grave societal costs. Lastly, and most importantly, we seek justice not retribution.”
Dingdong then summed up his statement, “We need not see justice as thirst for blood lest we create a culture of violence among us, in which case, we will see our long shared moral values disintegrate as they are replaced by hate and anger.”
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