PDEA backs Duterte’s call to reinstate death penalty

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Tuesday expressed full support to President Rodrigo Duterte's call for the revival of death penalty for drug-related offenses.

In a statement, PDEA chief Director General Wilkins Villanueva underscored that the absence of capital punishment is favorable for drug peddlers who continue their illegal drug activities despite being detained.

"We have intercepted drug transactions perpetrated by convicted high-profile inmates while inside the national penitentiaries. They have found ways to communicate with the outside world one way or the other, and give direct orders to people involved in the illegal drug trade,” Villanueva said.

For Villanueva, the return of the death penalty should depend on the quantity of the seized illegal drugs. He said death penalty by lethal injection should be for big-time drug traffickers and not for street-level drug pushers.

"I strongly suggest that seized drugs weighing one kilogram or more should be the threshold amount,” Villanueva said.

He believes that tougher penalties would send a clear message and force drug traffickers to think twice before smuggling and trafficking illegal drugs.

"They have the luxury to operate in our country without worry because the maximum penalty on our laws is less harsh,” Villanueva said.

In his 5th State of the Nation Address on Monday, Duterte renewed his call for the passage of the death penalty for crimes provided under the 2002 Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

The proposed death penalty bill has yet to gain support both in the House and the Senate.

For its part, the Commission on Human Rights said reinstating the death penalty would mean violation of the country’s commitment under international law. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News