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Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza on Sunday said capital punishment might not be carried out during the six-year term of President Rodrigo Duterte even if the death penalty is revived this year.
Atienza said that it would take another five years for new cases to go through "due process" - from the time a felony is committed until final judgment and execution.
"If we look at the cases of the seven convicts put to death by lethal injection during President (Joseph) Estrada's term, they were all executed around five years after they committed their crimes," he said in a statement.
Atienza said death row inmates Leo Echegaray, Eduardo Agbayani, Dante Piandiong, Archie Bulan, Jesus Morallos, Pablito Andan and Alex Bartolome were executed after an average of 61 months passed following the commission of the crimes for which they were convicted.
Except for Bartolome who was executed in 2000 for a felony committed in 1995, the rest of the convicts were put to death in 1999 for offenses done in 1994.
Atienza noted that Estrada was able to carry out judicial executions in 1999 because by then, the 1993 law that imposed capital punishment for heinous crimes had been in force for five years, and death row inmates with final judgments had already started to arrive.
"Based on our reckoning, even assuming Congress railroads the revival of the death penalty so that it would take effect by early 2017, the initial convicts with final verdicts would start coming in only by the first half of 2022, or toward the last six months of the President's term," he said.
Death penalty revival starts
Moves to revive the death penalty have started in the 17th Congress, with at least one lawmaker from the Senate and House of Representatives filing separate bills on capital punishment.
Senator Panfilo Lacson has filed a measure making a range of heinous crimes, from drug-related offenses to treason, terrorism and human trafficking, punishable by death.
In the House, Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon filed a bill restoring the death penalty for drug traffickers, pushers, and operators of drug dens, as provided for under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Both lawmakers, however, said it is unlikely for Congress to pass a law reinstating the death penalty within three to four months since it is a contentious issue that will cause heated debates.
Lacson, who is eyeing the chairmanship of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, said he expects plenary debates on his bill and other related measures to be long.
“Baka 'di kayanin,” he told dzBB radio in an interview Sunday when asked if the Senate can pass the bill to bring back the death penalty in three to four months, as predicted by Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez.
“Depende 'yan kasi ang mahabang [debate] sa floor. Kasi yung public hearing, diringgin lang namin at ino-note lahat ng inputs ng mga resource persons. Pero pagdating sa floor, 'di mo mapipigilan [kung ilan ang magtatanong],” he explained.
Two years
In a separate dzBB interview, Biazon said it would be more realistic to expect the passage of the death penalty bill within the next two years.
“Ang sense ko dito, baka within two years [mapasa ang batas], particularly dahil nasa taas ng agenda ng ating Pangulo ang issue na ito [kaya] baka mailagay sa forefront ng legislative agenda,” he said.
Biazon said President Rodrigo Duterte could give marching orders to Congress on how urgent he wants the bill passed in his State of the Nation Address on July 25.
Duterte has been vocal about his plans to reinstate the death penalty, which has been suspended since 2006. He said he prefers executions to be carried out by hanging.
Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, Duterte’s choice for Speaker, earlier said bills for bringing back the capital punishment will be tackled within the first 100 days of the incoming Congress.
Death penalty crimes, lethal injection
Under Lacson’s proposal, death penalty will be imposed on those who are found guilty of the following crimes: treason; qualified piracy; qualified bribery; parricide; murder; infanticide; rape; kidnapping and serious illegal detention; robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons; destructive arson; plunder; terrorism; carnapping; drug-related cases; trafficking in persons and illegal recruitment, if the act constitutes economic sabotage.
The senator’s bill provides for capital punishment to be carried out through lethal injection, with the penalty being carried out not later than one year after the judgment has become final and executory. However, the schedule should be without prejudice to the exercise by the President of the executive clemency powers at all times.
Lacson, who headed the Philippine National Police from 1999 to 2001, said the surge of heinous crimes in recent years proves that life imprisonment has failed to deter those considered to be grave offenders.
Citing PNP data in 2015, he said 75 percent of the most heinous crimes were drug-related while 65 percent of inmates in prisons are either accused or convicted of drug-related crimes.
Data from the PNP’s Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management show there were 9,646 murder cases; 31,741 cases of robbery; and, 10,298 rape cases in 2015. These translate to an average crime incidence of a murder every 54 minutes, a robbery every 16 minutes, and a rape case every 51 minutes.
From January to May 2016, he noted the PNP recorded “a staggering number” of crime incidents including 3,615 murder cases, 3,996 rape cases, and 9,971 robbery cases. —ALG, GMA News
Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza on Sunday said capital punishment might not be carried out during the six-year term of President Rodrigo Duterte even if the death penalty is revived this year.
Atienza said that it would take another five years for new cases to go through "due process" - from the time a felony is committed until final judgment and execution.
"If we look at the cases of the seven convicts put to death by lethal injection during President (Joseph) Estrada's term, they were all executed around five years after they committed their crimes," he said in a statement.
Atienza said death row inmates Leo Echegaray, Eduardo Agbayani, Dante Piandiong, Archie Bulan, Jesus Morallos, Pablito Andan and Alex Bartolome were executed after an average of 61 months passed following the commission of the crimes for which they were convicted.
Except for Bartolome who was executed in 2000 for a felony committed in 1995, the rest of the convicts were put to death in 1999 for offenses done in 1994.
Atienza noted that Estrada was able to carry out judicial executions in 1999 because by then, the 1993 law that imposed capital punishment for heinous crimes had been in force for five years, and death row inmates with final judgments had already started to arrive.
"Based on our reckoning, even assuming Congress railroads the revival of the death penalty so that it would take effect by early 2017, the initial convicts with final verdicts would start coming in only by the first half of 2022, or toward the last six months of the President's term," he said.
Death penalty revival starts
Moves to revive the death penalty have started in the 17th Congress, with at least one lawmaker from the Senate and House of Representatives filing separate bills on capital punishment.
Senator Panfilo Lacson has filed a measure making a range of heinous crimes, from drug-related offenses to treason, terrorism and human trafficking, punishable by death.
In the House, Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon filed a bill restoring the death penalty for drug traffickers, pushers, and operators of drug dens, as provided for under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Both lawmakers, however, said it is unlikely for Congress to pass a law reinstating the death penalty within three to four months since it is a contentious issue that will cause heated debates.
Lacson, who is eyeing the chairmanship of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, said he expects plenary debates on his bill and other related measures to be long.
“Baka 'di kayanin,” he told dzBB radio in an interview Sunday when asked if the Senate can pass the bill to bring back the death penalty in three to four months, as predicted by Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez.
“Depende 'yan kasi ang mahabang [debate] sa floor. Kasi yung public hearing, diringgin lang namin at ino-note lahat ng inputs ng mga resource persons. Pero pagdating sa floor, 'di mo mapipigilan [kung ilan ang magtatanong],” he explained.
Two years
In a separate dzBB interview, Biazon said it would be more realistic to expect the passage of the death penalty bill within the next two years.
“Ang sense ko dito, baka within two years [mapasa ang batas], particularly dahil nasa taas ng agenda ng ating Pangulo ang issue na ito [kaya] baka mailagay sa forefront ng legislative agenda,” he said.
Biazon said President Rodrigo Duterte could give marching orders to Congress on how urgent he wants the bill passed in his State of the Nation Address on July 25.
Duterte has been vocal about his plans to reinstate the death penalty, which has been suspended since 2006. He said he prefers executions to be carried out by hanging.
Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, Duterte’s choice for Speaker, earlier said bills for bringing back the capital punishment will be tackled within the first 100 days of the incoming Congress.
Death penalty crimes, lethal injection
Under Lacson’s proposal, death penalty will be imposed on those who are found guilty of the following crimes: treason; qualified piracy; qualified bribery; parricide; murder; infanticide; rape; kidnapping and serious illegal detention; robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons; destructive arson; plunder; terrorism; carnapping; drug-related cases; trafficking in persons and illegal recruitment, if the act constitutes economic sabotage.
The senator’s bill provides for capital punishment to be carried out through lethal injection, with the penalty being carried out not later than one year after the judgment has become final and executory. However, the schedule should be without prejudice to the exercise by the President of the executive clemency powers at all times.
Lacson, who headed the Philippine National Police from 1999 to 2001, said the surge of heinous crimes in recent years proves that life imprisonment has failed to deter those considered to be grave offenders.
Citing PNP data in 2015, he said 75 percent of the most heinous crimes were drug-related while 65 percent of inmates in prisons are either accused or convicted of drug-related crimes.
Data from the PNP’s Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management show there were 9,646 murder cases; 31,741 cases of robbery; and, 10,298 rape cases in 2015. These translate to an average crime incidence of a murder every 54 minutes, a robbery every 16 minutes, and a rape case every 51 minutes.
From January to May 2016, he noted the PNP recorded “a staggering number” of crime incidents including 3,615 murder cases, 3,996 rape cases, and 9,971 robbery cases. —ALG, GMA News
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