Senator having second thoughts on death penalty

Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said Tuesday that after careful deliberation, he is now reconsidering his stance on the death penalty.

The senator, who has filed for a bill to reinstate the capital punishment in the past, raises concerns over wrongful convictions.

“Ako nagpa-file ako lagi ng bill tungkol sa death penalty pero maraming mga development. Ako mismo ngayon nagdadalawang isip kasi alam mo merong mga true to life stories, accounts sa ibang bansa na na-execute nang walang kasalanan, (I always file bills regarding the death penalty but there have been a lot of developments on the matter. I, myself, am having thoughts because there are true to life stories, accounts in other countries where innocent people were executed.)” Lacson said in a radio interview with DZRJ.

Indeed, a 2004 statistic released by the Supreme Court showed a high judicial error rate of 71.77% in capital cases.

Lacson added that there is a big question one needs to ask before bringing back the death penalty.

“Ito yung dapat pag-aralang mabuti, ano ang mas matimbang, yung magiging biktima ng mga kriminal na talagang notorious o yung isa namang mapaparusahan, makikitilan ng buhay pero after all, malalaman pala na walang kasalanan? (This is what we should be studying carefully, which carries more weight, the possible victims of notorious criminals or the life of someone who may be wrongfully convicted?)” he said.

Back in 2019, Lacson had filed for a bill to reinstate the death penalty to “restore public order” due to the “alarming surge of heinous crimes in recent years.”

Included in his list of heinous crimes were treason, murder, infanticide, rape, kidnapping and illegal detention, robbery with violence and intimidation of persons, destructive arson, human trafficking, plunder, and terrorism, among others.