THE restoration of the death penalty will require the enactment of a law by Congress, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said Friday.
She made the statement after incoming President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to impose the death penalty against heinous crimes particularly robbery with rape within the next six months.
He also vowed to carry out at least 50 executions a month to serve as a strong deterrent against criminality.
“I think our leader is realistic enough to know that the legislative process must be undertaken before he can even implement the death penalty,” Sereno said when sought for comment after delivering a speech at the Supreme Court’s founding anniversary.
“Let’s see. Congress is soon to open, and the political will and the logic of such a move those may be evident in the months to come.”
Sereno made her statement even as incoming Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III set a three to four months to pass the Death Penalty Law in the Senate under the 17th Congress.
But returning Senator Panfilo Lacson had his misgivings.
“It might be difficult because that will take long debates on the floor,” said Lacson who might preside over the hearings on the restoration of the capital punishment, being the chairman of the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs.
Meanwhile, a human rights group on Friday called on Duterte to reconsider his plan to restore capital punishment because it does not deter criminals.
“The death penalty is not the answer either by lethal injection or public hanging,” Amnesty International Philippines chairman Ritzlee Santos III said in a television interview.
“It’s a must for President-elect Duterte to recognize the government’s obligation to respect, protect and uphold human rights.”
Sereno said the judiciary would ensure that the constitutionally identified values of the people were affirmed.
She said she would like to “see in what way the objectives of the government within the parameters of the Constitution can be met.”
She said until Congress enacted a law restoring the death penalty, the Supreme Court could not comment on the matter. “Our role only comes in when a controversy is before us. Before that, we need to maintain our silence,” Sereno said.
The 1987 Constitution prohibited the death penalty but it was restored during the Ramos administration.
The executions resumed in 1999, starting with Leo Echegaray who was put to death by lethal injection under the Estrada administration.
However, during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Republic Act 9346 suspended the imposition of capital punishment.