How fortunate we are to have the House of Representatives, wise and sensitive enough to refrain from acting on the proposal to restore the death penalty until after Christmas!
The President has never been shy about his wish for capital punishment to be restored. This will prove to be a handy companion in effecting his relentless campaign against illegal drugs. Having the death penalty will give the government the much-needed teeth to show criminals that Mr. Duterte means business: the Philippines will not be a haven for narcotics.
Since he took office, thousands have been killed in pursuit of this goal.
Most of the population, except for a few noisy ones who cry violation of human rights at the slightest provocation, appear supportive of the initiative. Look at the President’s trust and popularity numbers after these deaths have been counted, and even after he has made those unsavory comments on the international community, specifically the United Nations and the United States. Mr. Duterte remains popular and well-loved, and the people seem to believe we are on to a good thing here.
So never mind that the restoration of the death penalty will bring us back to the dark ages. Criminals who commit dastardly crimes are beyond redemption—they are so worthless they must be put away. Who cares that we are supposed to be already in the 21st century, enjoying the unbridled benefits of technology and globalization? Most of all, who cares that the restoration of the death penalty is a virtual admission by the government of its utter failure to effect peace and order through natural, civilized means?
Never mind, too, that the justice system—which will determine who will be put to death and who will be spared —is far from perfect. In an ideal world, the death penalty is meted out to those guilty of heinous crimes. It is a most telling statement to the criminal: The world would be better without you in it.
The system in the Philippines is not efficient, honest and fair. It is, at best, slow and trudging, constrained by the lack of law enforcement, court officials and personnel and even more so by the pitiful resources that are poured into it. Some of its actors are drunk with a sense of power over life and death and believe themselves above the law that they pretend to uphold.
And yet these will be the same people who will decide who get to be sent to their deaths.
It’s at least a consolation that we won’t be haunted by the specter of state-sanctioned killings this holiday season. Let’s deal with that next year —along with the myriad of other problems our recklessness, hypocrisy and arrogance bring us.