A PALACE official on Tuesday said the crime of plunder should be included among heinous crimes punishable under capital punishment as he taunted lawmakers they might be afraid of getting a taste of their own medicine soon.
“Personally, as a deterrence, yes. Why? … When you deprive the constituents of the millions or billions of money that should be given to them, you’re killing them effectively. That’s a heinous crime to my mind. But that’s just a personal opinion,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo told reporters in a chance interview.
Lawmakers who said the crime of plunder should not be considered punishable by death penalty were probably just afraid of possible prosecution, Panelo added.
In the House, opposition lawmakers on Tuesday urged the leadership of the House of Representatives to meet with its Senate counterpart to iron out differences regarding the death penalty bill.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the House would be engaging in a futile exercise if the Senate would not approve the Palace-backed measure.
“Pending the meeting together with the members of the House and the Senate [supporting or opposing the death penalty bill], we must suspend all proceedings in the House to avoid exercise in futility,” Lagman told a news conference.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, main proponent of the proposed reimposition of capital punishment, said earlier the House would not exert any effort to convince the Senate to support the passage of the death penalty bill.
As far as the House is concerned, Alvarez said lawmakers are duty-bound to perform their legislative function to ensure the passage of administration measures, including the death penalty bill—even without concurrence by the Senate.
But Lagman said the House could not enact a measure alone.
“This is a bicameral legislature. No one acts solely and independently of the other because of the bilateral nature of the bill,” Lagman said.
Lagman maintained “no amount of intimidation, enticement and muzzling would validate and assure the passage of the death penalty bill which is definitely not the answer to criminality, poverty, and our flawed police, prosecutorial and judicial systems.”
Reps. Raul Daza of Northern Samar, Tom Villarin of Akbayan party-list and Gary Alejano of Magdalo party-list denounced what they described as “retrogressive approach” of the House leadership led by Alvarez to force the death penalty bill.
Daza questioned the tactic to ensure the passage of the measure such as “softening or diluting” the penalties proposed to all of the crimes covered under the bill.
In Malacanang, Panelo said: “Personally, maybe some of them would not want to be prosecuted later on. Or maybe some of them would not want other members coming in to be subjected to such.
“They’re only humans. They’re afraid of death penalty. Are you not afraid of death penalty? If you would die of natural causes, you have no choice.
“But if you are being punished for crimes, that’s a different tale. It will be a total humiliation, a lost honor, name and dignity as a person.”
The Palace itself has distanced itself from the plan of Congress not to include plunder as among those crimes to be punished with death, saying it will be up to the lawmakers to debate on the matter.
“I defer to the Lower House and…I would like to express that we at the Presidential Communications Operations Office respect their independence,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told state radio dzRB last Sunday.
Asked if Malacanang would appeal to Congress not to water down the proposed measure reimposing the death penalty, Andanar simply said its revival was one of the platforms of President Rodrigo Duterte when he was still campaigning.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Tuesday said the proposed reinstatement of the death penalty would be discussed during the next Cabinet meeting.
Speaker Alvarez however, clarified that plunder was still classified as a heinous crime punishable by death penalty.
In the House, Daza also dismissed as “death to political careers” Alvarez’s threat against House leaders who would vote against the passage of the death penalty bill.
Villarin stressed “death penalty in whatever form and whatever crime should not be re-imposed.”
Alejano agreed, noting a faulty justice system “results in faulty convictions.”