A HOUSE leader on Tuesday said the recent Social Weather Stations survey showing majority of Filipinos were for death penalty should not be taken at face value.
Parañaque City Rep. Gus Tambunting said while Congress had yet to pass the bill reimposing death penalty on heinous crimes, the government must work hard to provide the policemen with state-of-the- art equipment and similar upgrades to improve their crime busting operations.
The SWS released earlier the result of its March 25-28 survey showing that 61 percent, or three in five Filipinos, were for the revival of death penalty, one of the priorities of the Duterte administration.
“Like all statistics, this finding must be studied carefully. What it shows we believe is that Filipinos want swift and decisive action against crime,” Tambunting said.
He said the government must be able to come up with “a multi-pronged approach” to fight crimes pending the enactment of the death penalty bill.
“And while we support the death penalty, we also believe that a multi-pronged approach to tackling crime must be observed,” Tambunting said.
“We have to equip our policemen as first responders and investigators to competently solve crime and preserve evidence. We must also support our prosecution service so they can competently prosecute offenders. We must have a justice system that is fast and fair,” Tambunting said.
He also stressed the need for the state to “have a prison system that reforms and not just condemns.”
Earlier, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the SWS survey result affirmed the House of Reresentatives’ effort to pass the bill despite stiff criticisms from various sectors, including the Catholic Church.
There were 1,200 respondents in the SWS survey and only 23 percent of them opposed the reimposition of capital punishment.
Alvarez said he believed the Palace-backed measure would be enacted soon even if the Senate would not support it, since that was included in the President’s priority agenda.