CBCP: DEATH PENALTY WON'T SOLVE ILLEGAL DRUGS PROBLEM

An official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) yesterday urged Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri and Dangerous Drugs
Board Chairman Vicente Sotto III to think of other ways to solve the
illegal drugs problem in the country aside from pushing for the
revival of death penalty for drug traffickers.

In an interview over Radio Veritas, Rodolfo Diamante, executive
secretary of the CBCP's Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care,
also urged some politicians and government officials not to use death
penalty as diversionary tactic to cover the issue of corruption in the
country.

"There was a diversion from the real issue. What they should look at
is why these people (drug pushers) are not being arrested? The problem
is, there is bribery from the start," Diamante said in Filipino.

The call for the restoration of the death penalty stemmed from the
allegations of bribery on justice and anti-narcotics agents involving
the so-called "Alabang Boys."

He said death penalty is not a solution to the country's growing
problem with illegal drugs but a strong judicial system.

He said a dysfunctional judicial system and police force are among the
reasons for the growing drug menace in the country.

He said drug traffickers remain active than ever before because the
judicial system and police agencies are not working
effectively.

"The system is weak. It's prone to corruption and so it loses
credibility. That is why the people get bold to commit crime because
they know they can buy the system," he said.

Sotto earlier said that the death penalty is not anti-poor and it
would deter crime by preventing imprisoned drug dealers from
continuing their businesses.

Senators Panfilo Lacson and Zubiri, on the other hand, said they would
push for Senate Bill 2322 or "An Act Reimposing the Penalty of Death
on Certain Heinous Crimes," which the latter filed last year after a
spate of killings occurred in various parts of the country.

Zubiri said there must be a way to instill fear among drug traffickers
because putting them behind bars did not seem to remedy the problem of
illegal drugs.

"Convicted drug traffickers should be executed. Jail term doesn't work
because they could still operate inside prison facilities using mobile
phones," he said.

Reforms not capital punishment

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza also agreed that the system is
defective, but he opposed such moves to restore capital punishment and
instead called for reforms in the country's justice system as a
"genuine solution to crime."

Atienza, a staunch pro-life advocate, insisted that reinstating the
capital punishment would only lead to the commission of "more and much
bigger crimes and injustices."

"We have a defective justice system and reforms must be enacted,
especially on the implementation of our already existing laws.
Authority, power, and wealth still influence and abuse many juridical
decisions," he said.

- - With Katherine Adraneda, Jaime Laude