Senator-elect de Lima: ‘no to death penalty’

PH Justice Secretary Leila De Lima (Photo from the web) Report of Joel Atencia via RH radio

Manila, Philippines - Senator-elect Leila de Lima on Friday said she is not in favor for the return of the death penalty which is pushed by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

The former Justice secretary also opposes the shoot-to-kill order also proposed by presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte to curb crimes in the country.

De Lima said the shoot-to-kill order is unconstitutional while death penalty is murder which is also against the law.

She said she becomes a minority with her decision to stand against Duterte’s planned policies, she said she will not change her petition as she is always against death penalty. She added that the policy would still undergo debate and scrutiny.

“No empirical evidence anywhere has suggested that the death penalty deters crime. The death penalty should be abolished, not only because there is no correlation between this punishment and crime deterrence, but also its effects are basically irreversible,” according to de Lima.

The State, she said, “has the obligation to guide any offender to a life of reform and become more productive members of society. Even law offenders have a potential to become reformed members of society. For heinous offenses such as drug and human trafficking, rape and other sociopathic offenses such as serial killings and mass murderers, life imprisonment without parole or executive clemency should be enough.” she said.

De Lima cited a finding of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that most of those convicted belong to the lower classes: the poor and disadvantaged, financially unable to pay for their own counsel, relying only on the courts to provide them with a legal counsel.

She was CHR chairman until she was tapped to head the Department of Justice.

The CHR finding, de Lima said, is supported by a survey conducted by FLAG, a lawyers’ group, when death penalty was still in law books, wherein 52.2 percent of those in death row belonged to the lowest social class.

“Instead, we need to ensure that the justice system indeed works: By having a truly independent judiciary who can decide on cases with the highest integrity and will ensure a speedy trial, efficient prosecutors who can closely collaborate with investigating bodies and other law enforcement units for a strong case build-up and a law enforcement sector that will implement the law to the letter, while caring for victims, who were put in jeopardy because of circumstances,” she added.