President Duterte vows to execute ‘five or six’ people a day when the death penalty is reintroduced to the Philippines

 

The President of the Philippines has called for 'five or six' criminals to be executed every day, sparking fierce condemnation from Catholic leaders and human rights activists.

President Rodrigo Duterte, 71, has made reviving the death penalty one of his priorities as part of a brutal war on crime that has already seen 5,300 people killed.

He said: 'There was death penalty before but nothing happened. Return that to me and I would do it every day: five or six. That's for real.'

Duterte was elected earlier this year partly because he promised to get tough on criminals in the Philippines, an overwhelmingly Catholic country. 

But Father Jerome Secillano, an official at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said they 'totally opposed' his plan to reintroduce the death penalty.

He said: 'The Philippines will be viewed as very barbaric. It's going to make the Philippines the capital of death penalty in the world.'

Eighty percent of Filipinos are Catholics and the Philippines abolished the death penalty in 2006 following a campaign by the Catholic Church.

But during his election campaign Duterte had vowed to introduce executions by hanging, saying he did not want to waste bullets and believed snapping the spinal cord was more humane than a firing squad.

Duterte, who was known for his crime-busting antics during his time as Mayor of the southern city of Davao, said he thought the point of the death penalty was retribution, not deterence.

Last week he said: 'In Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys (police) that if I can do it why can't you.

'I'd go around in Davao with a motorcycle...and I would just patrol the streets, looking for trouble also. I was really looking for a confrontation so I could kill.' 

His allies in the House of Representatives have supported him and promised to pass a bill reintroducing the death penalty next month.

The United Nations' human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said in a letter to the Philippines congress this month reviving the death penalty would violate the country's international obligations.

But Duterte has insisted executions were necessary to fight the scourge of drugs which he said was 'destroying' the nation.

Amnesty International Philippines vice chairman Romeo Cabarde said: 'Setting a quota for executions is just too much. One death is too much because we are talking about lives.'

Catholic leaders and rights defenders have urged the government to reform a slow and corrupt justice system which they said was likely to send innocent people to death row.

Duterte's war on crime has drawn international criticism from the United States and United Nations over concerns about extrajudicial killings and a breakdown in the rule of law.

A survey by Social Weather Stations released today showed a majority backed Duterte's war on drugs but 78 percent were worried they or someone in their family would become a victim of extrajudicial killings.

The survey also showed 71 percent said it was 'very important' police keep suspects alive.

Police have repeatedly said they only killed criminals who fought back but the nation's rights agency has begun investigating several armed encounters.

Philippine National Police chief Ronald de la Rosa today apologised for police killings of criminal suspects but insisted they had been in self-defence.

De la Rosa, speaking at a police Christmas party, said: 'Lord, I hope you forgive us even if the ones we kill are bad people.

'If the life of a policeman will be lost just to preserve the life of a criminal, that's a great injustice.'

De la Rosa admitted Duterte had given the police hefty bonuses recently.

Source:Daily Mail