Malacañang on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte has always supported the proposed revival of death penalty.
The discussion on death penalty was brought up following the gruesome crime incident in Tarlac involving a policeman which resulted in the killing of a mother and her son.
“Ang pagpapasa ng death penalty, pagbubuhay, iyan ay sa mula’t-mula prayoridad ng ating presidente. Pero nakasalalay ang mangyayari riyan sa batas na ‘yan sa kamay siempre ng mga mambabatas (The passage and revival of death penalty has been the priority of the president from the start. But this will depend on lawmakers),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque stated.
Since the Philippines does not implement the death penalty yet, President Duterte on Monday night called on the Philippine National Police (PNP) to ensure that the alleged cop-murderer will be detained and “should not be allowed to go out.”
Meanwhile, Roque countered allegations that there are more crimes committed in the Philippines in “broad daylight.”
“Ang statistics na galing sa kapulisan at sa NBI ay pababa nang pababa ang ating mga krimen dahil nga sa naganap na lockdowns natin. So hindi totoo na tumataas ang numero ng krimen (The statistics of the PNP and NBI show that crimes are going down due to lockdowns. So it is not true the crime rate is going up),” Roque stated. – Report from Mela Lesmoras, PTV News Online