Calls for death penalty revival pisses off CBCP official

MANILA, Jan. 25, 2011—An anti-death penalty advocate said restoring the capital punishment would be an insult to everyone who had worked on a reform agenda for the justice system.

In Tuesday’s interview with the media, Mr. Rodolfo Diamante said he is already “pissed off” with some senators’ approach in preventing crimes in the country.

Diamante particularly criticized Senators Miguel Zubiri, Tito Sotto and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., who are among those who called for the reimposition of death penalty.

“We sent reform agenda to the executive and the legislative (branches of the government). It’s a beautiful document… we are hoping that they will study it,” he said.

“We did not elect them to legalize state murder… the death penalty,” he stressed.

Diamante is also serving as executive secretary to the Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

According to him, the senators, whom he accused of “grandstanding”, should forget death penalty and “conduct more research” instead on improving the criminal justice system.

“It’s just sad that we keep on electing people who can’t think better (and) who can’t be smarter than the individual criminal,” he said.

He also noted that the Philippines are among the signatories in the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which implicitly prohibits the reintroduction of the death penalty.

“They should use Google if they don’t know the Second Optional Protocol,” Diamante said. (CBCPNews)