MANILA, April 28, 2016— An official of the Catholic bishops’ prison ministry has warned voters against electing candidates pushing for the return of death penalty.
Rodolfo Diamante, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, said capital punishment is opposed to the Church moral teachings on vital issues.
“We are against it. Everybody deserves a second chance in life,” Diamante said.
Death penalty, he said, is one issue that will influence the voting of prison welfare advocates and volunteers nationwide.
Reiterating that death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, he said the country’s next leaders must avoid using it as a “quick-fix” option.
Instead of reviving for death penalty, he asked candidates to instead advocate for measures and programs for the welfare of convicted prisoners and detainees awaiting trial.
Since only detained prisoners are allowed to vote, Diamante asked them to support those who will be attending to their needs.
“From facilitating their cases and trials to pushing rehabilitation programs, these are among the issues that need attention,” said Diamante.
He said there will be around 64,000 detention prisoners or half of the country’s estimated 101,000 detainees who registered and will be casting their ballots during the May 9 elections.
This is the third time that Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be allowing detainees to vote for national positions. The first was in 2010 and then in 2013. (CBCPNews)
