MANILA (UCAN): Dante Jimenez, the newly appointed co-chairperson of the Philippines’ Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD), called on the country’s president, Rodrigo Duterte, to reimpose the death penalty at a press briefing at the presidential palace in Manila on March 3.
“I would like to request to the president to make as a priority bill the reimposition of the death penalty. This is the only penalty that would be able to institute fear among these illegal drug lords,” the Manila Times reported him as saying.
Jimenez, who replaced the vice president, Leni Robredo, claimed the death penalty is the only deterrent that will work against the country’s drug barons.
In a move that the Philippine’s Catholic bishops described as “shameful,” Duterte dismissed Robredo less than a month after she took up his challenge to head up the ICAD last November (Sunday Examiner, 1 December 2019).
Jimenez claimed that drug lords are coming to the Philippines because there is no death penalty, saying he accepted his new role because he wanted to protect the country’s young people and society from drugs.
“I pledge to continue the war against illegal drugs waged by the president, as promised from the time of his campaign, up to this day,” he said.
Jimenez also dismissed Robredo’s claim that the drug war was a “massive failure,” saying “I have seen and felt the disastrous effects of the illegal drug trade on many families and its real threat to the future of our country.”
In a dramatic flourish, he even signed his acceptance statement with his own blood, which he said was to “represent the thousands of victims of illegal drugs.”
Robredo had vowed to end the killings that have characterised the government’s violent campaign against illegal drugs. She called on the government to target drug lords instead of killing small-time drug dealers.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
Over 27,000 people have been killed so far according to human rights organisations. As of June 2019, the Philippine National Police copped to 6,600 deaths.
