“If a prison cell cannot stop a criminal from plotting and ordering the murder of another person, then the death penalty may be the only way to prevent the murder of innocent citizens and journalists like Percy Lapid.”
This was stressed on Wednesday by Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante Jr., who called for the reimposition of the death penalty as more details of the Percy Lapid killing were revealed following the confession of gunman Joel Escorial.
“This is not the first time we have discovered crimes being carried out from inside our prison.”
Abante is the author of House Bill No. 4121, or the Death Penalty Law, which would reimpose capital punishment for crimes such as murder, treason, drug trafficking, and plunder.
According to the lawmaker, “this jail cell conspiracy that led to the tragic death of an outspoken journalist is proof that incarceration is not enough to stop criminals from committing more crimes.”
In a confession released to the media, Escorial admitted that he received orders to kill Lapid from Bilibid inmate Crisanto Palana Villamor, who died due to undetermined causes.
The solon lamented that “this is not the first time we have discovered crimes being carried out from inside our prison.”
Abante pointed out that reports of illegal drug trafficking and drug use among inmates of the New Bilibid Prison have surfaced since 2014, when a series of raids conducted by law enforcement officials unearthed the presence of shabu and other drug paraphernalia in air-conditioned quarters built for convicted drug dealers.
While the death penalty was abolished in 2006, the Constitution gives Congress the power to reimpose it.
“While these may have been already addressed, the disturbing reality is that as long as there are jailed criminals who have the resources to bribe, coerce, or even threaten our corrections officers, they remain a danger to society,” he explained.
“In cases such as these, death is the only punishment that can neutralize them.”
While the death penalty was abolished in 2006, the Constitution gives Congress the power to reimpose it.
Sec. 19 (1), Art. III of the Constitution states that “excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted. Neither shall death penalty be imposed, unless, for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes.”
