HOUSE Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Friday the 1987 Constitution was “supreme” over the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights in the reimposition of capital punishment for heinous crimes.
“Let us remember it is clear in the Constitution that death penalty is allowed for compelling reasons, such as heinous crimes,” he told a dzMM radio interview.
“So, we should consider the Constitution as supreme over protocol.”
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 16, 1966, and in force since March 23, 1976.
“If they [signatories] would assert that [protocol is supreme over the Constitution]), we can withdraw from the agreement,” Alvarez said, replying to a question if the Philippines was compelled to abide by the provisions stipulated in the international covenant.
Out of the 195 countries in the world, 93 percent of them have death sentence.
“That’s right. In fact, here in Asia, we are the only country that does not enforce death penalty. Now, outside Asia, I can give you an example, the most powerful country in the world, the United States of America, has death penalty,” Alvarez said.
The US is not a signatory to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“Some say death penalty is not deterrent to criminality. Let us look back at the records where death penalty is enforced. How many prisoners have been executed [in countries with capital punishment]? You can only count a few of them. During the Marcos time, there was only one [who was executed] and another one during Ramos time,” he said.
“How can it [death penalty]be deterrent if our leaders do not have the political will to do so. In fact, when [national penitentiary inmate] Jaybee Sebastian was asked during the committee hearing what was he afraid of, he replied ‘death.’”
He said Congress could muster the numbers to approve the return of the capital punishment.
“We will leave it to President [Rodrigo Duterte] whether it be by hanging, lethal injection or firing squad,” he cited.
Only nine members of the Senate backed the death penalty.
“As far as we are concerned, we do not have the control over the Senate. [But] we will stand firm on our ground to do what is right for the people,” Alvarez said.
He said he welcomed the proposed inclusion of pyramiding scam and illegal recruitment as heinous crimes.
“Our first plan was to zero in only on illegal drugs, but there are many other suggestions to qualify other crimes as heinous,” he added.
On Wednesday, with a vote of 12-6, Congress, at the committee level, approved the restoration of capital punishment for over 20 heinous offenses, such as rape with homicide, kidnap for ransom and arson with death, paving the way for a plenary debate.
With the bill’s swift approval, Congress, however, debunked reports that lawmakers could possibly pass the measure on third and final reading before Christmas.
“If there is really a need for a debate in the plenary, we can schedule it next year. Yes, we will give the argument enough time,” Alvarez said.
