INFURIATING it is, indeed.
While the dust on the Vizconde massacre case is still far from settling and Lauro Vizconde is still battling the system for his share of justice, yet another spate of heinous crimes surfaced once again.
The murders of car traders, Emerson Lozano and Venson Evangelista cause on outrage among anti-crime crusaders, who clamored for the resurrection of the death penalty in the Philippine justice system.
President Aquino said that he would look into the matter but also indicated that “he was against the reimposition of capital punishment.”
“I used to support the death penalty,” he said. “But I witnessed also that justice was not perfect, so I had to change my position. We cannot turn back the clock if we execute somebody … who was not guilty,” he further mused.
The president continues to vouch for the integrity of the Philippine National Police, despite its shortcomings and much-criticized inefficiency.
Arsenio Evangelista, father of one of the victims, describes the murders as “a breakdown of peace and order” and that the resolution to the heinous crimes poses a challenge to Aquino’s administration.
Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano has theorized that the recent rash of murders is a test of PNoy’s leadership.
In a statement, San Juan City Representative Joseph Victor Ejercito asserted that “the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are not staging these nefarious activities to earn a living illegally but to create a scenario that will try to discredit PNoy’s ability to govern.”
Meanwhile, the revival of the death penalty has become a hot topic of debate among lawmakers.
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who authored the bill for the reimposition of the death penalty for murderers and drug traffickers, has found an opportune time to seek support once more for its implementation. He asserts that the absence of capital punishment “emboldens criminals to wantonly disregard the rule of law and the dignity of human life.”
His colleagues promptly shot down his proposal, saying that the death penalty would not be the solution.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan argued that “it is the certainty, not the severity, of punishment that brings fear in the hearts of would-be criminals,” and that “no matter how severe the penalty imposed, if convictions are few and far between, or cases drag on for years on end without punishment, then criminality will remain rampant.”
“It is the swiftness of punishment regardless of the penalty involved that will ensure respect for our laws and instill fear in the hearts of would-be criminals in our criminal justice system,” he added.
Of course, the Catholic Church also had a lot to say about the issue.
CBCP Executive Secretary Rodolfo Diamante, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez and Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz collectively disputed the reimposition of the death penalty, saying that is not the quick-fix solution and that it is unacceptable.
So what would be the clear-cut and effective solution to prevent such gruesome crimes? In a society highly influenced by Catholicism, where humane acts prevail and the taking of lives is considered unacceptable, the imposition of the death penalty is surely not an option.
But it is also a society where crime prevention and law enforcement are weak and broken – where alibis can be fabricated, evidence lost, and acquittals or pardons given, even to those with life sentences.
Though it may seem like fixing the broken system should be top-of-mind, it is still easier said than done.
Up until the system is fixed, fortified and forceful, perhaps we should keep an open mind.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend Jan 22-25, 2011 Sec A pg. 12)
Back To Top