State’s defense

Fernandez said she is in favor of RH law. “Here in our country, the Philippines, there are indigents or poorest among the poor who cannot provide support for their children,” she observed. “But RH law will surely help control the number of children for each fa mily. We are overpopulated.”

She noted a lot of unwanted pregnancies, teenagers giving birth who are not fully educated on how RH Law can help them.

As to the reimposition of death penalty, Fernandez believes that such measure is needed to curb cases like rape, drugs, and plunder, which “cannot be controlled by the authorities.” She said, “If this will be pushed through, it will lessen crimes. Sometimes,

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but if death penalty is allowed, it will end.”

Fernandez said she is calling for the lawmakers to pursue the most severe penalty for drug offenses, which is death. “If I am not mistaken, some who are not in favor are saying that this

poor, minorities, and members of the religious communities,” she

major crimes then, if they are not for the reimposition of the death penalty?”

“Despite the Pope’s call to value marriage and family, people now are considering divorce because of its practicality in a world where nothing is permanent and everything else is expensive,” Marasigan said. “While annulment is an

the reality of a marriage that once existed and does not provide the

- fords and offers.”

As to the revival of the death penalty, Marasigan said such measure is “nothing new,” noting the country’s lawmakers “created a need for it before, repealed it,

Marasigan believes the fight to have these policies in place remains uncertain. “We need to

economic concerns of the coun-

production and supply of goods, and peso devaluation—before we can see the light of day.” Political analyst Antonio “Butch” Valdez said Filipinos continue to support the controversial measures, particularly the death penalty, as they believe it is part of government’s mandate to ensure the “protection” of the people. “I have always maintained that the state has an inherent right to defend itself against those who intend to destroy it,” Valdez, who heads Save the Nation Movement, told TheTimes.

Death penalty “can be imposed against certain crimes against its sovereignty (treason) and those who destroy the foundation of Filipino society (illegal drug syndicates, genocide, and plunder),” he added.

The death penalty was abolished in 1986, when thenPresident Corazon Aquino took over the reins of power from deposed strongman Ferdinand Marcos. It was reintroduced by President Fidel Ramos in 1993, then suspended again in 2006 during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo Valdez believes that population control measures, if not curtailed, will easily spread into liberal interpretations, which, according to him, “eventually lead to abortion and mass murder of the unborn.”

“Pro- death penalty and antipopulation control are not contradictory positions,’’ Valdez said. ‘’One has to do with taking the life of enemies of human society as an act of self-defense and another has to do with saving innocent lives of humans from other humans willfully killing them.”

But he does not see any connection between divorce and development. ‘’ If at all, it will only lead to promiscuity and frivolous decisions to marry without a lifetime commitment,’’ he said. ‘’ Legal separation and annulments are more than suf-