Del Mar on death penalty bill: It’s ‘barbaric’

Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north district) reaffirmed his commitment against death penalty, even calling the capital punishment “barbaric” and “against the poor”.

In a speech he delivered at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, the lawmaker said that imposing capital punishment is not the solution to lessen the crime rate in the country.

“The death penalty is barbaric, antiquated, and regressive,” he said.

There is no evidence also, he said, that will support claims that death penalty is more effective than life imprisonment.

Del Mar added that the imposition of death penalty could punish the innocent.

“Once an innocent person is put to death, is it not an act that can never be reversed? Bad enough if an innocent person is jailed but at least he is still alive when the wrong is corrected,” he said.

The lawmaker said that most of those who end up in death rows are the ones who don’t have access to good lawyers and doesn’t have money to get help.

Instead of reviving death penalty, Del Mar suggested to strengthen the country’s justice system.

“What attracts people to commit crime? Is it not the impunity that drives most of them, the confidence that they can get away with murder or drug trafficking by hiring lawyers and bribing police, fiscals and judges?” he said.

The lawmaker also pointed out that the Philippines is predominantly a Catholic nation that recognizes the dignity of the human life.

“The law is the will of the state, which in turn is shaped by the beliefs of the people. Catholics also believe in retribution, but not by taking human life,” he said.

Del Mar is one of the co-authors of Republic Act (RA) 9346, passed on June 24, 2006, which prohibits the imposition of the death penalty in the country.

It repealed RA 8177 or the Act Designating Death by Lethal Injection adn RA 7659 otherwise known as the Death Penalty Law.

Del Mar’s opposition came after House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez pushed for the passage of the death penalty bill.

The bill seeks to impose death penalty on more than 20 heinous crimes, including treason, murder, rape, kidnapping and carnapping, among others. /