EDDIE BARRITA:

There’s no death penalty yet, but drug suspects still ended up dead

President Rody Duterte apologized to South Korea on Thursday after policemen killed one of its citizens, businessman Jee Ick Joo, inside the national police headquarters in October last year. He then said he wanted to hang rogue cops behind the killing and send their heads to Seoul. He said, “You sons of bitches, you policemen. You will suffer. I can maybe send your heads to South Korea.” How high should he hang them? Probably so high, they’d be more dead; Duterte once again called for the reinstatement of the death penalty, with his choice of execution--hanging--for being the cheapest. He said he could hang 20 criminals a day. But is there really a need for the reinstatement of the death penalty?

President Rody Duterte apologized to South Korea on Thursday after policemen killed one of its citizens, businessman Jee Ick-joo, inside the national police headquarters in October last year.

He then said he wanted to hang rogue cops behind the killing and send their heads to Seoul. He said, “You sons of bitches, you policemen. You will suffer. I can maybe send your heads to South Korea.”

How high should he hang them? Probably so high, they’d be more dead.

Duterte once again called for the reinstatement of the death penalty, with his choice of execution - hanging -- for being the cheapest. He said he could hang 20 criminals a day.

But is there really a need for the reinstatement of the death penalty. The brutal war against illegal drugs has cost the lives of more than 7,000 suspects.

There’s no death penalty yet, but drug suspects still ended up dead. President Rody promised the toughest punish- ment for those behind the kidnapping and killing of the South Korean businessman.

“I will see to it that they are sentenced to the maximum. You give that power to me back again, I will execute them... I’ll hang them in one day, 20 of them --20 a day,” he said.

Death by hanging will probably give a new lease on life on the rope-making business.

A Senate investigation into Jee’s killing began on Thursday with police chief Ronald dela Rosa, a close ally of Duterte, saying he was “overcome by shame.”

“All indications point to an elaborate web of criminal activity by some police personnel operating under the cover of legitimate police operations,” he told the hearing.

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, a former PNP chief, showed a video of “tokhang for extortion” during the hearing, saying the Jee kidnap-slay was not “an isolated case.” It’s time for Bato to hit these rogue cops with boulders.