Death Penalty
About 85 percent of Filipinos are Christians. They look at the person hanging on the cross as true God and true man.
There is no capital punishment or death penalty more painful than what our Lord Jesus Christ went through to pay our sins. This truth is taught by Christianity (Roman Catholics and non-Roman Catholics, alike).
The new Speaker of the House of Representatives mentioned, in his speech at the opening of the first session of the 17th Congress, that the legislators were going to support Pres. Duterte’s move to restore the death penalty for heinous crimes.
Whether by hanging or by beheading, via electric chair or the lethal injection, or by any other method – none is comparable to the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the sinless God-made-man.
If I remember right, five sons of prominent families died via the electric chair for gang-raping the actress Maggie de la Riva.
Some quarters objected that the method was very inhuman, so it was replaced with lethal injection. After “nayayay si Echegaray,” death penalty was abolished. Before its abolition, our Chief Executive at that time looked funny when he tried to intercede for Flor Contemplacion. (May she rest in peace.)
Where now are those convicted for the abduction and murder of the Chiong sisters and the perpetrators of the Vizconde massacre? There is some truth to the saying that in our country “the rich will get justice” – although it’s a long, expensive and tedious process – but the poor, “just tiis.”
We do not mean to favor “summary killings” without due process. We are sure that Cardinals Vidal and Tagle, who went to see President Duterte, do not favor it either. That is why there is a need for God who sees the table, the whole table at one glance. Whereas, we finite mortals see it part by part, one part at a time. We are glad that Pres. Duterte declared that he believed in the existence of one God. If it is true that there are summary killings, it’s the lookout of those who committed them. There’s a joke about a deceased Monsignor’s way of expressing it: “Iyaha pud nang outlook,” when he actually meant “lookout.”
When Martial Law ended and after former President Cory restored democracy in the country, some people shouted “Human Right, Human Right!” whenever one or the other activist was eliminated. But when abusive members of the military were killed, the same people shouted: “All right!”
Learning from the country’s past, let us pray that law enforcers will not abuse their power. I think I heard President Rody warning them in his SONA. For, according to Freddie Aguilar’s fellow musician during the celebration of the newly elected president’s victory in last May’s elections: “Even if there 10 President Rody Dutertes, it will not result in the country’s change for the better unless each and every one of us will change.” Let us include them in our prayers. God bless the Philippines!