President Rodrigo Duterte. AP FILE PHOTO
Why were rape and plunder removed from the crimes punishable by death penalty?
President Rodrigo Duterte said he was curious why the two heinous crimes were taken out from the list of crimes punishable by death.
鈥淚 really would like to know the rationale of the congress kung bakit. Why is it that rape was taken out and plunder,鈥� Duterte said in an ambush interview in Cagayan de Oro on Friday.
He said rape is considered a heinous crime because it鈥檚 a 鈥済ross violation of the dignity of a woman.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why they took (it) out,鈥� he said.
The President said that while he vowed to get rid of corruption, he did not promise to kill plunderers. But despite this, he said he was willing to know the 鈥渞ationale鈥� why it was excluded by the House of Representatives, a chamber his allies dominate.
鈥淚 said I鈥檇 stop corruption. I didn鈥檛 say I鈥檓 going to kill the plunderers. It was not. What was in my mind was that corruption will stop and it will stop,鈥� he said.
The President, however, assured that he would recognize the independence of the Congress in crafting the death penalty bill.
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鈥淚 leave to the wisdom of the congressmen kasi sila 鈥榶ung representate ng tao (because they are the people鈥檚 representatives),鈥� he said.
The chief executive in pushing for the reimposition of the death penalty, said the people have lost their respect for and fear of the law.
鈥淎ng nawala 鈥榶ung takot ng tao sa batas kaya (The people lost their fear of the law so) everybody was into it,鈥� he said.
On March 1, the House of Representatives approved on second reading the bill seeking to restore the death penalty. The bill, however, was limited to drug-related offenses only.
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This means the bill excluded the crimes of treason, plunder, and rape.听IDL