(Eagle News)–For Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, the imposition of death penalty “may somehow deter the commission of serious crimes.”
According to Guevarra, while “it is difficult to measure or prove a negative proposition” since it was difficult to determine “how many crimes did not happen because of the fear of the death penalty,” ordinary human behavior “indicates that the fear of being put to death for the commission of a crime will naturally prompt a criminally minded person to think twice.”
He said in this case, it is “up to the congress to determine the parameters of what constitutes a heinous crime.”
“The constitution grants the congress the authority to impose the death penalty for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes,” Guevarra said.
On Monday, July 22, in his State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte called for the revival of the death penalty for heinous crimes related to illegal drugs and plunder.
In 2016, Duterte as a presidential candidate pushed for the revival of the death penalty.
The House of Representatives under the 16th Congress passed a death penalty measure for drug-related crimes.
