President Rodrigo "Rody" Roa Duterte renews appeal to Congress to pass bill restoring death penalty

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President Rodrigo "Rody" Roa Duterte

To boost his campaign against drugs and criminality, President Rodrigo Duterte has renewed his appeal to Congress to pass a bill restoring death penalty in the country.

The President made the pitch for the revival of death penalty during a casual meeting with several lawmakers and other government officials at a bar in Davao City over the weekend.

“It was a casual gathering with some officials, mostly congressmen and a few governors and we discussed many things since it was only a casual gathering with no set agenda,” Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said in a text message to the Manila Bulletin on Sunday.

“The President mentioned he thought we should bring back the death penalty especially for drug traffickers,” added the senator who was among those present in the late night meeting with the President.

Shortly after his victory in the May elections, Duterte declared that he prefers to hang convicted criminals instead of killing them via lethal injection amid plans to suppress crimes within the first six months in office. To critics claiming it does not deter crimes, the Philippine leader argued that death penalty would actually be more of retribution against persons who committed crimes.

On his position on capital punishment, Angara said he is ready “to listen to the several proposals for the return of the death penalty.”

The senator said the President also gave them a tour of the emergency center of Davao including the city’s crime and traffic management system during their trip last weekend.

Apart from Angara, other lawmakers who reportedly met with the President were Senaror Alan Peter Cayetano, Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Partylist Rep. Sherwin Tugna, Palawan Rep. Franz Josef Alvarez, Masbate Rep. Scott Davies Lanete, and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco.

Duterte, a former mayor of Davao City, was back in his hometown last weekend for some personal time, a practice he apparently intends to keep during his term. The country’s new president took a commercial flight to Davao and opted an economy seat last Friday, ditching his previous practice of riding a private plane. It was the first time Duterte took a commercial plane during his term.