The House leadership is ready to explain to President Duterte and defend its decision to exclude plunder and rape from the list of crimes punishable by death.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House Committee on Justice, said while the ball is in the hands of House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez to explain the collective decision of the House, they can explain to the Chief Executive the rationale behind the exclusion of rape and plunder from the death penalty bill.
“Kung kami ay ipapatawag, syempre, ipapaliwanag namin sa kanya. Pero kung hindi naman, palagay ko at ako ay naniniwala na yan ay ipapaliwanag ni Speaker Alvarez,” Umali said in a radio interview.
He said limiting House Bill 4727 to drug-related heinous crimes is a “collective decision of the majority.”
He said rape may still be punishable by death since most of the rape cases happened under the influence of illegal drugs.
Umali admitted that they decided to exclude rape, plunder, and treason from the bill “to expedite the process and to temporarily get the overwhelming consensus.”
“We decided to pursue our original proposal in the House Committee on Justice after the NBP drug trade inquiry which recommended drug-related heinous crimes. Because of that, it was shown that the super majority is solid in supporting it,” he said. (Charissa M. Luci)