Malacañang said yesterday that it will continue to fight for overseas Filipino workers on Death Row even if the death penalty in the country is restored, following the appeal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines asking the government to not push for the restoration of capital punishment.
According to the CBCP, the country will not have the moral ascendancy to fight for Filipinos abroad who are on Death Row if capital punishment is reimposed in the Philippines.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the Palace understands the concerns of the CBCP but there are countries which operate on a different set of rules.
“We understand where the CBCP is coming from. However, we also have to understand na may mga alleged crimes kasi na kinondemn ng mga certain countries lalo sa may bandang Middle East,” he said over Radyo ng Bayan.
According to Abella, some countries go by the sharia law and not the Western civil law.
“We cannot claim ascendancy but we can claim perhaps clemency and mercy depending on the merit of each case, not because we do not have yet the death penalty but we have to discuss each one of the merit of each case,” he added.
Duterte has been asking for the restoration of the capital punishment since he took office. Death penalty in the Philippines was abolished in 2006 by then President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria M. Arroyo.
Earlier this week, Duterte said a maximum of 20 people would be executed everyday if the Congress approves the restoration of the capital punishment.
Meanwhile, Abella said the government, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and Employment, is doing its best to help the other 88 OFWs who are on Death Row despite each case being different from one another. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)