Solon Proposed A 40 Years Minimum Imprisonment Instead Of Death Penalty
Incoming president Rodrigo Duterte in his drive to suppress crimes, drugs and corruption wants to bring back death penalty to the Philippines.
Duterte is currently enjoying a “supermajority” of both congress and senate but one congressman has an alternative.
Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza proposed a minimum of 40 years imprisonment as an alternative to a “reckless” death penalty.
“Our alternative is tantamount to locking up a convict and throwing away the key,” said Atienza.
Irreversible
Atienza cites the injustice and irreversible effect of killing a man convicted of heinous crimes.
“We cannot bring a dead convict back to life, even if another party later on confesses to having committed the crime for which the convict had been wrongfully condemned,” he said.
In Atienza’s proposal, those who are convicted will have a new punished called “qualified reclusion perpetua” which means a convict would stay in prison for an absolute minimum of 40 years, or until he or she attains the age of 70 years, whichever comes first, before becoming eligible for possible parole.
The Revised Penal Code currently only provides for the maximum penalty of reclusion perpetua or a simple life term equivalent to 30 to 40 years in prison, with the convict becoming eligible for possible conditional early release after serving just half of the term, or after 15 to 20 years.
Article by TrendTitan