Philippine House of Representatives makes shocking approval - Bishops 'overcome with grief'

'They may have won but it does not mean that they are right.'

The Philippines House of Representatives took a giant leap back when they voted to bring a dead (for good reason) law back to life.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to the Philippine Star, the Philippine House of Representatives approved a bill to reinstate the death penalty.

The vote totaled 216 for, 54 against and one abstained vote.

The law initially allowed 21 crimes, including rape and treason, to be punishable by law but after the eighth reading, the House of Representatives decided to limit the death penalty to drug-related crimes and offenses only.

In a televised interview last week, Reynaldo Umali, the chair of the House Justice Committee, stated: "We agreed that the bill will only be limited to drug-related heinous crimes. It is more of the 'yung' getting the consensus of the group. Supposedly it became easier when we limited it to just one crime."

According to Aljazeera, anyone in possession of 500 grams of marijuana or 10 grams of cocaine, heroin or ecstasy would be punishable by execution.

Anyone committing serious crimes, such as murder and rape, while under the influence of drugs will also receive capital punishment.

While some Philippine lawmakers were pleased with the decision, the Church grieved.

Father Jerome Secillano, the executive secretary for public affairs at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines released the following statement:

"The decision is inhumane, shameful and blatantly disrespectful. Let me reiterate this, criminals should be punished and victims should be aided, but the punishment should not be death.

"Due to our flawed and dysfunctional criminal justice system, there is a great chance that innocent people may become victims of wrongful convictions."

According to Catholic Herald, the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, reported Filipino bishops were "overcome with grief" at the decision.

He explained: "The House of Representatives has given its consent for the State to kill. We, your bishops, are overcome with grief but we are not defeated nor shall we be silenced.

"We call on all Catholic faithful and all Filipinos who stand for life to continue the spirited opposition to death penalty. We urge Catholic lawyers, judges and jurists to allow the gentleness of the Gospel of Life to illumine their reading and application of the law, so that their service to society as teachers and agents of the law and of justice may bring life.

"It is indeed that we may have life to the full that the Lord came into our midst. They may have won but it does not mean that they are right."

The bill still requires approval by the Senate but the Church still mourns the implications of the House of Representatives' vote.

The Church is not the only one upset at the changes in legislature.

Congressman Edcel Lagman has long been fighting capital punishment but reported, "This is a chamber of puppets and bullies."

Following the Tuesday session on February 28, Lagman said: "To tell you frankly, the House leadership has fed to the shredding machine the rules of the House. We don't  have rules anymore.

The United Nations warned a resurgence of the death penalty would violate international conventions the Philippines ratified years ago, but that hasn't stopped Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte from forging ahead.

In fact, Duterte has openly stated the next priority bill is to lower the age of criminal liability from fifteen to 9-years-old.

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