Dumaguete City Mayor and Incoming 2nd District Cong. Manuel Sagarbarria is not supporting the call to restore the death penalty in the country.
Sagarbarria told the MetroPost in an interview that this is also the stand of Congressmen belonging to the Visayan Bloc, who met in Manila last week.
The Visayan Bloc, headed by Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez, have agreed to support the programs of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte, Sagarbarria said.
But he added that while they agreed to support the agenda of Duterte, they will not automatically agree to all of the President’s proposals. “Our stand on the restoration of the death penalty is one of them,” he said.
Meanwhile, several lawyers in Negros Oriental have declared their support for the restoration of the death penalty for heinous crimes, even as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Negros Oriental Chapter has no official stand on the matter.
Atty. Cyrus Riconalla, president of IBP-Negros Oriental chapter, said he believes the death penalty will deter criminals from committing heinous crimes, even as until today, the killings of at least five lawyers in the Province have remained unsolved.
Authorities have insisted they have leads to the cases but that they cannot divulge the identities of the suspects.
The death penalty was suspended in 2006 for religious and humanitarian grounds. (with reports from PNA)
