Anti-crime groups push for restoration of death penalty

MANILA, Philippines – Two anti-crime groups are pushing for the restoration of death penalty to deter massacres in the future as what happened in Maguindanao last week.

In a joint statement read at a press briefing in Intramuros, Manila over the weekend, the Citizens Crime Watch (CCW) and Free Journalists Union of the Philippines (FJUP) urged Congress to act on pending measures seeking the immediate restoration of death penalty in the country.

The groups also called on the Commission on Elections to mobilize all law enforcement agencies and place “hot spots” under its full control to prevent election-related killings.

“We believe that the (Maguindanao) violence was sparked by political animosities, with dreaded warlords considering the province as their private fiefdom,” CCW chairman Jose Malvar Villegas Jr. said.

The CCW and FJUP said they would press for maximum penalty for the perpetrators of the Maguindanao carnage and provide legal help to families of victims.

Four CCW members, including Henry Araneta of Bombo Radio, were among those killed in the incident.

The CCW announced the creation of a joint legal panel to prepare cases against suspected assailants and masterminds of the massacre, “regardless of their high status in the government or the private sector.”

“We intend to get the assistance of all anti-crime groups in the country to make the panel the largest legal group ever that will help prosecute the biggest heinous crime in the entire history of our country,” Villegas said.

“The unprecedented and senseless killings were a direct affront on the Constitutionally-enshrined rights of persons to life, liberty and property, and freedom of speech and free assembly which have drawn condemnations around the world,” the groups said.

Dominador Bendanillo, CCW Maguindanao chairman, who arrived in Manila to give full report of the massacre to the CCW headquarters, said more witnesses would come out soon once their protection is assured.

The groups also said they would hold an indignation rally nationwide this week to press lawmakers to act on the death penalty measure. – Sandy Araneta