A Philippine church official reiterated appeals to the government not to revive the death penalty during the observance of the World Day Against Death Penalty on Oct. 10.
"We appeal to the president and our lawmakers not to resort to a quick fix solution to the problem of criminality and to stop giving us false hope that we will be safe and secure by putting people to death," said Rodolfo Diamante, head of the Philippine bishops' Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care.
"Death penalty is the easy way out of addressing the complex and pervasive problems of criminality. It is no more the answer for violent crime than abortion is the answer for unplanned pregnancies," said Diamante.
He said "astute politicians" want to revive the death penalty not because they believe in it as an appropriate national policy but because it is a "popular cause."
Diamante, however, said what is popular is not necessarily correct.
"As Christians, we are called to uphold and proclaim a set of moral principles and social teachings at the heart of which is the knowledge that the human person is central, the clearest reflection of God among us," he said.