STATEMENT OF SEN. PANGILINAN ON CBCP POSITION RE KILLINGS, DEATH PENALTY

We are one with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in making a collective stand against the killing of drug suspects and the strong government push to reimpose the death penalty.

The campaign against illegal drugs and heinous crimes must not cost us the lives of our people, especially the innocent. Our poor, already living under the weight of historical and structural injustices, have carried the burden of this anti-crime drive.

Our government must uphold its responsibility to protect our people, to promote their welfare, and make them safe.

It must pursue justice to the families who have lost their loved ones to criminals.

Let us not lose faith in the capacity of people to change. Killing, whether by criminals or the State, is never the solution to the country's continuing problems of poverty, high prices of basic goods, and insufficient decent jobs. Killing will destroy our essence as a happy, hopeful, and striving nation.